Mark 1:40-42 – 40A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
I love this story, this picture. A man who needs to be healed comes to Christ, on his knees, begging to be healed. He believes that Christ can heal him and make him clean, if only he (Jesus is willing). Jesus is always willing to heal those who come to him with faith. This man come to Jesus, has faith, and is humble. He is on his knees. Jesus sees him, and is filled with compassion. Jesus, full of compassion, reaches out and heals the man. He has compassion for this man, and for us. He wants to heal. He came to heal. That is why he was there, to heal sick people, to change lives. He touches the man, and says, “I am willing. Be clean!” This is beautiful. Jesus had compassion on him, and was willing to heal him. He has compassion on us, and is willing to heal us. He is waiting for people to come to him in faith, asking to be healed, asking to be clean.
Jesus, again, in this account, demonstrates his authority. He simply touches the man, saying “Be clean!” and he is healed of his leprosy. Verse 42 says that immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. When Jesus touches you, when he heals you and makes you clean, you are clean. There is no need to wash off or go through rituals to make yourself clean or cleaner. You are clean, just as this man was immediately cured and made clean by Jesus.
Mark 1:43-44 – 43Jesus 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.”
Jesus tells this man to go, and not to tell anyone about his healing. He directs him to go to the temple and show himself to the priests, offering the sacrifices that Moses commanded. Jesus says to do this as a testimony to the priests. I think this is very interesting. This man is a testimony to the priests, because he was healed and made clean outside of their system. The priests and religious leaders were caught up in a system of ritual and sacrifice, and had everything invested in the people needing to come to them, paying and offering sacrifices to be made “clean.” However, this man had been healed and made clean without going through their system. He had gone straight to Jesus.
I think there are a couple of reasons why Jesus told him not to tell anyone about this. First, I think Jesus was waiting for the appointed time to confront the priests and religious leaders. He wanted them to see that this man had been healed, but didn’t want to confront them just yet. Secondly, I think Jesus wanted people to believe him and love him apart from his miracle working. His miracles were always for the purpose of demonstrating his power and authority, so that people would believe in him. However, Jesus knew that many people, having seen or heard of a miracle, would simply come to him to see if he could work a miracle for them, not because they truly wanted to follow him or believe him. I think Jesus did this to prevent these type of people from coming to him.
Mark 1:45 – 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.
Although Jesus had told the man he cured of leprosy not to say anything, this guy couldn’t keep quiet. He went out and began to spread the news, telling everyone what Jesus had done. When Jesus changes someone’s life, when he heals you, this should be the response. A person who has been touched by Jesus can’t help but tell everyone about it. This guy had leprosy, and Jesus touched him, told him “Be clean!” and he was clean. He was healed. It was a miracle, and he couldn’t help but spread the news to everyone. As a result, everyone wanted to come to Jesus. Many were probably curious. Many probably wanted to see a miracle themselves. I am sure there were others who wanted to be healed. There were so many people who wanted to see Jesus that he couldn’t openly enter a town due to the crowds, but instead stayed outside in lonely places. I think it interesting that Mark uses the adjective “lonely” for the places Jesus stayed. With all of the people that wanted to come to him, you would think he wouldn’t be lonely, but Mark tells us he stayed in lonely places. Ministry is often times a lonely occupation. Being a missionary can be a very lonely existence at times. It encourages me to know Jesus experienced this, and despite having all the crowds desiring to see him, he stayed in lonely places. He knew what it was like to be lonely, to not belong. He was other. He was different. He stayed outside in lonely places, away from the crowds. I also think it very interesting that he didn’t use his newfound popularity for personal gain, but kept to himself. I think this is something we continually see with Jesus, that he wasn’t concerned with popularity or being important, but was simply there to do the work of his Father.
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