Then the priest shall look, and if the leprous disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; it has all turned white, and he is clean. Lev. 13:13
This verse may seem strange to many of today’s readers, but if leprosy had only covered part of the body and not all the flesh was white, that man would be pronounced unclean. On the other hand, if the disease covered his entire body, the man would be pronounced clean. This is because the flesh that was not yet white was still contagious, but if his flesh was completely white, the disease was no longer dangerous.
As interesting as this is, this text teaches us something much more profound, for leprosy in scripture is a picture of sin. We are the lepers. We are diseased with sin and utterly full of guilt, but in our natural state, we strive to deny that truth. We go to great lengths to refute our unworthiness before God, thinking that we can somehow justify ourselves. Even if we admit we are somewhat sinful, we still believe that God owes us something. In that condition, as we stand before the true high priest, Jesus Christ, we are pronounced unclean. It is not until we stand before him in complete poverty of spirit, knowing we have nothing to offer Him, admitting that we are entirely sinful, saying, “you have every right to pour your wrath upon me, but I plead the merits of your sacrifice on the cross,” does Christ say to us, “you are clean.”
Though we have nothing to offer
We must go to the High Priest
To present our empty coffer
With self-righteousness deceased
With hearts as black as dross
Filled with the obscene
All paid for on the cross
He’ll there pronounce us clean
-D. Eaton
The Fight of Faith 