“Thou Canst Make Me Clean” (Mark 1:39-45)
Study Six
A Few Thoughts from the Gospel of Mark
THOU CANST MAKE ME CLEAN
(Mark 1:39-45)
As Jesus expanded His ministry going from town to
town (cp. 1:38), Mark tells us, “He preached in their
synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils”
(1:39). Everywhere Jesus went, His power was on
display. The people heard of Him, and they came to Him.
The news of His power and miracle spread like wildfire.
In Mark 1:40-45, we see another example of His
power in the story of the leper who came to him. His
story is an example of the love Jesus has for all people
and His power to change their lives. The story of the leper
reminds us that no matter how bad one’s life may be,
Jesus can give one a new life. As with the leper, He can lift
one from the horror of a broken life to the happiness of a
blessed life.
As this leper came to Jesus, we hear him saying,
“Thou canst make me clean” (1:40). His statement
reminds us that Jesus has the power to cleanse from all
sin. Let’s look closer at the story by first thinking about:
THE CONDITION OF THE LEPER
Mark begins the story by saying, “And there came a
leper to Him” (1:40). Leprosy was the dreaded disease,
the scourge of the ancient world. The word filled people
with horror. At the time, there was no known cure for
leprosy. Anyone living with leprosy was viewed as a
living corpse.
As for the leper before us, we see:
The Seriousness of His Leprosy
Leprosy had numerous consequences for the one
who had the disease. Leprosy affected one socially. The
Law required that all lepers be segregated and separated
from people. We would call it quarantine. If anyone came
close to a leper, the leper was required to cover his face
and cry loudly, “Unclean, unclean.” Later, they were
required to wear bells around their neck as a warning to
others. Due to being socially outcasted, the garbage
dumps of the city were usually their home.
It also affected them ceremonially. They were
considered defiled and unclean. Therefore, they could
not attend the local synagogue or participate in any
religious activity.
The most obvious consequence was how it affected
them physically. Leprosy, now often called Hansen’s
Disease, is a bacterial infection that attacks the skin and
nerves. It often begins with a small white spot or
A Few Thoughts from the Word by Ken Trivette
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discoloration of the skin. If not treated, as it progresses,
it produces horrible sores on the body, causes hair loss,
inflammation of the eyes, and even blindness, a loss of
feeling in the fingers, toes, and other extremities of the
body. It can even lead to paralysis. It attacks the
respiratory system making breathing difficult. As you
can imagine, it is a horrible disease, a disease that leads
to disfigurement, disability, and eventually death.
Mark simply calls him “a leper.” Luke gives us more
insight into the seriousness of his condition. He
described this leper as “full of leprosy” (Luke 5:12). The
word “full” literally means “fully covered” and speaks of
that which is “complete.” Luke informs us that this leper
was in an advanced stage of leprosy. One can only
imagine the horrible sight of this leper, covered in
putrefying sores, hideous, repulsive, and disfigured. His
condition was a serious case.
The leper and his condition remind me of:
The Symbolism of His Leprosy
Leprosy in the Bible is a type of sin. Perhaps no other
picture of sin illustrates the horrible and destructive
nature of sin, as does leprosy. It gives us a vivid and
graphic picture of the defilement and ugliness of sin.
As stated earlier, it begins with a small white spot.
This white spot appears on the hand, arm, leg, or face. In
time the whole body is covered or affected. Sin always
begins with what we would call a small act and then gets
worse. A simple glance or thought can lead to destructive
actions. The alcoholic started with a first drink. The
addict had his or her first time using a drug. But in each
case, the first led to a second, the second to a third, and
eventually, addiction and bondage. Sin may be slight in
its beginnings, but it is always progressive.
Like leprosy separated one socially and
ceremonially, sin separates us from God. It makes us a
spiritual outcast and at enmity with God.
Secondly, we not only see the condition of the leper
but also:
THE CURE OF THE LEPER
Mark tells us that this leper came to Jesus,
“beseeching Him, and kneeling down to Him, and saying
unto Him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean” (1:40).
At some time this leper had heard of Jesus and the
miracles He was performing. Perhaps he had walked or

