Mark 1:40-42, 44-45 NLT
[40] “A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said. [41] Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” [42] Instantly, the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed…
[44] “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.” [45] But the man went and spread the word, proclaiming to everyone what had happened. As a result, large crowds soon surrounded Jesus, and he couldn’t publicly enter a town anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded places, but people from everywhere kept coming to him.”
Leprosy! Not just a common cold, or ‘flu…or even measles or bronchitis. Leprosy was a slow, agonising death sentence but, not only that, a solitary, lonely death sentence with no friends and family to provide support and comfort. Every leper was automatically cancelled, thrown out and ostracised, forbidden from participating in society.
Imagine if you, a leper, discovered that there was one person in all Israel who was healing people! Wouldn’t you break your neck to get to Him? Wouldn’t you ignore all prohibitions, defy all opposition, overcome all obstacles, just to get as near to Him as you could?
One man did! Mark doesn’t tell us who he was or how he did it. He just records that this leprous man got to Jesus, fell at His feet, and begged Him for healing. The man’s only concern was, not could He, but would He do it?
Isn’t this often our concern, too? We know that Jesus can heal, but will He heal me? This man’s story reassures us that Jesus is always willing. There may be other considerations but never His willingness to meet our needs.
Jesus healed him and sent him to the priest to get confirmation of his healing and to fulfill his obligation to offer sacrifice for his ritual cleansing as required by the Law. These requirements were to witness that he was clean, perhaps so that he could be integrated back into his family and society.
However, Jesus gave the man another instruction, which, incidentally, he ignored and consequently made life difficult for Jesus.
Theologians called this instruction “the Messianic secret.” Why did Jesus instruct him not to tell anyone about what had happened to him? His obedience to ritual law would be sufficient testimony to his healing, according to Jesus.
Let’s look at it like this. Jesus didn’t want to be popular because of what He could do for people. He wanted people to believe in Him because of who He was. The greatest question He ever asked of His disciples was…
Matthew 16:15 NIV
[15] “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
… and the only answer we can ever give is…
Matthew 16:16 NIV
[16]… “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Romans 10:9 NIV
[9] “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
The trouble is that, in much of today’s preaching, people are invited to come to Jesus for what He can do for them, not for who He is. Take, for example, some of the great “healing” campaigns. People are urged to attend, to “Come and get your healing.”
Only when we are convinced that Jesus is the Son of God, only when we can confess, with conviction and commitment, that He is Lord, will we know and experience the truth of His salvation. Jesus’ desire is that we never follow Him just because of what people tell us or what He can do for us. He demands that we obey the gospel because it is the right thing to do. We must follow Him because we believe that He is Lord, our Supreme Authority, and we willingly bow to His authority.
In his mistaken enthusiasm, the healed leper did more damage to Jesus’ ministry than good because his testimony fostered people’s attraction to Jesus for what He could do for them without any conviction of who He was. Oh yes, there were debates about Him, but little faith in Him because, to follow Him meant death to self and selfish living. Few would respond to a condition like that.
Matthew 16:24-26 NIV
[24] “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. [25] For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. [26] What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”
The same principle applies today even if preachers mistakenly present Jesus as the answer to all ills. He is Lord. He commands us to repent and believe the gospel because this is the only way to be reconciled to God.