“ Mark 1:43 And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; 44 And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. 45 But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.” (Mark 1:43-45
JESUS HEALS A LEPER, #2
INTRODUCTION
Jesus has just confronted a leper who has, through his persuasion of who Jesus was, drawn near to him and said He could heal him if He wanted to. In a grand display of mercy, and confirming that He Himself was greater than any human condition, Jesus touched the leper, healing him because He wanted, or willed to do so. Only Jesus can change conditions because He wills to do so. Man cannot, by taking thought, or exerting his will, add anything to his stature or the length of his life (Matt 6:27), or “make one hair white or black” (Matt 5:36)– much less dismiss conditions that have fastened upon him. Jesus terminated the dreaded leprosy with His word – “Be clean!” – just as He dismissed the fever of Peter’s mother-in-law with a “rebuke.” Now that the man is clean, how will Jesus speak to him? What will He tell him to do? Will the man’s new-found cleanness be the primary thing? Will his state of wholeness be the conclusion of the matter? Is God honored as He desires to be by merely dismissing the troubles that plague us, or eliminating the circumstances that vex and disturb us? Is man the center of Jesus’ attention? We are going to be exposed to the Divine nature in this text, and to the manner in which Jesus reasoned, together with the purpose for which He came. Jesus will pull back the curtain of obscurity, giving us a small glimpse of WHY God does what He does.
CHARGED AND SENT AWAY
“ 43 And He straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away.”
It is imperative that we behold the nature of Jesus in the Gospels, not merely what He does. If Jesus was driven by the purpose of God, then we can learn something of that purpose in His words and works. Among other things, Jesus said He came 1 “to bring a sword” (Matt 10:34), to 2 “call sinners to repentance” (Mk 2:17), to 3 “do the will of Him” that sent Him (John 6:38), 4 that men might have life, and “have it more abundantly” (John 10:10), 5 to “save the world” (John 12:47), 6 to “bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37), and 7 to lay down His life (John 12:27). The Apostles further declared that Jesus was sent 8 “to be the Propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10), 9 to “deliver us from this present evil world” (Gal 1:4), 10 “to save sinners” (1 Tim 1:15), 11 “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8), to be 12 “the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14), 13 to lay down His life that He “might take it again” (John 10:17-18), and 14 “destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb 2:14).
These are a sort of spiritual tapestry upon which Christ’s works were wrought. At no point were any of His works intended to remove the attention from these higher and Divinely determined objectives. When His works are seen correctly, they will clarify all of these revealed objectives, causing them to become more uncluttered in our thinking.
HE STRAITLY CHARGED HIM. This is an unusually strong statement, and may, if not seen correctly, appear to be out of character for the Savior. The words “straitly charged” are translated from a single word, and mean “to charge with earnest admonition, sternly to charge, sternly warn, and to emphasize what is forbidden to do.” STRONG’S Other versions read, “strictly warned,” NKJV “sternly warned,” NASB “a strong warning,” NIV “very sharply,” BBE and “charged him sternly (sharply and threateningly, and with earnest admonition).” AMPLIFIED
Some modern representations of Christ would leave men thinking He could never speak sternly, or with great sharpness. However, this is not the case, as the text before us confirms. Nor, indeed, is this the only time Jesus is depicted as speaking in this way. This is the manner in which Jesus spoke of demons, “straitly” charging them not to make Him known (Mk 3:12). When He raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, Jesus “charged them straitly” not to make the matter known (Mk 5:43; Lk 8:56). When He healed two blind men, opening their eyes, He “straitly charged” them saying, “See that no man know it” (Matt 9:30).
Because we will deal with this kind of word in the next verse, I will limit myself here to the matter of Christ speaking “straightly,” or sternly. It is not that Jesus is a harsh and inconsiderate Lord, and no person must allow himself to think in this manner. However, there are circumstances and surroundings in which the works of Jesus are not viewed properly. There are spiritual environments in which corruption is so pervading that even the legitimate and gracious works of Christ are seen in a perverted way. In such environments Jesus’ words take on a certain character. A tone of warning can be heard in them at such times. To put it another way, when Jesus becomes popular with carnal people, He does not speak with the gracious and considerate tones that His disciples enjoy.
Secondly, this response of Jesus confirms there are obligations that follow blessing! We have not finished with our dealings with Jesus when our petitions are answered, and the desired blessings are obtained. This is obscured when the needs of men are exalted above the purpose of God and the glory of His Son.
