Mark 1:40-45
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.
The verse preceding this section speaks of Jesus’ resolve to continue teaching in the synagogues and casting out demons, as He continues to usher in the Kingdom of God in the surrounding areas. Verse 40 starts off by telling us that while Jesus was going about teaching and casting out demons, a leper came to him asking to be made clean. Although there is a very distinct type of leprosy that was common in Biblical days that caused people to lose feelings in their nerves so as to lead them into many difficulties, the leprosy mentioned here is a generic term which includes not only the leprosy typically thought of being mentioned in the Bible, but also a variety of skin diseases which may or may not have been related to what we know today as leprosy.
Nevertheless, having a skin disease that would be classified as being a leprous disease was a very devastating disease to have not only because of the physical condition of a person’s body, but largely because of the social ramifications that were associated with having the disease. Leviticus 13:45-46 gives us some insight into some of the social ramifications of having this disease. The text reads:
45 “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the
hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out,
‘Unclean, unclean.’ 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He
is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.
People with leprosy had to wear special clothing that covered their entire body, and had to live in isolation from all that they once knew. When they were pronounced to be unclean, they had to immediately leave their home, their family, their job, their friends, their synagogue, and also were not allowed to go to the Temple to participate in any of the Holy Days or to offer sacrifices. They lived outside of the area where the majority of the people lived, and likely only had much contact with other people who suffered from similar diseases.
A person pronounced unclean because of leprosy also had to make their presence known when they entered into a town or any other area where people were. The lepers were identified not only because of their clothing, but they also had to shout the word “Unclean!” over and over again when they entered into town to get supplies for themselves.
Lepers were NEVER to be touched, and spent their lives not feeling the physical presence of another person. One of the basic human needs that all people need is that they need to be touched. If a baby is not touched or held, the baby will not develop properly and may even die because of lack of touch.
Another aspect of being pronounced unclean was that lepers were, in many ways, at the mercy of the kindness of strangers. Lepers could not work, as anything they touched would be considered unclean. Because they could not work, they could not provide for themselves. Family members could help their relative who was now unclean, but doing so was likely not looked upon very favorably, as most of the people of that time viewed the person’s leprosy as a result from a sin that that individual person had committed. If the person was viewed as being in the condition they were in because of their own rebellion against God then supporting that person could have been viewed as enabling them to continue in their own wickedness.
It was indeed a devastating thing to have been pronounced as having leprosy.
In modern times there is a similar, though less profound, example of this type of mentality that many people hold in regards to people who are homeless. Sometimes people assume that if a person is homeless, it is solely because they are lazy or have a drug problem; they automatically rule out any other option that may be a real possibility as to why the person may be in the predicament that they are in. The person may be homeless because they lost their job, because they had some things that happened back to back and caused them to lose their step in life, because they have mental illness and no one to help them stay well; a person may be homeless may be for any number of reasons, none of which we know for each individual person we may encounter.
As it is true today that people often have bad things that happen to them in their lives through no real fault of their own, so it was back then. We live in a world where all people are born enslaved to sin, and though we may not suffer ills because of the actions we ourselves take, we all suffer because of sin entering the world through Adam’s disobedience. Though it is true that there is an obvious, yet general, principle that a person will reap what they sow, sometimes our suffering is because of the general curse of creation and other times it is because of the sinful actions of other people.
Though there were many misinterpretations of the Scripture on the part of the Jews of Jesus’ day, this misinterpretation was one that, although it is easy to see how they could have come to conclude what they did from reading without the Holy Spirit enlightening them, proved to have devastating effects on the members of their community. Being declared unclean had profound implications and thus separated the person from being a part of the life of society, the life of the perceived people of God, and the entrance into temple or synagogue worship.
So in verse 40 when the leper even approaches Jesus, the leper is breaking a huge social norm; not only was the leper breaking a social norm, he might have even been considered as breaking the Law of Moses. There is nothing that I have found that specifically notes the exact punishment for an action of this type, but it would not have been uncommon for someone doing such an outrageous thing to be stoned or put to death.
The leper not only approaches Jesus; he comes to Jesus with a request. The leper approaches Jesus and says, “If you will, you can make me clean.”
The leper is asking Jesus this not because he doubts Jesus’ ability to make him clean, but because he does not know if Jesus is willing to do it. It is likely that the leper’s uncertainty may have been because leprosy was viewed as a punishment for sin. The Law of Moses contains sections where blessings are promised for obedience and curses are promised for disobedience; these sections were viewed by many of the Jews as stating that blessings and curses would happen absolutely based on how a person lived, and that any hardship in a person’s life was solely because of their own sin. There are several passages in the Old Testament that show that God did, in fact, punish some people by giving them leprosy. One of these passages is in 2 Chronicles 26.
