And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away;
This verse belongs to the cleansing of a leper. Leprosy was the most dreaded disease in the East, incurable and contagious in character and horrible in effect, regarded among the Jews as a judgment for sin, called the stroke and the finger of God, and looked upon as a symbol of sin as deep-rooted, ineradicable and deadly. By ritual law the leper was pronounced unclean and shut out as one already dead from home and congregation to associate only with lepers, compelled to rend his garments and cry Unclean, unclean to warn others away from his contaminating presence and breath, with even kings not exempt, and anyone suspected of the disease had to present himself to the priests to examine and decide his case.
The leper in this account had been a man of high distinction, pronounced incurable by noted physicians and examined by the priest and declared to have the worst form of leprosy, sentenced to living death as unclean and exiled from home, family and society. Hearing of Jesus teaching by the lake outside the city limits, he pressed forward heedless of restrictions while the frightened multitude fell back, saw only the Son of God giving health to the lame, blind, paralytic and dying, and prostrated his foul decaying body before Him asking to be made clean. Jesus did not shrink but drew near and with calm fearlessness laid His hand upon him, though by the law of Moses one who touched a leper was himself unclean, and commanded him to be clean. At those life-giving words his dying body of corruption was at once changed to healthy flesh with sensitive nerves and firm muscle, the rough scaly surface gone and replaced by a soft glow like the skin of a healthy child, so the multitude lost terror and crowded to behold divine power.
In this verse Jesus strictly, firmly and urgently orders the cleansed man to keep the healing quiet and private and forthwith and immediately sends him away. He directs the healed man to go promptly to present himself to the priest and to make the offering required by Moses, thus following the law. His prompt presentation would allow the priests to examine him and officially and publicly declare and certify him free of leprosy before rumors about the miracle could prejudice their decision, enabling his return to family and community.
The command to keep silent was meant to keep the healing from becoming public spectacle and to prevent hindrance to His work. His enemies were always seeking to limit His work and turn the people from Him, and publicizing the miracle would bring the priests and rulers after Him at once to hedge up His way in every possible way. Publicity could draw crowds seeking cures and other lepers crowding around Him, prompt fears and the cry that the people would be contaminated by contact with them, lead many lepers to fail to use health as a blessing to themselves or others, and give occasion for the charge that He was breaking down the restrictions of the ritual law, and His work in preaching the gospel would be hindered. The strict charge sending the man to the priests was a testimony calculated to disarm prejudice and to reach priests and teachers shut in by prejudice and tradition who came not to Him. This obedience to the law would show that His teaching did not oppose the law of Moses or the Jewish code, and would give them evidence of His love for humanity, His respect for the law, and His power to deliver from sin and death.
The disobedience of the man justified the warning, for he published the cure abroad and caused the people to flock to Jesus in such multitudes that He was forced for a time to cease His labors. The account connected with the verse shows that even people with the loathsome disease could come into His presence and be healed, giving the paralytic and his friends hope that Jesus could help him too.
This verse belongs to the cleansing of a leper. Leprosy was the most dreaded disease in the East, incurable and contagious in character and horrible in effect, regarded among the Jews as a judgment for sin, called the stroke and the finger of God, and looked upon as a symbol of sin as deep-rooted, ineradicable and deadly. By ritual law the leper was pronounced unclean and shut out as one already dead from home and congregation to associate only with lepers, compelled to rend his garments and cry Unclean, unclean to warn others away from his contaminating presence and breath, with even kings not exempt, and anyone suspected of the disease had to present himself to the priests to examine and decide his case.
The leper in this account had been a man of high distinction, pronounced incurable by noted physicians and examined by the priest and declared to have the worst form of leprosy, sentenced to living death as unclean and exiled from home, family and society. Hearing of Jesus teaching by the lake outside the city limits, he pressed forward heedless of restrictions while the frightened multitude fell back, saw only the Son of God giving health to the lame, blind, paralytic and dying, and prostrated his foul decaying body before Him asking to be made clean. Jesus did not shrink but drew near and with calm fearlessness laid His hand upon him, though by the law of Moses one who touched a leper was himself unclean, and commanded him to be clean. At those life-giving words his dying body of corruption was at once changed to healthy flesh with sensitive nerves and firm muscle, the rough scaly surface gone and replaced by a soft glow like the skin of a healthy child, so the multitude lost terror and crowded to behold divine power.
In this verse Jesus strictly, firmly and urgently orders the cleansed man to keep the healing quiet and private and forthwith and immediately sends him away. He directs the healed man to go promptly to present himself to the priest and to make the offering required by Moses, thus following the law. His prompt presentation would allow the priests to examine him and officially and publicly declare and certify him free of leprosy before rumors about the miracle could prejudice their decision, enabling his return to family and community.
The command to keep silent was meant to keep the healing from becoming public spectacle and to prevent hindrance to His work. His enemies were always seeking to limit His work and turn the people from Him, and publicizing the miracle would bring the priests and rulers after Him at once to hedge up His way in every possible way. Publicity could draw crowds seeking cures and other lepers crowding around Him, prompt fears and the cry that the people would be contaminated by contact with them, lead many lepers to fail to use health as a blessing to themselves or others, and give occasion for the charge that He was breaking down the restrictions of the ritual law, and His work in preaching the gospel would be hindered. The strict charge sending the man to the priests was a testimony calculated to disarm prejudice and to reach priests and teachers shut in by prejudice and tradition who came not to Him. This obedience to the law would show that His teaching did not oppose the law of Moses or the Jewish code, and would give them evidence of His love for humanity, His respect for the law, and His power to deliver from sin and death.
The disobedience of the man justified the warning, for he published the cure abroad and caused the people to flock to Jesus in such multitudes that He was forced for a time to cease His labors. The account connected with the verse shows that even people with the loathsome disease could come into His presence and be healed, giving the paralytic and his friends hope that Jesus could help him too.