For the lepers, according to the law of Moses, to the pain of the disease was added the total marginalization from the people and being considered sinners, as if the disease were a direct consequence of some sin. In the first steps of his public life, Jesus has already challenged the customs: he cast out a demon on the Sabbath day, he approached Peter's mother-in-law and made himself served by her, something very striking for a rabbi of his time and culture, where women had no importance and it was rather opportune to avoid them. He, on the contrary, dedicates his first miracle of healing to her. Now he lets a leper come to him, and instead of saying to him: "I am unclean, get away from me", he kneels down and begs: "If you wish, you can cleanse me".
Jesus does not put distance between himself and the leper. With a gesture he changes the approach of the religion of his ancestors: not to keep the sinner outside and far away, but to purify and include him. The Levitical priests do not have the power to cure leprosy: they only certify whether the disease is present or not. The leper already knows that Jesus has this power. The Levites had only the ability to judge; Jesus, on the other hand, purifies and heals. They turned away, Jesus comes near and heals. Jesus, "having compassion, stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, 'I will: be cleansed'. And immediately the leprosy disappeared and "he was cleansed". Jesus reciprocates trust with compassion. "He sent him away, sternly charging him: Tell no one." This harshness might be surprising after the tenderness, but there was something important at stake: if the leper spoke, Jesus would have had to interrupt his preaching, because he would be suspected of having caught leprosy. Jesus treats him as a father does his little child, so that he does not endanger his own integrity or that of others by his imprudent actions. He sends him away so that they will not be seen together.
Jesus often recommends that they do not say what good it does, because spreading the truth is not an absolute value that is always valid: it depends on the circumstances and the opportunity, and on the real possibility that those to whom it is addressed have the capacity to understand, on the good that can be derived and the evil that can be avoided. He sent it to the priests "to serve as a testimony", hoping that they would understand the error of his approach. But he knew that he who sympathizes, then suffers. He suffers in his flesh the consequences of his audacity and his love. The cured leper disobeys him and tells everyone everything; that is why Jesus must enter in quarantine, in deserted places, without entering the cities. But they come looking for him from everywhere. Compassion, loving people, even in contravention of the law of Moses, attracts people to him.
