DAY FOUR – Saturday, February 25, 2023
Mark 1:40-45
In this passage a man afflicted with leprosy begs Jesus to heal him, and Jesus, “moved with pity,” does indeed heal the poor man. Jesus asks the man to tell his priest about the healing, but also asks him to not tell anyone else. Very understandably, the man “went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news” and indeed people now came to Jesus “from every quarter.” Why, when Jesus earlier says “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out” (Verse 38), did he ask the healed man to not tell anyone about the miraculous cure? If you heard of someone roaming the countryside performing incredible miracles, wouldn’t you be curious and want to see this for yourself? What if the miracle worker also had a wonderfully powerful message of love and hope, but all you wanted was to see and not hear? Perhaps this is what Jesus meant; he wanted to preach and to teach and not just perform miraculous healings for the curious onlookers. His message was far, far more important than the miracle.
Sharon Hick (from 2018)
Mark 1:40-45
In this passage a man afflicted with leprosy begs Jesus to heal him, and Jesus, “moved with pity,” does indeed heal the poor man. Jesus asks the man to tell his priest about the healing, but also asks him to not tell anyone else. Very understandably, the man “went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news” and indeed people now came to Jesus “from every quarter.” Why, when Jesus earlier says “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out” (Verse 38), did he ask the healed man to not tell anyone about the miraculous cure? If you heard of someone roaming the countryside performing incredible miracles, wouldn’t you be curious and want to see this for yourself? What if the miracle worker also had a wonderfully powerful message of love and hope, but all you wanted was to see and not hear? Perhaps this is what Jesus meant; he wanted to preach and to teach and not just perform miraculous healings for the curious onlookers. His message was far, far more important than the miracle.
Sharon Hick (from 2018)
