Church Fathers Commentary Luke 5:12-16

"And it came to pass, while he was in one of the cities, behold, a man full of leprosy: and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And he stretched forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou made clean. And straightway the leprosy departed from him. And he charged him to tell no man: but go thy way, and show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. But so much the more went abroad the report concerning him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed of their infirmities. But he withdrew himself in the deserts, and prayed." — Luke 5:12-16 (ASV)

St. Ambrose of Milan: The fourth miracle after Jesus came to Capernaum was the healing of a leprous man. But since He illuminated the fourth day with the sun and made it more glorious than the rest, we ought to consider this work more glorious than those that came before. As it is said, And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy. It is right that no definite place is mentioned where the leprous man was healed, to signify that not just one people of a particular city, but all nations were healed.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria: The leper worshipped the Lord God in His bodily form. He did not consider the Word of God to be a creature because of His flesh, nor did he think lightly of the flesh He put on because He was the Word. Instead, in a created temple he adored the Creator of all things, falling on his face, as it follows: And when he saw Jesus he fell on his face, and pleaded with him.

St. Ambrose of Milan: In falling on his face, he showed his humility and modesty, for everyone should blush at the stains of his life. Yet his reverence did not hold back his confession; he shows his wound and asks for a remedy, saying, If you will, you can make me clean. He doubted the Lord's will not from a distrust of His mercy, but because he was held back by an awareness of his own unworthiness. But the confession is one full of devotion and faith, placing all power in the will of the Lord.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: For he knew that leprosy does not yield to the skill of physicians, but he saw demons cast out by divine authority and multitudes cured of various diseases, all of which he understood to be the work of the divine arm.

Titus of Bostra: Let us learn from the leper's words not to go about seeking the cure of our bodily infirmities, but to commit everything to the will of God, who knows what is best for us and arranges all things according to His will.

St. Ambrose of Milan: He heals in the same manner in which He had been asked to heal, as it follows: And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him. The law forbids touching a leper, but He who is the Lord of the law does not submit to the law, but makes the law.

He did not touch the man because He was unable to cleanse him otherwise, but to show that He was neither subject to the law nor, as a man, feared the contagion. For He who delivered others from pollution could not be contaminated Himself. On the contrary, He touched him so that the leprosy, which usually contaminated anyone who touched it, might be expelled by the touch of the Lord.

Theophylact of Ohrid: For His sacred flesh has a healing and life-giving power, as it is indeed the flesh of the Word of God.

St. Ambrose of Milan: In the words that follow, I will, be you clean, you have His will expressed, and you also have the result of His mercy.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: The royal command proceeds from majesty alone. How then can the Only-Begotten, who by His mere will can do all things, be counted among the servants? We read of God the Father that He has done whatever He pleased. But how can He who exercises the power of His Father differ from Him in nature? Besides, whatever things have the same power are usually of the same substance.

Let us, then, admire Christ in these things, working both divinely and bodily. For it is God's part to will something so that it is done accordingly, but it is man's part to stretch out his hand. Therefore, one Christ is perfected from two natures, because the Word was made flesh.

Gregory of Nyssa: Because the Deity is united with each part of man—that is, both soul and body—the signs of a heavenly nature are evident in each. The body declared the Deity hidden in it when, by touching, it provided a remedy; but the soul, by the mighty power of its will, showed the divine strength.

For as the sense of touch is the property of the body, so the motion of the will is the property of the soul. The soul wills; the body touches.

St. Ambrose of Milan: He says, I will, for Photinus; He commands, for Arius; He touches, for Manichaeus. But there is nothing between God’s work and His command, so that in the healer's inclination we may see the power of the work. Hence it follows, And immediately the leprosy departed from him.

But so that this spiritual leprosy does not become rampant among us, let each of us avoid boasting, following the example of our Lord’s humility. For it follows, And he commanded him that he should tell it to no one, so that He might truly teach us that our good deeds are not to be made public but should rather be concealed, and that we should refrain not only from gaining money but even from gaining favor.

