During the time Jesus was visiting the synagogues of Galilee, a man, who was a leper, came to him. Luke tells us he was full of leprosy (Luke 5:12), which means the man was no longer contagious and could be pronounced clean by the priest (Leviticus 13:13). However, the context of Mark 1:40 seems to indicate one of two things, either the man did not yet go to the priest to be pronounced clean or the leprosy, although all over his body, was yet raw in some places on his body (Leviticus 13:14-15). Probably, the latter is true. Both Matthew and Luke also record Jesus’ meeting with this leper, and both of them tell us that he addressed Jesus as Lord, indicating this leper believed Jesus was the Messiah (Matthew 8:2-4; Luke 5:12-14).
Notice that he said: “IF you will…” (Mark 1:40; emphasis mine), implying he made no demands upon Jesus, his Lord. He simply said: if it fits your purpose, “you could make me clean.” In other words, he was willing to submit to his Lord’s desire, even if Jesus decided not to heal him!
It is interesting that Mark tells us that Jesus “put forth his hand and touched him…” (Mark 1:41), which is exactly what the Law tells folks they shouldn’t do (Leviticus 5:2; cp. 13:45-46). Neither was the priest permitted to touch a leper. Rather, he was to only look on the disease and make his judgments (Leviticus 13: 3, 5-6, 21, 25-27 etc.). Thus, in touching the leper (Mark 1:41), Jesus testified of his superiority over the Law. Yet, nothing in Jesus’ demeanor showed disrespect for the Law (cp. Mark 1:44), and as soon as Jesus spoke the words, the man was cleansed of his leprosy (Mark 1:42). Mark claims it departed (G565) from him. The Greek word isn’t the same as cast out (G1544; verse-39), but the sense is that something unseen, which caused this man’s condition, left him immediately, just as when Jesus cast out the demons in the rest of this chapter. This further lends to the idea that a demon is a disease or a malfunction within the body, and a disease or a malfunction in the body is a demon—same thing, and nothing more.
Afterward, Jesus told the man to say nothing about the incident, but go and show himself to the priest and do according to the Mosaic Law, as that pertained to his being cleansed of his leprosy (Mark 1:43-44). What I find interesting is that Jesus told this man to say nothing about what the Lord had done for him. Yet, at another time, Jesus told another person to tell everyone about what the Lord had done (Luke 8:26-40). Why would Jesus say one thing to one person and say the opposite to another, or did he? Does Mark tell the whole story? What I mean is, perhaps, Jesus told the man to say nothing about what occurred until **after** he fulfilled what the Law required. After all, this man was a Jew, while the man in Luke 8 was a gentile. The Jews had obligations to the Law, while gentiles did not.
Nevertheless, the man went out and with great zeal preached Jesus and made the incident so well known that Jesus could no longer walk among the people of any town or city throughout Galilee. He was forced to go out into the wilderness, but still the people came to him from every direction (Mark 1:45). While Jesus did seem to shun crowds, making his ministry unconventional, according to worldly standards, the fact remains that this man did so well to make Jesus known by testifying about what Jesus did for him, I have to wonder, if we meet this cleansed leper later in the Gospel narratives. Remember, this man comes upon the scene during the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, which is a requirement for those who would preach Jesus to the world (John 15:27; cp. Luke 1:2; Acts 1:21-22). If this is so, can we, within reason, identify this leper?[1] Trying to identify anonymous figures in the Gospel narratives can be both interesting and great fun. While nothing can be set in stone, understanding how things may have developed places many friendly faces upon the Biblical narrative. Moreover, watching how these folks may have grown spiritually under the teaching of Jesus offers an encouraging message for all of us.
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[1] See my earlier study in the Gospel of Luke: Who Is Simon the Pharisee?
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