Matthew’s portrayal of Jesus’ cleansing of the leper reveals Jesus’ cleansing from the stain of sin, with the leper showing the knowledge of sin, confessing and praying for his need for cleansing; and with Jesus showing his cleansing power and mission and demand for sinners to live according to the law, even though none of us can meet his demand.
The narrative of Jesus’ cleansing of the leper is presented by Matthew in such a way that the characteristics of this story can rightly be seen as representing the cleansing from the spiritual stain of sin. The leper approaching Jesus serves to remind us of the need for knowledge of sin, while his calling upon Jesus can be understood as representing confession and prayer. Afterward his obedience to Jesus reminds of the need to gratefully keep God’s commandments. Here it must also be noted that while Jesus demands righteous obedience, people always fall short of his demand.1
3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.