Today we'll be looking at Mark 1:39-45. In this passage, we see that as Jesus is going about the countryside teaching in synagogues, a leper comes to Him begging to be cleansed. He realizes as we see in v. 40 that Jesus has the power to heal and if He is only willing, his disease will be cleansed.
Jesus reaches out and touches the man before cleansing him, showing His compassion through something that the leper hadn't experienced in a long time. Then He speaks, and the man is healed. Before He sends the man away, Jesus commands that the man not tell anyone. Instead of listening to Jesus, the man "proclaims" the matter "freely" and "spreads" it.
It's been suggested that Jesus is using reverse psychology here, but there is no evidence for this conclusion- throughout scripture, God and Christ 'say what They mean and mean what They say.' Thus, this man blatantly disobeyed the Lord. We may think, "he was just tyring to spread the good news about Jesus." Well, maybe, but he was doing it in a way that was in direct contrast to the command Jesus gave him. This begs the question:
When is it EVER right to do wrong?
The answer, of course is never. Not 'when it's in my best interest,' or 'when I don't understand why it's wrong' (Prov 14:12), or 'when I disagree' - NEVER.
So what does this mean for us? First, we should strive to study the Bible in its entirety without bias, examining what God has given and not given authority for. Then we must apply His teaching to our lives, even if it's difficult.
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