21 · Action of Jesus

Jesus Touches the Leper

Mark 1:40–45

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Jesus reaches out and touches an adult man with visible skin disease while people in the background react in a biblical setting.

A man regarded as unclean appeals to Jesus.

Why does Jesus touch the man?

Choose a perspective

There is no score – choose the perspective you find closest and discuss why.

Discuss: What can physical touch mean to a person whom others avoid?

After your discussion: compare with our assessment

Our assessment

A takes Mark's concrete description seriously: Jesus reaches out and touches the man. The touch occurs in a setting where the man's condition was associated with uncleanness and social consequences. C captures the striking direction of the story. The touch does not result in the man's condition overpowering Jesus; instead, the man is cleansed.

21 · Mark 1:40–45

Go deeper

Text & context

Full translation

40 A leper came to him, pleading with him. Kneeling down, he said, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I am willing. Be made clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 Jesus immediately sent him away with a stern warning 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone. Instead, go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 45 But the man went out and began to proclaim it widely and spread the story, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town. Instead, he remained outside in deserted places, and people came to him from everywhere.

Translated from the Greek text – SBLGNT

What is happening here?
A man with lepra comes to Jesus and expresses strong confidence in Jesus' ability. He does not say “if you can,” but “if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus stretches out his hand and touches the man before saying, “I am willing. Be made clean!” The man is immediately cleansed. Jesus then instructs him not to tell anyone, but to show himself to the priest and offer what Moses commanded for cleansing. The man nevertheless spreads the story so widely that Jesus can no longer openly enter towns.
Notice this

The man does not ask “Can you make me clean?” He says “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus answers: “I am willing.” Also notice the sequence: Jesus stretches out his hand, touches him, and then says “Be made clean!”

Language & translation

From the Greek

ἐὰν θέλῃς δύνασαί με καθαρίσαι – ean thelēs dynasai me katharisai

if you are willing, you can make me clean The condition concerns Jesus' willingness: “if you are willing.”

θέλω – thelō

I am willing Jesus uses the same verb the man has just used concerning his willingness.

καθαρίσθητι – katharisthēti

be made clean An imperative from katharizō, to cleanse or make clean.

ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα – ekteinas tēn cheira

stretching out his hand Mark describes the movement concretely before the touch.

ἥψατο – hēpsato

touched From haptomai, to touch or take hold of.

σπλαγχνισθείς – splanchnistheis

moved with compassion SBLGNT has this reading. A significant textual variant instead describes Jesus as becoming angry.

Translation note

Independent English translation from the Greek text, using SBLGNT as the primary Greek edition.

Compare for yourself

Read Mark 1:40–45 together with Matthew 8:1–4 and Luke 5:12–16. Pay particular attention to:

  • thelō
  • katharizō
  • ekteinas tēn cheira
  • haptomai
  • splanchnistheis and the textual variant involving anger
  • the instruction to show himself to the priest

You may also read Leviticus 13–14 for the background to the purity regulations.

Continue the conversation

Discuss further
  1. Why do you think Mark explicitly tells us that Jesus touched the man?
  2. What is the difference between “if you are willing” and “if you can”?
  3. How can categories of “clean” and “unclean” affect the way people treat one another?
  4. Why does Jesus tell the man not to spread the story, and what happens when he does?
Parallel passages
  • Matthew 8:1–4
  • Luke 5:12–16
  • Leviticus 13–14
Sources
  • The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (SBLGNT), Michael W. Holmes, ed.
  • Mark 1:40–45
  • Matthew 8:1–4
  • Luke 5:12–16
  • Leviticus 13–14
  • Standard Greek lexical resources for lepra, thelō, katharizō, haptomai, splanchnizomai, and orgizomai