by Jim Park
Leprosy: Effects and Requirements
The Leper’s Protocol
By Doug Greenwold
Excerpted from “Encounters with Jesus”
Lepers not only were condemned sinners but were also required to loudly declare themselves “unclean, unclean” whenever non-lepers were nearby. This was to avoid any inadvertent contact since this disease was assumed to be communicable by contact. As part of this contamination concern, there was a six-foot prohibition, more if the wind was blowing toward you, which meant that if any non-leprous person got within six (plus) feet of a leper (depending on the winds), they were considered to be ritually impure. That would mandate the non-leprous person having to go to the purification baths to be “cleansed.” Obviously, no one in his or her right mind would ever deliberately touch a leper.
Lepers were also forbidden from going to the Temple. In this culture by not going to the Temple and participating in the required sacrifices and offerings there, one could not become “right with God.” Thus, a leper could never get right with God and, as a result, had no hope. What must it have been like for a leper to walk around every day feeling in his soul that God does not like him and, furthermore, being convinced there was nothing he could do about it? He was considered to be the “living dead” in the eyes of this merciless and condemning religious culture and thus was expected to exhibit the countenance of a mourner.
The humiliation of being a leper never ended. The religious system of Jesus’ day also mandated that a leper could never wash his or her face (another constant reminder that you are always unclean). Furthermore, a leper was required to always hold a cloth under his or her nose to cover the bottom part of the face. The painful reality was that lepers were abandoned, anonymous, faceless people condemned to live under perpetual rejection by a heartless religious culture. The tragedy of this religious reality was that it was being done to honor God! Another reason Jesus had to come!
©The Rev. Robbie Pruitt, October 14, 2021, Executive Director, Preserving Bible Times
On Ritual Impurity: Everything Jesus did was to a purpose, including becoming “unclean” …
“To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.” (Titus 1:15, ESV)
Always Unclean!
One day it struck me that day after day in the Gospel record Jesus was making Himself ritually impure. He was always doing those things that were forbidden by the paradigms of the Pharisees. He touched lepers, touched the casket of a dead young man, walked on Gentile land, let Himself be touched by a women with a chronic issue of blood, all acts of ritual impurity. Yet in none of the Gospel accounts do we have any record of Jesus going to the ritual purification baths to cleanse Himself from these ritually impure encounters with people. It’s as if Jesus deliberately set about to redefine ritual purity for His disciples. That is something no rabbi of His day would ever contemplate doing!
In seemingly always being “unclean” by those He either associated with or touched, Jesus was also pointing forward toward the Cross. As He repeatedly became unclean by interacting with and touching these outcasts, He left them healed, clean, and restored. In doing so, the purpose of the Cross is foreshadowed as Jesus became “impure” on our behalf so that we might be presented “clean” to His Father. What a remarkable rabbi! So different from all the others. No wonder the crowds began to seek Him out.*
* Making Disciples Jesus Way P. 28 and 29, © Douglas J. Greenwold 2005, 2007, 2012
©The Rev. Robbie Pruitt, October 14, 2021, Board Member, Preserving Bible Times
Complimentary Articles for Download
The following is a list of our teachings that are available for download. To view the articles, simply click on the link and the file will open in your PDF reader.
Literary Genres in The Bible, from Pastor Robbie Pruitt
On Ritual Impurity, from Pastor Robbie Pruitt
Table of Contents – Jesus Encounters a Samaritan Woman
Chapter 5 – Jesus Encounters a Samaritan Woman
Reflection – Priesthood History
Reflection – A Crisis (of Joy) in Cana – Part III
Reflection – A Crisis (of Joy) in Cana – Part II
Reflection – A Crisis (of Joy) in Cana – Part I
Reflection – Blurry Vision: Implications of a Flawed Vision Statement
Reflection – When “worship” Isn’t Worship
Reflection – Paul Engages the Roman World
Reflection – Changing our Missions Paradigm
Reflection – The Bible and the Land; Essential or Irrelevant?
Reflection – The Priesthood of All Believers
20 Reasons Why Discipleship Died
20 Discipling/Mentoring Wisdom Tips
Reflection – Christ and the Chaos of Roman City Life
Introduction – Encounters with Jesus
Introduction – Making Disciples Jesus Way
Introduction – The Rest of the Story
Joy of the Lord – A Prison Teaching Experience
Leavenworth Prison Teaching Experience
Reflection – A Crisis of Wine and Joy in Cana
Remez: A Helpful Interpretive Tool
Those Prodigal Sons – Table of Contents and Invitation
Reflection – Reclaiming Our Identity in Christ
Reflection – C.S. Lewis Article “Waiting on the Lord while Unemployed”
