Mark 1:40-45, The Disobedient Leper

In Mark 1:40-45, we read about a man with Leprosy who came to Jesus, and from down on his knees, begged Jesus, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."  Jesus, filled with compassion (a good thing), reached out His had, touched the man, and said, "I am willing. Be clean."  Mark tells us that Immediately, the leprosy left the man and he was cured.  Now, as soon as the man was healed, Jesus sent him away at once with a STRONG warning: "Make sure that you do not tell ANYONE about this.  But instead, go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." But instead of listening to Jesus, he went out and began talking freely to everyone, spreading the news about what Jesus had done for him.  As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly, but stayed outside "in lonely places" (NIV).  Yet, the people still came to Him from everywhere.

Now, a few notes to mention first:  According to the Mosaic Law, touching a person with leprosy resulted in becoming defiled.  Only a priest could declare a leprous person healed / clean.  By receiving a ritual certification of cleansing, the man could then be reinstated into the society.  (Leviticus 13:6, 13, 17, 23)

Lepers were also considered social outcasts, so no Jew was (legally) able to do touch the leper, nor did anybody want to do...Jesus showed His compassion for the man not only by healing him, but also by touching him.

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So as I read through this, I began to wonder if, when people went to Jesus or brought their sick to Him, if they saw Him as some powerful healer, and took God out of the equation?  I see it all the time today, people willing to give their lives to Jesus when times are hard, even begging Him from on their knees, as the Leper did in this passage.  But once they receive Him and things begin to change for the better, they throw away everything He's commanded them, and deny Him as being anything more than a genie in a bottle to call upon during hard times.  I know a few people like this today.  The sadder thing is that sometimes they still claim Jesus' name (though sometimes they don't), but either way, they'll have nothing to do with Jesus or His teachings.  And to top it off, they blame God for the bad stuff that comes along after disobeying.

"If you love me, you'll obey my commandments." --Jesus.

Out of His compassion, Jesus healed these people.  It's understandable for them to want to tell everyone about what Jesus did for them, and this is good in terms of evangelism today.  But if Jesus tells us to or not to do something, even if we don't understand the reason for it, we need to obey.  For example, there was a prophet in the book of 1 Kings who needed to look like a wounded soldier in order to get close to the king, so he asked one of the others among him, to hit him.  When the man refused, the Lord sent a lion to maul the guy.  The guy probably refused because he didn't agree or understand the reason for it, and look where it got him.  Now I'm not saying that if you'll disobey God you'll get killed by a lion or hit by a bus or anything, but when Jesus tells you to do something, or not to do something, and you do the opposite, you sin.  It's not always up to us to understand, but just to obey.

Jesus was trying to keep him to the Mosaic Law.  Sure He'd come to fulfill it, but just the fact that the former-leper didn't go straight to the Priest as Jesus had commanded, shows that such the generation had drifted so far from it that such wasn't even routine anymore.  And the response of the guy ended up, again, hindering Jesus' ministry in that town.

Discussion/Reflection Questions:

1. When Jesus tells you to do something, or not to do something, how do you usually respond, and why?
2. If and when you received Jesus Christ, has your passion for Him grown, remained the same, or diminished? Take a moment to think about this, reflect on which one has occurred, and the reason for it.  If it's remained the same or diminished, what needs to change (on your part) for it to grow?  If it's grown, then what, if anything, needs to improve in your ministry and in obeying?
3. None of us want to hinder God's ministry, but by disobeying Him and His commands, we may actually be doing that.  What are some ways that you can think of that God's ministry could be hindered by your disobedience to Him, His commands, and how the Bible tells us to behave?