And it came to pass, when he was in a certain
city
Or near it, hard by it, very probably Capernaum; ( Matthew 8:1 Matthew 8:2 Matthew 8:5 ) Behold a
man full of leprosy; a disease to which the Jews were very
incident, and concerning which, many laws and rules are given, in
(
Leviticus 13:1-14:57 ) . The symptoms of the ancient "lepra",
as laid down by Galen, Aretaeus, Pontanus, Aegineta, Cardan,
Varanda, Gordon, Pharaeus, and others, are as follow. The
patient's voice is hoarse, and comes rather through the nose than
the mouth; the blood full of little white shining bodies, like
groins of millet, which upon filtration, separate themselves from
it; the serum is scabious, and destitute of its natural humidity,
insomuch that salt applied to it, does not dissolve; it is so
dry, that vinegar poured on it boils; and is so strongly bound
together by little imperceptible threads, that calcined lead
thrown into it swims. The face resembles a coal half extinct,
unctuous, shining, and bloated, with frequent hard knobs, green
at bottom, and white at top. The hair is short, stiff, and
brinded; and not to be torn off, without bringing away, some of
the rotten flesh, to which it adheres; if it grows again, either
on the head or chin, it is always white: athwart the forehead,
run large wrinkles or furrows, from one temple to the other; the
eyes red and inflamed, and shine like those of a cat; the ears
swollen and red, eaten with ulcers towards the bottom, and
encompassed with little glands; the nose sunk, because of the
rotting of the cartilage; the tongue dry and black, swollen,
ulcerated, divided with furrows, and spotted with grains of
white; the skin covered with ulcers, that die and revive on each
other, or with white spots, or scales like a fish; it is rough
and insensible, and when cut, instead of blood, yields a sanious
liquor: it arrives in time to such a degree of insensibility,
that the wrist, feet, or even the large tendon, may be pierced
with a needle, without the patient's feeling any pain; at last
the nose, fingers, toes, and even privy members, fall off entire;
and by a death peculiar to each of them, anticipate that of the
patient: it is added, that the body is so hot, that a fresh apple
held in the hand an hour, will be dried and wrinkled, as if
exposed to the sun for a week F5. Think now what a miserable
deplorable object this man was, said to be full of it. Between
this disease and sin, there is a very great likeness. This
disease is a very filthy one, and of a defiling nature, by the
ceremonial law; under which it was considered rather as an
uncleanness, than as a disease; the person attended with it was
pronounced unclean by the priest, and was put out of the camp,
and out of the cities and walled towns, that he might not defile
others; and was obliged to put a covering on his upper lip, and
cry Unclean, Unclean, to acknowledge his pollution, and that
others might shun him: all mankind, by reason of sin, are by the
Lord pronounced filthy; and by their evil actions, not only
defile themselves, but others; evil communications corrupt good
manners; and when they are made sensible, freely own that their
righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and they themselves as an
unclean thing: it is a very nauseous and loathsome disease, as is
sin; it is abominable to God, and renders men abominable in his
sight; it causes the sinner himself, when convinced of it, to
loath and abhor himself: David calls his sin a loathsome disease,
( Psalms
38:7 ) it is of a spreading nature: this was a sign of it, if
it did not spread, it was only a, scab; if it spread, it was a
leprosy, ( Leviticus
13:5-8 ) . Sin has spread itself over all mankind, and over
all the powers and faculties of the soul, and members of the
body; there is no place free of it: and as the leprosy is of
consuming nature, it eats and wastes the flesh, see ( Numbers
12:10 ) ( 2 Kings 5:10
) so sin eats like a canker, and brings ruin and destruction upon
men, both soul and body. This disease was incurable by medicine;
persons that had it were never sent to a physician, but to a
priest; and what he did was only this, he looked upon it, and if
it was a clear case, he declared the person unclean; and if it
was doubtful, shut him up for seven days, and then inspected him
again; and after all he could not cure him; this was the work of
God, ( 2 Kings
