What does Matthew 8:4 mean?
Jesus has just healed a man of leprosy, though that's not a term either of them used. Matthew has referred to the man using Greek terms such as lepra and lepros (Matthew 8:2–3), which can suggest a wide range of skin conditions. The worst of these, Hansen's Disease, is what modern culture commonly calls leprosy. However, the man's declaration was that Jesus had the power to "make [him] clean." Christ did exactly that, with a touch.For the man, the ceremonial state of uncleanness caused by his condition was, apparently, the worst part of his disease. He would have been separated not only from the worship of God in the temple, but also from the daily lives of the people, including friends and family.
Once the man is healed, Jesus commands him not to tell anyone about it. Matthew will report on several moments in Jesus' ministry when He commands people not to talk about His power or reveal that He is the Messiah (Matthew 9:30; 12:16; 16:20; 17:9). Some commentators call this the "messianic secret." It may be that Jesus did not want to draw too much attention to His role as the Messiah too early in His ministry. There are moments in His ministry where people respond to His power with a desire for revolution against Rome (John 6:15). This is what many Israelites hoped and assumed Messiah would do.
However, Christ's mission was not to overthrow Rome. His mission was to die for the sins of humanity. Asking people not to publicize His power may have been aimed at keeping that mission on track. Part of that might have meant keeping the size of the crowds following Him from getting out of hand (Matthew 8:1). Mark's recounting of this same incident tells us the man completely ignored Jesus' command not to tell anyone. Instead, he "began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter" (Mark 1:45).
Jesus gave the healed man one more command. He told him to go show himself to the priest and offer the gift of a sacrifice commanded by Moses. That sacrifice included "two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop" (Leviticus 14:4–8). Once the priest inspected the man and received the sacrifice, the man would be declared officially and ceremonial clean and allowed to return to the community.
It's possible Jesus includes the words "for a proof to them" because He wanted to give the priests evidence of His power in the healing of this former leper. Prior to this moment, only Miriam (Numbers 12:14–15) and the gentile Naaman (2 Kings 5:14) had ever been healed of such a condition. This was evidence Israel's religious leaders would ignore or discount when later accusing Jesus of blasphemy for claiming to be the Christ.
