The Old Testament Law of Moses made provision for the restoration of someone with leprosy and it involved showing themselves to a priest to check their healing and also bring a sacrifice to say thanks to God. And so it was natural for the man to abide by the law. However, it was probably such a rare event that the priests were glad that they didn’t have to do this task, after all, leprosy was a feared disease. It was only natural to say thank you in the proper way but that man had other ideas. Despite a strong warning from You not to talk about this dramatic healing he couldn’t wait to tell others.
If it happened today I’m sure it wouldn’t be long before the media got involved and people would come streaming to the place of healing. But You said ‘don’t tell anyone’. It made sense really. As soon as the man left You, instead of being grateful and going to the Temple to give thanks, he ran off and told everybody he met what had happened to him.
I can see why he did it. I probably would have done the same.
But it hindered Your ministry as crowds were drawn like a magnet and it wasn’t long before there were so many people crowding around waiting to see more miracles that it actually hindered Your ministry. People had come to see the miracle but You knew that they needed to discover You, not just a quick fix for a problem.
Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