HE FORTHWITH SENT HIM AWAY. Again, this is a strong expression. It does appear to the fleshly mind to be out of character for the Savior. Other versions read, “sent him away at once,” NKJV “immediately sent him away,” NASB and “[acting with deep feeling thrust him forth and] sent him away at once.” AMPLIFIED No sooner is the man healed, than Jesus sends him away. How must this have appeared to the man himself? And what of the people who witnessed this? Would they not think the Master was a bit harsh with the man? These are matters that did not shape the thinking or actions of the Lord. He always spoke and worked in view of the reason for which He was sent into the world.
Right here we learn something about the response of men to the works of the Lord.
There is something disarming about blessings in the body – even when they are brought by the Lord of glory Himself. Although it can be overcome, there is a marked tendency to lose interest in the Lord when only our bodies are effected by His work. This is seen in the multitudes that Jesus fed. Jesus said they now sought Him, “not because” they perceived the miracles, but because they ate “of the loaves and were filled” (John 6:26). There were the ten lepers who did not return “to give glory to God” (Luke 17:17-18). The response of the disciples to seeing the risen Savior also confirms the tendency of the flesh: “they yet believed not for joy” (Luke 24:41). All of this is involved in Jesus sending the healed leper away.
SILENCE, SHOWING, AND SACRIFICE ENJOINED
“ 44 And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.”
SAY NOTHING TO ANY MAN. As pointed out before, this is not the only time Jesus spoke in this manner. He told those who saw him raise Jairus’ daughter “that no man should know it” (Mk 5:43). When He healed a deaf man who had an “impediment in his speech,” He “charged them that they should tell no man” (Mk 7:36). To those two blind men to whom He gave sight, Jesus said “See that no man know it” (Matt 9:30). After great multitudes had followed Jesus, and He had “healed them all,” He “charged them that they should not make Him known” (Matt 12:16). When Jesus had been transfigured before Peter, James, and John, He told them, “Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man is risen from the dead” (Matt 17:9). This, then, was one of Christ’s characteristic manners throughout His ministry.
Although Jesus was a prodigious miracle worker, that is not how He wanted to be known, for His vicarious death, triumphant resurrection, and mediatorial work would extend far beyond the narrow confines of flesh and blood.
The particular idea here is that Christ’s time had not yet come. Once, at the feast of the tabernacles, Jesus’ brothers urged him to go into Judea, “that Thy disciples may also see the works that Thou doest.” They reasoned, “For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If Thou do these things, show Thyself to the world.” John adds that Jesus’ brethren did not yet “believe on Him.” For them, they simply wanted their brother to be better known – as a great worker among the people. Jesus replied to them, “My time is not yet come” (John 7:2-6). In regard to our text, it was inappropriate for Jesus to become popular among the people at that time. Sufficient time had not yet been realized for Him to more fully expound His real mission to the world. Later Jesus said He did not go up to the feast “for My time is not yet full come” (John 7:8). Again, when His enemies sought to take Him, they could not do so because “His hour was not yet come” (John 7:29). The same thing happened later in the Temple, when no man could lay hands on Him “for His hour had not yet come” (John 8:20). Jesus knew the Father’s time-table, and operated within the strict confines of that agenda.
SHOW THYSELF TO THE PRIEST. The healed leper was to go immediately to the priest, and show himself, according to the Law (Lev 13:49). Later, Jesus told ten lepers who sought mercy from Him, “Go show yourselves unto the priests.” Those men were cleansed “as they went”(Lk 17:14). In both cases, the cleansing of the lepers was to be confirmed according to the Law, not taken for granted. According to the Law, the priest was to present the “cleansed” leper to the people (Lev 14:11).
OFFER FOR THY CLEANSING. According to the Law, the cleansed leper was to bring an appropriate offering “for his cleansing to the priest” on the “eighth day.” That offering was presented to the Lord to “make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed before the Lord” (Lev 14:23-32). Thus the person would be pronounced clean by the priest, thereby qualifying him to once again be among the people.
Although Moses and the Prophets were technically “until John” (Matt 11:13; Lk 16:16), Jesus enjoined this law upon the man He had cleansed from leprosy. The reason for this is provided in the next phrase. This would lift the incident out of the arena of the seen and spectacular, and associate it with the Living God
FOR AS TESTIMONY UNTO THEM. Other versions read, “for a proof to the people,” RSV “that will be proof for them,” NAB “as evidence to them,” NJB “so everyone will have proof of your healing,” NLT and “as a proof (an evidence and witness) to the people [that you are really healed].” AMPLIFIED This confirms that Jesus did not intend for this miracle to remain obscure. He rather preferred that it be told by others who attested to its reality. This would also fulfill a word from Solomon: “Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips” (Prov 27:2).
