Jesus was teaching by the lake outside the city limits, and many were gathered to hear his words. The leper, who in his seclusion had heard of some of his mighty works, came out to see him, and drew as near as he dared. Since his exile, the disease had made fearful inroads upon his system. He was now a loathsome spectacle, his decaying body was horrible to look upon. Standing afar off, he heard some of the words of Jesus, and saw him laying hands upon the sick to heal them. He beheld, with amazement, the lame, the blind, the paralytic, and those dying of various maladies, rise up at a word from the Saviour, restored to health and praising God for their salvation. He looked upon his own wretched body and wondered if this great Physician could not cure even him. The more he heard, and saw, and considered the matter, the more he was convinced that this was really the promised Saviour of the world, to whom all things were possible. None could perform such miracles but Him who was authorized of God, and the leper longed to come into his presence and be healed. {2SP 227.3}

Jesus lærte ved søen udenfor byens grænse, og mange forsamledes for at høre hans ord. Den spedalske, som i sin ensomhed havde hørt om nogle af Jesu mægtige gerninger, kom for at se ham og drog så nær, som han turde. Siden han forlod hjemmet, havde sygdommen tiltaget forfærdelig. Det var et væmmeligt syn at se på hans elendige legeme. Han stod langt (228) borte og hørte nogle af Jesus ord og så, hvorledes han lagde hænderne på de syge for at helbrede dem. Han betragtede med forundring de halte, blinde, lamme og mange andre, som blev helbredte, og priste Gud for sin frelse, så snart Jesus talte et ord. Han betragtede sit eget elendige legeme og undres om den Store Læge ikke også kunne helbrede ham. Jo mere ham hørte og så og overvejede sagen, desto mere blev han overbevist om, at denne virkelig var den lovede frelser, som skulle komme til verden, og for hvem alle ting var mulige. Ingen kunne udføre sådanne mirakler uden den, som Gud havde udsendt og den spedalske længtes efter at komme til ham og blive helbredt.