Leviticus 14:7, commentary and pictures

The rite requires the one being cleansed from leprosy to be sprinkled seven times, to be pronounced clean, and to have the living bird let loose into the open field. It belongs to a procedure in which the priest had to examine the healed person, declare him clean, and carry out the prescribed cleansing rites before he could return to family and friends and to family and society. The leper's condition could cut him off in isolation from family, society, and Israel's congregation, and the priest's verdict decided that sentence. That declaration confirmed the person was free from disease and no longer infectious and could safely rejoin others.

Jesus directed the healed leper to follow this prescribed ceremony by presenting himself to the priest and bringing the offering Moses commanded. The healed man was to present the offering prescribed by that law to the priest. In doing so He recognized the authority of the ceremonial law for cleansing a leper. That direction showed respect for the law and showed that His healing did not oppose the law of Moses and was not opposed to the Jewish code.

The required priestly examination and public decision provided an impartial public certification of the cure. It made the healing a testimony to the people of Christ's healing power and love for humanity and gave the priests testimony of the healing. The cleansing requirement belongs to the ceremonial law, whose ordinances were types that met their fulfillment in Christ's death. The living bird, dipped in the blood of the slain bird and released, symbolizes the atonement in which death and life are joined in the pardoning blood of Christ and His resurrection life. The flowing water in the rite represents the blood of Christ as an ever-flowing, ever-cleansing source by which people are pardoned and cleansed from every stain of sin.