Remember, all of this is within the context of this truth: it was not yet Christ’s time to be well known, or famous. From a practical point of view, Jesus must first become well known for both His words and works before His death would have the desired effect. This would provide time for His preaching to become even better known than His miracles, for that preaching would elucidate upon His death, resurrection, and the world to come. Jesus was preaching “the Kingdom of God,” which focuses on what God is doing. The clear implication of this text is that, in Jesus, God was doing infinitely more than meeting man’s temporal needs. Such a ministry did not require the death, resurrection, and intercession of Jesus!
WHEN TESTIMONY HINDERED CHRIST’S WORK
“ 45 But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to Him from every quarter.”
HE PUBLISHED IT MUCH. Some have imagined the Lord’s direction that the leper not make this known, was intended to actually provoke the man to speak it out. But this is a foolish notion, and unworthy of the slightest consideration. It represents Jesus has using “guile” and trickery to get someone to speak, which is anything but proper. Craftiness is not a trait of the Lord Jesus, but of those who are aligned with the devil(Mk 14:1; Eph 4:14). Jesus meant what He said, and the man ought to have obeyed it, going strait to the priest as he was told. However, being unduly motivated by his own zeal rather than the word of Jesus, “he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news.” NIV However, this was not the “news” that Jesus was spreading – which was the good news of “the Kingdom of God” (Lk 16:16).
When Jesus healed the Gadarene demoniac, He told him, “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee” (Mk 5:19). Luke says Jesus told the man to return to his “own house,” and show what great things had been done to him (Luke 8:39). What is the difference between these two accounts? First, the Law had no instructions for the healing of a mad-man, or the casting out of demons. Second, the man lived in a territory that was largely occupied by Gentiles, and thus Jewish priests were not readily available. Third, Jesus told the man to return to his own house and friends, to verify what had been done to him. This was much like the instruction given to the man in our text. However, in both cases, the healed person published the matter extensively, rather than first having the work confirmed by witnesses.
NO MORE. The outcome of the man’s indiscretion was that Jesus was no longer able to minister in the cities. Lest this be thought an inconsequential matter, ponder what the Lord had said of His ministry. “And He said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth” (Mark 1:38). And again, “And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent” (Luke 4:43). Thus his mission was hindered by the aggressive witness of a healed man.
It probably is not that Jesus was physically unable to enter the cities. Rather, now that the fame of His healing power was spread abroad, it would have hampered His ministry. It was His doctrine which so provoked the Jewish leaders, and would eventually lead to Christ’s ordained death. He came primarily to “preach” (Luke 4:18-18-19), but now the people were rushing to see, not to hear. They sought experience, not learning.
It is important that Jesus be known for the right reason – that He be perceived in the capacity for which God sent Him into the world, raised Him to sit at His right hand, and gave Him “all power in heaven and earth.” It is wonderful that the Lord Jesus can help us in all of the difficulties and vicissitudes of life. But let us not be so naive as to think that our earthly circumstances are the reason for God sending His only begotten Son. Let us not imagine for a moment that the resolution of human difficulties required the staggering cost that Jesus paid, or that this is why He has been “made higher than the heavens” (Heb 7:26). While Jesus had compassion upon the multitudes, and extended mercy to them, He refused to have His attention moved from the purpose for which He was sent into the world.
IN DESERT PLACES. Jesus did not immediately retire into the desert places, but did so after multitudes of people began coming to him. Luke informs us that Jesus eventually retired into the desert places to get away from the multitudes and pray: “But so much the more went there a fame abroad of Him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. And He withdrew Himself into the wilderness, and prayed” (Luke 5:15-16). The multitudes came to Him, but He went to God! Whatever we may think about the priority of people-problems, we must, in the integrity of our hearts, ponder this passage. It will assist us in obtaining a proper focus of the Lord Jesus – a focus that is essential if we are to receive the benefits that He has been exalted to give us.
THEY CAME TO HIM. The people came to Jesus “from every direction,” NKJV or “from everywhere.” NASB They did not come to obtain the forgiveness of sins, or the gift of eternal life, but because they were sick. Even when He went into desolate places, “Yet the people still came to Him from everywhere.” NIV They were unwittingly seeking to overwhelm His teaching by seeking their own satisfaction. They did not have a clear picture of Jesus, but saw Him merely as the answer to life’s difficulties. This in no way suggests that the Lord was impervious to the needs of the people. It does confirm that He refused to be moved from His mission, even by a demanding and aggressive people who sought His help. He must still be seen in this way.