36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
While Jesus is off praying to ensure that He remained focussed on His mission from the Father, the disciples come searching for Him because the crowds are looking for Him. They seem to have been caught up in exactly the problem Jesus is trying to avoid. They see the opportunity of fame the crowds present, but Jesus says they need to leave and go to other towns so that His message can be preached. Jesus and the disciples leave Capernaum and move through Galilee where Jesus preached in the synagogues and cast out demons to validate His message.
At some point, a leper came to Jesus and asked for healing. As a leper, he would have suffered at every level, physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. He would have been a total outcast from society. He shows great courage coming up to Jesus. He also shows great faith because he recognises that Jesus could heal him even though no Jew had been healed of leprosy since Moses’ day. Jesus had compassion on him and cleansed him.
Jesus told him not to tell anyone what had happened and sent him to the priests to present himself and the appropriate offering the law of Moses dictated. This would be a validation of his cleansing and would serve as proof that Jesus had done the cleansing. That proof would be held against the priests in the future when they refused to believe Jesus is who He said He was. The law had the provision to declare someone clean from leprosy but it had no power to make someone clean.
The leper couldn’t restrain himself. He told everyone he could about what had happened to him so much so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town.
The leper was so excited about what had happened to him that he couldn’t stop himself from telling everyone, despite being in direct disobedience to Jesus. We have been told that we should tell everyone we know about what Jesus has done for us and most of us battle to tell even one person. Why?