Jesus Sets Us Free From the Power of Sin

The leper was a captive of both sin and the law. He was experiencing the effects of the curse of sin in his illness and the law had left him literally isolated and alone. Jesus steps into his mess and frees him from his illness and frees him from the prison the law has made for him. This is an amazing picture of Romans 6-8 and Jesus setting us free from the power of sin, death, and the law.  Matthew has taken this famous healing story of Jesus and put it in a different place than the earlier Mark places it in the narrative. This is because Matthew wants us to see this aspect of Jesus’ ministry in connection with what surrounds it (the sermon on the mount) and the other authority narratives.