A leper came to him [and kneeling down] begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” 42 The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. 43 Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. 44 Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” 45 The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
Any scaly skin disease in OT times was called leprosy. A ‘leper’ was considered ritually unclean and therefore an outcast who could not worship in the Temple (Lev. 13:1-17), or come into contact with other human beings or their property (Lev. 13:45-46). The leper humbled himself before Jesus and gave him the option to heal him; “If you wish, you can make me clean (v. 40).” Showing deep compassion, Jesus touched the leper who was immediately healed, but by touching the leper Jesus himself would have become ritually unclean. Jesus ordered the man to tell no one and go and show himself to the Priest (Lev. 14: 1-32). Once the Priest declared the leper ritually clean, he could rejoin the community. The cleansing of a leper was associated with Messianic times (Mt. 11:5). On many occasions in the Gospel of Mark, those who were healed (v. 44) or had demons exorcised (Mk. 3:11-12) were commanded by Jesus to be silent about him. That was Mark’s Messianic secret.
Almighty God, in your compassion heal us of our spiritual ills and if it be your will heal us of our physical afflictions. This we pray through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Expanded Edition, Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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