crawled from the city dump to get to Jesus. He knew that
he was not allowed on the streets or near other people,
yet he came anyway.
When he got to Jesus, he fell at His feet and began to
plead with Him to help him. In his coming to Jesus, we
see:
What He Needed
What did the leper ask for? His plea to Jesus was
“make me clean” (1:40). Having been declared unclean as
a leper, he wanted and needed to be made clean. He
needed more than better living conditions. He needed
more than sympathy from the people. He needed to be
made clean!
Interestingly, leprosy in the Bible is never spoken of
as being healed but rather as being cleansed. Under the
law, if a leper were cured of his leprosy, it was referred
to as “the day of his cleansing” (Lev. 14:2). As a type of sin,
it reminds us that our greatest need is to be cleansed of
our sin.
The Bible is very clear that “all have sinned” (Rom.
3:23). We all have a sin problem. We are not sinners
because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. Sin
separates us from God. There are destructive paths that
sin can take us down. Therefore, we need to be cleansed.
Furthermore, we see:
Who He Needed
Mark speaks of how “there came a leper to Him”
(1:40). He needed to be made clean, and he realized that
the only one who make him clean was Jesus.
He said to Jesus, “If thou wilt, thou canst make me
clean” (1:40). He knew Jesus could cleanse him. His
concern was whether would He cleanse him. Perhaps you
feel the same way. You know you need to be cleansed;
however, you are not sure Jesus will accept you because
of your sin. I have heard people say, “God would never
forgive someone like me.”
Notice how Jesus responded to the leper. We read,
“And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth His hand,
and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean”
(1:41). Jesus was deeply touched, and the leper was
divinely touched.
The words “moved with compassion” are a strong
term and are often used to speak of being indignant or
extremely angry. We know Jesus was not angry with the
leper for coming to Him. In this case, the words suggest
how deeply Jesus was moved. It was more than pity or
sympathy. His heart was deeply touched by the need and
plea of the leper. How He felt showed how much He
cared.
In an expression that showed how much Jesus cared,
He “touched him.” No one touched a leper. Perhaps no
one had touched him in years. However, Jesus reached
out His hand and touched him as if to say, “I love you. I
care about you.” The word “touched” speaks of more
than Him simply laying His hand on him. It means that
Jesus took hold of him and held him. I am sure everyone
gasped. No doubt, even His disciples were shocked.
A Few Thoughts from the Word by Ken Trivette
www.kentrivette.org
“Thou Canst Make Me Clean” (Mark 1:39-45)
Again, no one touched a leper. But Jesus took him, held
him firmly in His grasp.
The response of Jesus reminds us how much He
loves and cares for sinners. No matter who we are or
what we have done, Jesus loves us. You may not think or
feel that He would love anyone like you, but He does care.
He loves us when no one else loves us and loves us as no
one else.
We read, “And as soon as He had spoken, immediately
the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed”
(1:42). I love the description that R. Kent Hughes gave of
what happened, “The healing was sudden and complete.
His feet—toeless, ulcerated stubs—were suddenly
whole, bursting his shrunken sandals. The knobs on his
hands grew fingers before his very eyes. Back came his
hair, eyebrows, eyelashes. Under his hair were ears and
before him a nose! His skin was supple and soft. Can you
hear a thundering roar from the multitude? Can you hear
the man crying not, ‘Unclean, Unclean,’ but ‘I’m clean, I’m
clean!’”
As the songwriter declared, “O happy day when
Jesus washed my sins away.” We that were unclean can
now shout to the top of our voices, “I’m clean! I’m clean!”
Clean from the guilt of our past. Clean from the sin that
long held us fast. I’m clean!
As John Wesley was returning home from a service
one night, he was robbed. The thief, however, found his
victim to have little money and some Christian literature.
As the bandit was leaving, Wesley called out, “Stop! I
have something more to give you.” The surprised robber
paused. Wesley said, “My friend, you may live to regret
this sort of life. If you ever do, here’s something to
remember. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all
sin.” The thief hurried away, and Wesley prayed that his
words might bear fruit.
Years later, Wesley was greeting people after a
Sunday service. A stranger approached him. How
surprised he was to learn that this was the man who had
robbed him many years earlier and was now a successful
businessman and believer in Christ. “I owe it all to you,”
said the transformed man. “Oh, no, my friend,” Wesley
exclaimed, “not to me, but to the precious blood of Christ
that cleanses from all sin.”
The leper knew what he needed and who can give
him what he needed. Only Jesus can forgive sin. He alone
can cleanse from sin.
Lastly, we see:
THE CHARGE OF THE LEPER
Once Jesus had cleansed the leper, we read, “And He
straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; And
saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go
thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy
cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a
testimony unto them” (1:43-44). The word “charged”
means to strongly admonish someone such as giving an
order.
Jesus charged the leper to do two things. First, we
see:
 “Thou Canst Make Me Clean” (Mark 1:39-45)

Where He Was to Go

Jesus said to the leper, “shew thyself to the priest, and

offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses
commanded” (1:44). Under Jewish law, if a leper had
been cured, he was to present himself to the priest to be
examined. There was a complex eight-day procedure
that one went through to verify they were cured. If found
cured, the priest would announce that the leper was
clean, and he could resume a normal life.
Jesus charged the leper to go to the priest and be
publicly declared clean so that he could be “a testimony
unto them” (1:44). The leper was to be a living testimony
of the cleansing and saving power of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
As Christians, we are to be a testimony to those
around us. We are to be spiritual billboards of not only
what He has done for us but also what He can do for
others.
Furthermore, we see:

What He Was to Do

Jesus told him not only to go to the priest, but He

also charged him, “See thou say nothing to any man”
(1:44). This seems like a strange order not to tell anyone
what had happened. After all, he was to be a testimony of
what had happened. The Lord wants us to tell everyone
about Him, but it seems as if He was telling this man not
to tell anyone.
Why? We read, “But he went out, and began to
publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch
that Jesus could no more openly enter the city, but was
without in desert places: and they came to Him from every
quarter” (1:45). The popularity of Jesus was growing day
by day. Everywhere He went, masses of people were
surrounding Him. When the leper went out and told
everyone, it only made matters worse. Because of the
huge crowds, Jesus could no longer get into the towns but
rather had to go out into desert places (wide open
spaces) to accommodate all those who came. As Mark
says, “they came to Him from every quarter.” By telling
others, it hindered Him instead of helping Him.
Even though the leper disobeyed the Lord’s charge,
I doubt the Lord was angry with him. It is true that the
leper did what he was told not to do; he was so excited
and grateful for what the Lord had done that he could not
help telling everyone he met about what Jesus did for
Him. Jesus had changed his life. He could not keep his
mouth shut. His heart was like an artesian well. It
overflowed in praise and gratitude. He published it
much! He blazed abroad the story!
We should all be so grateful and excited about what
Jesus has done for us that we cannot keep silent. The
Good News is so good; how can we not tell others about
it? After all, He has made us clean.

A Few Thoughts from the Word by Ken Trivette

www.kentrivette.org