Jesus was consistently disinterested in the conventional barriers of the
society in which he lived. He reached out to those whom others treated as
marginalised and outcasts. One such group were those identified as lepers. There
was a great fear of infection and most sensible would steer clear of leper as
they did not want to risk catching the disease.
By contrast, Jesus wants to help and heal those who need that. As in this little scenario, Jesus is often described as being “moved by pity” when he encounters those in deep need and who are rejected by the majority society. We need to learn, as Megan McKenna (On Your Mark: Reading Mark in the Shadow of the Cross) points out that – “Such pity is the mark of God and the mark of God’s beloved son and servant. It is also the mark of the new community, the new household that lives in obedience to the Law and with pity for others, willingly putting themselves in jeopardy to set others free and to save others in desperate straits.”
Jesus wants this man to be healed, and he asks him to go and get checked over so that he can resume a normal life where he does not have to be excluded from the community. However, Jesus does not want to use this act to attract or to build a reputation, and he asks the man to keep it quiet apart from doing what is necessary to have himself declared cured. However, perhaps it is not a great surprise that this healed leper wants to share his good news. He cannot help but tell others with the inevitable result that there are lots of people looking for Jesus.
Of course, he wants to tell others about this wonderful thing that has happened to him, and the only reasonable way to do that is to explain how it happened and who was involved. But it means that Jesus is restricted as to where he can go, but where he goes he will be recognised and, of course, people will be looking for more of the same.
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