In biblical times, leprosy was a generic term for a variety of highly infectious skin diseases. For the health of the community, people afflicted with one of these skin diseases would be forced to live alone, outside of their town or village until they could prove that they were clean. In the Bible, leprosy was also a graphic illustration for the destructiveness of sin, causing shame and separation from both God and others. Luke chapter 5 contains the miraculous account of a leprous man made clean. As we continue reading in our salvation story, Luke describes the opposition that Jesus would encounter from religious elites. To silence their criticisms Jesus sends the cleansed man to them as proof, evidence of his authentic and authoritative word. Just like that leprous man, if we come to Jesus he can and he will cleanse us from our most shameful sin. Our transformed life is powerful proof of the truth of the gospel.