16 But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was
unfaithful to the LORD his God and entered the temple of the LORD to burn
incense on the altar of incense. 17 But Azariah the priest went in after him,
with eighty priests of the LORD who were men of valor, 18 and they withstood
King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the
LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn
incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you
no honor from the LORD God.” 19 Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in
his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy
broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the
LORD, by the altar of incense. 20 And Azariah the chief priest and all the
priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they
rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the LORD had
struck him. 21 And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a
leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the LORD.
And Jotham his son was over the king's household, governing the people of the
land.
For the people of the time when the encounter between Jesus and the leper took place, “there was a natural analogy between ritual impurity, which separated a person from the worship of God, and sin, which separated one from God in a profounder sense” (Mark, Douglas R.A. Hare, p.34). In many senses, the leper was implicitly asking Jesus for forgiveness. Whether the need or desire for forgiveness was a part of what the leper was asking for when he inquires of Jesus or not, Jesus nevertheless grants the request to the leper.
One of the amazing things about Jesus granting this request is not only that he makes the leper clean; the amazing part is that Jesus reaches out to touch the man. Imagine never feeling human touch for an extended period of time. It is likely that this man had never received human touch in years; all of that time: never giving a handshake, never being hugged, never having a hand on your shoulder, never being kissed, never being able to be comforted by another person when one of your greatest challenges in life occurs.
Jesus, being moved with pity, touches the man and pronounces him to be clean. Verse 42 then tells us, “And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.”
Jesus restoring this man had a number of profound effects.
Question: What would some of the effects of Jesus having cleansed the man be?
There seems to be an odd shift in tone from verses 40-42 to verses 43-45. Jesus moves from being moved with pity to speaking sternly to the man he just made clean. While the shift in tone may seem odd on many levels, it actually serves a very profound and necessary function.
“
As the ceremonies of the law had not yet been repealed, Christ did not wish that
they should be despised or neglected. Now, God had commanded in the law that, if
any man had been cleansed from leprosy, he should present himself to the priest
with a sacrifice of thanksgiving, (Leviticus 14:2.) The design was that the
priest, by his decision, might attest the benefit received from God; and that
the person who had been healed might give an expression of his gratitude.
Christ, therefore, by sending the leper to the priest, proves that he had no
other object in view than to display the glory of God. The showing to the priest
was for the purpose of examination, and the offering was the expression of
thanksgiving. He wishes that the priests should examine the man, to make the
divine favor manifest and undoubted; and that the leper, on the other hand,
should acknowledge that God had healed him. Meanwhile, he commands them to
observe the ceremonies prescribed by the law, till the time when it should be
repealed.” (John Calvin, Volume 1 on the Gospels)
There are also several things that can be said about Jesus asking the man to “say nothing to anyone”.
“[Jesus] did not intend that the remembrance of the miracle which he had done
should always remain buried. When the leper, at the command of Christ, came into
the presence of the priest, this was a testimony to them, which would render
them inexcusable, if they refused to receive Christ as the [servant] of God; and
would, at the same time, take away occasion for slander, since Christ did not
neglect a single point of the law. In a word, if they were not past cure, they
might be led to Christ; while, on the other hand, so solemn a testimony of God
was sufficiently powerful to condemn them, if they were unbelievers.” (John
Calvin, Volume 1 on the Gospels)
Despite Jesus’ directions, the man nevertheless goes about talking freely about what had happened, thus causing a rather large stir that would in turn cause Jesus to have to change how he went about ministering to people, proclaiming the kingdom of God.
Questions for Mark 1:40-45
1. The book of Hebrews tells us, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:1-3,6). In light of these verses, why would anyone who is sinful expect to receive anything from the Lord, especially if the problem we are seeking help for was our own fault?
2. Is there any type of person or group that the Lord finds too sinful to save? On what basis does God save people?
3. What in our life changes when Jesus declares us clean?
4. What are your thoughts about Jesus telling the man to show himself to the priests? What will the man showing himself to the priest accomplish?
5. Why might the man who was cleansed have not gone to the priests for them to declare him to be clean?
6. What kind of effect might this man’s actions have on Jesus’ ministry later on?
7. The more that Jesus is out and about proclaiming the kingdom of God in word and in action, what seems to be occurring? Why might that be?
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