Many of the laws we'll read about in Leviticus have to do with ceremonial and physical cleanliness. The concept of cleanliness permeated the Israelite's life, and great care was taken to limit the spread of "unclean" things such as leprosy. Indeed, leprosy was an especially tragic disease -- not only was the disease incurable, the person was considered unclean and cut off from the community. Throughout OT times, the laws to bring a person cured from leprosy back into Jewish society had never been used (ref. Leviticus 14). The common thought was that only the Messiah would be able to cleanse someone with leprosy and set these laws in motion.
Which is why Jesus' healing of the man with leprosy in Mark 1:40-45 should make us stand up and take notice. This sign tells us a couple things:
(1) This is a sign of power and holiness! Notice how Jesus cleans the man with leprosy -- He touches him. Jesus does not become unclean. He makes the unclean clean.
(2) Jesus is the Messiah! Notice his instructions to the man -- they are the ones from Lev. 14. While it looks like the man didn't obey the instructions (can you blame him?), it's pretty clear that this was a messianic sign for the Jewish leaders to investigate.
Take a moment today to praise our precious Savior Jesus. He has the power to make the unclean clean. He is willing. Be cleansed!