5:7 ) . All which shows the nature and use of the law, which
shuts men up, concludes them under sin, and by which they have
knowledge of it, but no healing: the law heals none, it is the
killing letter, the ministration of condemnation and death;
Christ only, by his blood and stripes, heals the disease of sin,
and cleanses from it. There is one thing in the law of the
leprosy very surprising, and that is, that if there was any quick
raw flesh, or any sound flesh in the place where the leprosy was,
the man was pronounced unclean; but if the leprosy covered his
skin, and all his flesh, then he was pronounced clean: this
intimates, that he that thinks he has some good thing in him, and
fancies himself sound and well, and trusts to his own works of
righteousness, he is not justified in the sight of God; but if a
man acknowledges that there is no soundness in his flesh, that in
him, that is, in his flesh, dwells no good thing, but that his
salvation is alone, by the grace and mercy of God, such a man is
justified by faith in Christ Jesus: the parable of the Pharisee
and publican will illustrate this, ( Luke
18:10-14 ) . "Who, seeing Jesus, fell on his face, and
besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me
clean"; (See Gill on Matthew
8:2). Christ could cure lepers, and did; and which was a
proof of his Messiahship, and is given among the signs of it, to
John's disciples, ( Matthew 11:5
) and as there is a likeness between the leprosy and sin, so
between the cleansing of a leper under the law, and the healing
of a sinner by Christ: for the cleansing of a leper, two birds
were to be taken clean and alive, which were both typical of
Christ, and pointed at the meekness of his human nature, his
innocence, harmlessness, and purity, and that he had a life to
lay down; one of these was to be killed, in an earthen vessel
over running water, showing that Christ must be killed, his blood
must be shed for the cleansing of leprous sinners; the earthen
vessel denoted his human nature, his flesh, in which he was put
to death; and the running water signified the purifying nature of
his blood, and the continued virtue of it, to cleanse from all
sin; and the blood and the water being mixed together, may put us
in mind of the blood and water which flowed from the side of
Christ, when pierced with the spear; which was an emblem of our
justification and sanctification being both from him, on account
of which, he is said to come both by water and by blood, (
1 John 5:6 ) .
The other bird, after it was dipped with the cedar wood, scarlet
and hyssop in the blood of the slain bird, was let go alive;
which typified the resurrection of Christ, who was put to death
in the flesh, and quickened in the Spirit; and who rose again,
for the justification of his people from all sin: the cedar wood,
scarlet, and hyssop, which were used in the cleansing of the
leper, may either relate to the sufferings, and death, and blood
of Christ; the scarlet wool may denote the bloody sufferings of
Christ, through which he was red in his apparel; the cedar wood
may signify the incorruptibleness and preciousness of the blood
of Christ, and the hyssop the purging virtue of it; or else these
three may have regard to the three principal graces of the Spirit
of God, which have to do with, and are in influenced by the sin
cleansing blood of Christ: the cedar wood may signify the
incorruptible and precious grace of faith; the green hyssop, the
lively grace of hope; and the scarlet, the flaming grace of love,
when it is in its full exercise: or else the grace of faith, by
which dealing with the blood of Christ, the heart is purified, is
only meant; signified by cedar wood, for its permanency; by
scarlet, for its concern with the crimson blood of Christ; by
which sins, though as scarlet, are made white as wool; and by
hyssop, for its being an humble and lowly grace: now the cedar
stick, with the scarlet wool, and bunch of hyssop bound unto it,
was used to sprinkle the blood of the bird upon the leper seven
times, when he was pronounced clean; and expresses the
instrumentality of faith, in the application of the blood of
Christ for cleansing: though after this, the leper was to shave
off all his hair, and wash himself and clothes in water;
suggesting to us, that holiness of life and conversation which
should follow, upon cleansing through faith in the blood of
Christ.
F5 Chambers's Cyclopaedia in the word "Leprosy".