LIFE OF CHRIST. 213

It was on tliis journey that He met the ten lepers, who cried
from afar for mercy, whom He sent to show themselves to tlie
priests; leprosy was infectious, and lepers lived in the suburbs
of towns; it was a type of sin, and supposed incurable but by
God. The lepers called Christ, Master, and confessed tlieir faith
by asking Him to cure tliem.
On a former occasion He healed a leper by His touch, prov-
ing that He was superior to its infection ; but now, without a
word or touch. He sent them to the priests; and as they went
they were healed. The going to the priests had a three-fold
object: first, a trial of their faith; second,. it fulfilled the Law,
which required a leper to be pronounced clean by the priest, be-
fore he could be restored to the congregation; thkd, it revealed
to them that Christ, the Immanuel, had come.
