Luke 5:12–16

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         While Jesus was travelling in Galilee, he is approached by a man with leprosy. This skin disease took many forms, and one could pass it on to others by a mere touch.

2.         The diseased man, taking a great risk by being around others in a city, saw Jesus, approached Him, fell on his face and begged Jesus to heal him, if He would.

3.         Jesus reached out and touched the man and said, “I will; be clean.” The touching could have put Jesus into real trouble from others, of course Jesus knew this, but did it anyway.

4.         In an instant the man was healed, which is typical of Jesus’ other healing. There was no period of time elapsing between word or touch and the complete healing.

5.         Jesus then commands the man to perform what the Law of Moses said, this found in Leviticus 13 and 14, so we see Jesus being obedient to the Law.

6.         The word of the healing, so very dramatic, spread far and wide with great crowds coming to Jesus. And Jesus, it is assumed, both continued to teach and heal.

7.         After some unknown period of time, Jesus withdrew to desolate places, we imagine deserts, to pray.

8.         Here we see both the divine nature and human nature of Jesus. His need for prayer is a reminder to us of our need to spend time with our Lord in prayer.