Mark 1:41-45
Mark 1:41 (KJB)
And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith
unto him, I will; be thou clean.
Jesus then realizes the faith of the leper and also sees the horrible condition
he was in and has compassion on him. He puts forth His hand and touches the
leper, which under the law was forbidden, and heals him. The healing took place
immediately. This represents what a person experiences when they become a
Christian. A person has all their sins weighing them down, then the Lord Jesus
Christ saves them and in an instant, He removes all their sins from them, thus
removing the weight of guilt, shame, and condemnation. (Psa 103:12 KJV) As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from
us. Psalm 103:12 states the He removed our sins not covered them or made
them white as snow as some misinterpret Isaiah 1:18. (Isa 1:18 KJV) Come
now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be
as wool. What God is speaking about here is the mushrooming effect of
leprosy, it starts out small as red spots but then as it grows and infects the
whole body, it turns it white as snow. This would be a total contradiction in
the Scriptures if on the one hand God makes our sins white from red and then in
other passages it states He removed them. (Col 2:13-14 KJV) And you, being
dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; {14} Blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; Both Psalm 103:12
and Colossians 2:13-14 state unequivocally that God removes our sins and does
not cover them by making them white as many believe. Once the sin is removed,
then we are clean according to biblical standards.
Mark 1:42 (KJB)
And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he
was cleansed.
Jesus had no sooner spoke and the leprosy had departed from the man and he was
cleansed. There was no elaborate formulas or ceremonies. Jesus just spoke and it
was done. This is another evidence of His deity because as He spoke the universe
and earth into existence, He just speaks and sickness departs. He only needs to
speak and whatever He is speaking to will obey. (Luke 8:24 KJV) And they
came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose,
and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was
a calm. (Psa 33:8-9 KJV) Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. {9} For he spake, and it was done;
he commanded, and it stood fast.
Mark 1:43 (KJB)
And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away;
Then Jesus sternly charges the man to say nothing to anyone about who healed
him. The word in the Greek for “straitly charged” carries with it the meaning of
“scold or be angry” in addition to “charge sternly.” It seems Jesus was showing
anger at this man because it was now becoming almost impossible for Him to
proclaim the Gospel because of all the healings which He was doing. This is a
very important point because there are many in the charismatic movement who
believe that God wants everyone healed and that simply is not true. If Jesus is
to heal everyone then why did He show anger? It was because these healings were
now hindering the progress of Him proclaiming the Gospel which was His primary
calling. We need to take a lesson from this that all these signs and wonders are
nothing but a diversion from the truth of sending forth the Gospel. These signs
and wonders are not to be focused on but the sending forth of the Gospel is to
be focused on.
Mark 1:44 (KJB)
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.
Since Jesus was in Galilee and this man was healed in Galilee, Jesus now
instructs this man to go to the priest for the required examination to verify
his healing from the leprosy and to make the appropriate sacrifice. (Leviticus
14) The place where he was to have this done would have been in Jerusalem at the
temple, which would have been a journey south of where he was. Now it seems
strange that Jesus would tell this man not to say anything about it because He
would have done this miracle of cleansing publicly in the sight of many of those
who listened to His sermon. He was commanded not to say anything because it was
not His time yet and He did not want to draw any attention to Himself before the
appointed time. When one looks at Leviticus 14, we read the cleansed leper was
to shave all the body hair and wash their clothes and body in fresh water. What
a tremendous picture of what happens to the believer when they become saved,
every vestige of sin is removed from us plus we are to remove anything which
brings back memories of the old life. As the cleansed leper now begins his new
life after his cleansing, the believer also begins their new life at the moment
of salvation. I feel sorry for those that believe we cannot learn anything of
value for today from Leviticus.
Mark 1:45 (KJB)
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.
As usual, the healed man did not obey the Lord and instead of going to the
priest and showing himself so he could be declared clean, he went out and became
the town crier and published it all around how he was healed and who healed him.
The man had spread the word so well that it had become impossible for Jesus to
enter any city openly because as soon as He would come, He would be recognized
and there would be thousands waiting to be healed. So this caused Jesus to
remain outside of the cities in the more rural areas and as soon as the people
found out where He was staying, they would begin to go to Him and soon great
crowds had formed wherever He was.