Albert Barnes Commentary Matthew 8:2

"And behold, there came to him a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." — Matthew 8:2 (ASV)

There came a leper. No disease with which the human family has been afflicted has been more dreadful than that which is often mentioned in the Bible as the leprosy. It first shows itself on the surface of the skin. The appearance is not always the same, but it commonly resembles a spot made by a pinprick, or the pustules of ringworm.

The spots generally appear very suddenly. Perhaps their appearance might be hastened by any strong emotion, such as fear or anger. (2 Chronicles 26:19). The spots commonly show themselves, at first, on the face, about the nose and eyes, and increase in size over several years, until they become as large as a pea or a bean.

There are three kinds of leprosy, distinguished by the appearance of the spots—the white, the black, and the red leprosy. These spots, though few at first, gradually spread until they cover the whole body. But though the appearance of the disease is at first in the skin, it is deeply seated in the bones, marrow, and joints of the body.

We have reason to suppose that, in children, it is concealed in the system for several years, until they arrive at the age of puberty; and in adults for three or four years, until at last it gives frightening indications on the skin that it has gained a well-rooted and permanent existence.

A leprous person may live twenty, thirty, or even fifty years, if they contracted the disease at birth, but they will be years of indescribable misery. The bones and marrow are pervaded with the disease. The malady advances from one stage to another with slow and certain ruin.

"Life still lingers amidst the desolation"; the joints, hands, and feet lose their power; and the body collapses, or falls together, in a form hideous and awful. There is a form of the disease in which it commences at the extremities: the joints separate; the fingers, toes, and other limbs, one by one, fall off; and the disease thus gradually approaches the seat of life.

The wretched victim is thus doomed to see himself dying piece-meal, assured that no human power can arrest, for a moment, the silent and steady march of this foe to the seat of life. This disease is contagious and hereditary. It is easily communicated from one to another and is transmitted to the third and fourth generation. The last generation afflicted with it commonly exhibits symptoms such as decayed teeth, foul breath, and an unhealthy complexion.

Moses gave particular directions by which the real leprosy was to be distinguished from other diseases. (See Leviticus 13:1 and following). The leprous person was, to avoid contagion, very properly separated from the congregation. The inspection of the disease was entrusted to the priest; and a declaration by him that the person was healed was sufficient evidence to restore the afflicted man to the congregation.

It was also required that the leprous person should bring an offering to the priest of two birds, commonly doves, one of which was killed, and the other released. (See Leviticus 14:1 and following). In compliance with the laws of the land, Jesus directed the man whom he had healed to make the customary offering and to obtain the testimony of the priest that he was healed.

Leprosy has once, and only once, appeared in America. This loathsome and most painful disease has, in all other instances, been confined to the Old World, and chiefly to the eastern nations. It is a matter of profound gratitude to a benignant God that this scourge has been permitted but once to visit the New World. That awful calamity was in the island of Guadeloupe, in the West Indies, about the year 1730, and is thus described by an eyewitness, M. Peyssanel:

"Its commencement is imperceptible. There appear only some few white spots on the skin. At first they are accompanied by no pain or inconvenience; but no means whatever will remove them. The disease imperceptibly increases for many years. The spots become larger, and spread over the whole body. When the disease advances, the upper part of the nose swells, the nostrils become enlarged, and the nose itself soft. Tumors appear on the jaws; the eyebrows swell; the ears become thick; the points of the fingers, as well as the feet and the toes, swell; the nails become scaly; the joints of the hands and feet separate, and drop off. In the last stage of the disease the patient becomes a hideous spectacle, and falls to pieces."

Worshipped him. Bowed down before him, to show him respect. (See Barnes on Matthew 2:2).

If thou wilt. This was an exhibition of great faith, and also an acknowledgment of his dependence on the will of Jesus, to be healed. So every sinner must come. He must feel that Jesus can save him. He must also feel that he has no claim on him; that it depends on His sovereign will; and must cast himself at His feet with the feelings of the leper:—

"I can but perish if I go;
I am resolved to try:
For if I stay away, I know
I shall forever die."

Fortunately, no one who ever came to Jesus with this feeling failed to be received and pardoned.

Make me clean. Heal me. Leprosy was regarded as an unclean and disgusting disease. To be healed, therefore, was expressed by being cleansed from it.