Gospel Compare

Compare the four Gospel accounts

Choose a Gospel category and read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John side by side. Empty columns are intentional when a Gospel has no direct account for the selected event.

Miracles: Cleansing a Leper

Jesus cleanses a man with leprosy.

Cleansing a Leper 3 of 4 Gospel account(s) Appears in Matthew, Mark, Luke.
Matthew

Matthew 8:1-4

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Matthew records Jesus touching and cleansing the leper.

1 When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.

2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."

3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.

4 Then Jesus said to him, "See that you don't tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

Mark

Mark 1:40-45

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Mark emphasizes Jesus' compassion and the man's witness.

40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."

41 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!"

42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning:

44 "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them."

45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

Luke

Luke 5:12-16

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Luke records the cleansing and Jesus withdrawing to pray.

12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."

13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him.

14 Then Jesus ordered him, "Don't tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them."

15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.

16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

John

No direct account

No direct account of this miracle.

Use another category to compare a passage from John.