The miracles of Jesus - Classical Christian Literature by Athleo.net

124 THE CLEANSING OF THE LEPER
the bare head, the rent clothes, the covered lips.
And
so rigidly was he shut off from the companionship of
his fellows, that he had to give them timely warning
of his approach by the cry, " Unclean ! Unclean
!
This latter provision was doubtless prompted
partly by sanitary and medical considerations. The
Jews regarded leprosy as contagious, and in this they
have been confirmed by recent observation, though it
would appear that the disease is not communicated
very easily, and rarely by simple contact. But the
mere fear of infection cannot explain all the elaborate
provisions for the separation and cleansing of lepers
contained in the Levitical Law (Leviticus xiii., xiv).
These are clearly to a large extent religious in their
character, and are due to the fact that leprosy was
specially selected as symbolic of the divine wrath
against all uncleanness. The man suffering from it
was treated as ceremonially unclean, unable to share
in the privileges of God's covenant, and unfit for the
society of His holy people.
We can easily see how readily in consequence
leprosy came to be used in the Christian Church as
the type of sin in general, though it
ought to be noted
that it is never directly so spoken of in the Bible
itself. The nearest approach is in Psalm li. 7, where,
with evident reference to the cleansing of the leper, the
Psalmist prays, " Purge me with hyssop, and I shall
be clean : wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
But from the time of the Fathers, the comparison is
favourite one, and it is obvious how naturally it lends
itself to homiletic treatment. In its insidious beginning,
in its gradual and increasingly repulsive growth,
and in its fatal ending, the fell disease presents only
a