18 November 2021  Devotion for Today   “Unwanted Publicity”   Mark 1:40-45

40 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”

41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” 42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. 43 And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”  45 However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.   Mark 1:40-45

In this passage, we see the compassion of Jesus at work who healed a man who had leprosy.   Leprosy was a horrible, incurable skin disease that was usually, eventually fatal.   Lepers were isolated from society and separated from their loved ones.   It was a miserable, terrifying existence.   The leper in this Scripture passage sought out Jesus and begged for Him to heal him.  The leper exhibited great faith in Jesus’ ability as well as His desire to heal.   He probably ventured out to where he was not permitted to be to find Jesus.   Jesus expressed His willingness and compassion to heal this man and did so immediately.   

Of course, this passage raises all kinds of questions, but the question I have at this point is this:  “Why would Jesus command this leper not to tell anyone about his healing?”  One would think Jesus would have appreciated the good “PR” to bolster the popularity of His ministry.   Yet we know that Jesus did not heal the leper for that reason.  Jesus did not need a publicist, nor did He need to rise in popularity polls.   Mark already said that Jesus had compassion on the man.  For one thing, the first thing the leper needed to do in order to reintegrate into society was to make an appointment with a priest to examine him.   Only a priest could certify a leper to be cleansed from this disease in order to return to society.   However, there were many selfish, corrupt priests in those days.   From sheer jealousy or spite, the priest might not have wanted to certify the man if the priest had known it was Jesus who had healed him.   

Perhaps the most likely reason that Jesus warned the leper not to tell anyone was because He knew the act would add more popularity than He wanted.   News travels fast.   Jesus’ approach was to enter into a town in order to get to know the people and perform what acts He wished as He moved about at will.   Because of this overwhelming reputation, Jesus was no longer able to come into a town without being greeted by hundreds, if not thousands of needy people- all wanting Jesus to touch them with compassion as much as the leper received when Jesus healed Him.   It would probably create huge crowds and block streets, and bring unwelcome attention from the authorities who would likely call Jesus to account for a disturbance.   Going forward, Jesus would have to meet people outside the towns and cities He desired to minister.   The people thronged about Him coming from every direction, it says.  Perhaps they came from other towns and villages just for the opportunity and hope that Jesus might do something for them.   

Publicity has a way of not only proclaiming the truth, but also distorting truth.  It would not take long for the image that Jesus had of Himself to change to what many people wanted it to be.   Jesus knew that.

Jesus also knew that when He commanded the leper not to say anything that it would probably have the opposite effect.  Human nature is notoriously bad for keeping secrets.  It would not have taken long for someone who knew the leper to ask him how he came to be healed.   Still, Jesus needed to resist the pressure of others taking His ministry to places He did not want it to go.   Jesus came to this earth not to be a rising star, but to do the will of Him who sent Him.   In John 9:4 Jesus said:  “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”    Jesus knew He only had so much time on this earth to proclaim His Kingdom.  He certainly had no time to waste it by sorting out who others wanted Him to be.   

This leads me to my closing thought:   is Jesus just a healer, an astute story-teller, a good teacher, an inspirational leader, or is He the Son of God who can produce change in Your life stemming from the salvation He offers.  Jesus has compassion to change you because He loves you.  He wishes to touch you in the way He touched and cleansed the leper.   Because of His finished work on the Cross, He can do so much more for you than He did for the leper.   The leper was healed and cleansed of leprosy but he would live again to die of something else one day.   But the cleansing Jesus can do in your life is more powerful- healing you forever and giving you not just a changed life, but eternal life.  

Have a blessed day!