S – Right away a man with leprosy came up and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 

³ Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Matthew 8:2–3 CSB

O – Commentary:

Leprosy was an unattractive skin disease for which the Bible had prescribed quarantine from the rest of society (Lev 13:45–46).  Lepers were thus largely outcasts from society (2 Kings 7:3). In personal address, “Lord” could also mean “Sir”; the degree of respect connoted depended on the person addressed. Prostrating oneself before another signified extreme respect for another’s dignity or power to meet a difficult need.

8:3. Touching a leper was forbidden (cf. Lev 5:3), and most people would have been revolted by the thought of it. Indeed, the *law enjoined the leper’s isolation from society (Lev 13:45–46). 

The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament

A – The fact that Jesus came close and touched the leper is remarkable.  The value he put on that person who knew no sense of “closeness” or even what it meant to have someone put their hand on him.  Jesus models a love that looks beyond the outside and sees the person for who he is.  We want to align with this type of love.

R – Heavenly Father, you are our God.  Thank you for the model Jesus gave us while on this earth.  Please help our hearts and actions align with demonstrating that love in tangible ways.  We want others to know you.