And, behold, there came a leper— It has been generally thought, that this is the leper whose cure is recorded, Mark 1:40. Luke 5:12 and consequently that the sermon in Luke is not the same with that in the preceding chapter. But the cures, says Macknight, are different: that was performed in a city, this in the fields. Having cleansed the leper here mentioned, Jesus entered into Capernaum, and cured the centurion's servant; whereas, the other leper having published the miracle, Jesus did not choose, at least in the day-time, to go into the town; but remained without in desart places to shun the crowd. It must be acknowledged, indeed, that there are some things similar in the two cures: for instance,both the lepers say to Christ, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean; but it was so natural to address their desires to the Son of God in this form, by which also they express their belief in his power, that it is rather matter of wonder we do not find it more frequently made use of. Farther, there is the same command given to the lepers to go shew themselves to the priest; but this command must have been repeated not twice, but twenty times, on supposition that Jesus cleansed lepers so often. Accordingly we find him repeating it to the ten lepers, whom he cleansed at one time in Samaria; Luke 17:14. As for the circumstance of his bidding the cured person tell no man what had happened, it occurs almost in every miracle performed by Christ during the two first years of his ministry; the reasons for which see in the note on Matthew 8:4.
The immediate cure of the leprosy was only in the power of God: the leper, therefore,bythisapplication to Christ, immediately confesses his divine authority; but more fully to enter into this subject, the reader should refer to our notes on Leviticus 13 and on 2 Kings 5:6-7.