1:40–45 Here we encounter another type of illness and Jesus’ power in the face of it. This time it is a person who has leprosy (see the notes for discussion of the term used). Such an illness rendered the person ritually and socially “unclean,” according to OT law (Lev. 13–14), meaning that he or she was not allowed in the temple or at any social or religious gathering. Furthermore, anyone who touched a person in such a condition became unclean also. This is why the man here (1:40) asks to be made clean. To have such a condition was not just a health liability; it made one a prisoner, cut off from all normal life.

It is not to be overlooked that all the parallel Gospel accounts agree that Jesus touched the man (1:41; Luke 5:13; Matt. 8:3). The point of mentioning this seems to be to show …