Or perhaps the reason for His command of silence was that He preferred those who believed of their own accord rather than from the hope of receiving a benefit.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Though the leper was silent, the voice of the event itself was enough to proclaim it to all who acknowledged the power of the Healer through him.

St. John Chrysostom: Since men frequently remember God when they are sick but grow dull when they recover, He commands him to always keep God before his eyes, giving glory to God. Hence it follows, But go and show yourself to the Priest, so that the cleansed leper would submit himself to the priest's inspection and so, by his approval, be counted as healed.

St. Ambrose of Milan: This was also so the priest would know that he was cured not by the order of the law but by the grace of God, which is above the law. And since a sacrifice is commanded by the regulation of Moses, the Lord shows that He does not abrogate the law, but fulfills it, as it follows: And offer for your cleansing according as Moses commanded.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He seems here to approve of the sacrifice that had been commanded through Moses, even though the Church does not require it. It can therefore be understood to have been commanded because that most holy sacrifice, which is His body, had not yet begun.

For it was not right that the typical sacrifices should be taken away before that which was typified could be confirmed by the witness of the Apostles’ preaching and the faith of believers.

St. Ambrose of Milan: Or, because the law is spiritual, He seems to have commanded a spiritual sacrifice. Hence He said, As Moses commanded. Lastly, He adds, for a testimony to them. The heretics understand this incorrectly, saying that it was meant as a reproach to the law. But how could He order an offering for cleansing according to the commandments of Moses if He meant this as an attack against the law?

St. Cyril of Alexandria: He says, then, for a testimony to them, because this deed reveals that Christ in His incomparable excellence is far above Moses. For when Moses could not rid his sister of her leprosy, he prayed to the Lord to deliver her. But the Savior, in His divine power, declared, I will, be you clean.

St. John Chrysostom: Or, it means for a testimony against them—that is, as a rebuke to them and a testimony that I respect the law. For He is saying, “Now that I have cured you, I am sending you for the examination of the priests, so that you may bear witness for me that I have not violated the law.”

And although the Lord, in performing His cures, advised telling no one, instructing us to avoid pride, yet His fame spread everywhere, instilling the miracle into the ears of everyone, as it follows: But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him.

The Venerable Bede: The perfect healing of one man brings many multitudes to the Lord, as it follows: And great multitudes came together that they should be healed. For the leper, so that he might show both his outward and inward cure, does not cease to tell of the benefit he had received, even though forbidden, as Mark says.

St. Gregory the Great: Our Redeemer performs His miracles by day and passes the night in prayer, as it follows: And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed. He was hinting, so to speak, to ideal preachers that just as they should not entirely desert the active life for the love of contemplation, they should not despise the joys of contemplation because of an excess of activity. Instead, in silent thought, they should absorb what they might later give back in words to their neighbors.

The Venerable Bede: Now, that He retired to pray is something you would not ascribe to the nature that says, I will, be you clean, but to the nature that put forth its hand and touched the leper. This is not to say, according to Nestorius, that there is a double person of the Son, but that in the same person, just as there are two natures, so there are two operations.

St. Gregory of Nazianzus: He indeed performed His works among the people, but for the most part, He prayed in the wilderness, thereby sanctioning the freedom to rest for a while from labor to commune with God with a pure heart.

For He needed no change or retirement, since there was nothing in Him that could be relaxed, nor was there any place in which He might confine Himself, for He was God. Rather, it was so that we might clearly know that there is a time for action and a time for the higher occupation of prayer.

The Venerable Bede: Typologically, the leprous man represents the whole human race, languishing with sins that are like leprosy, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Thus, by the hand that was put forth—that is, the Word of God partaking of human nature—they might be cleansed from the vanity of their old errors and offer their bodies for cleansing as a living sacrifice.

St. Ambrose of Milan: But if the word is the healing of leprosy, then contempt for the word is the leprosy of the mind.

Theophylact of Ohrid: But note that after a man has been cleansed, he is then worthy to offer this gift: namely, the body and blood of the Lord, which is united to the Divine nature.