Leprosy was a disease of the skin that made a person unclean and unable to properly worship God. Jesus is capable of making people physically "clean" or healthy as well as spiritually "clean" or right with God. (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/unclean]] and [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/clean]])
##### "The kingdom of God is near" #####
Scholars debate whether the "kingdom of God" was present at this time or is something that is still coming. English translations frequently use the phrase "at hand," but this can create difficulty for translators. Other versions use the phase "is coming" and "has come near."