Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 10 Study # 1
April 16, 2019
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(066)
1901 ASV
40 And there cometh to him a leper, beseeching him,
and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
41 And being moved with compassion, he stretched forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou made clean.
42 And straightway the leprosy departed from him, and he was made clean.
43 And he
strictly charged him, and straightway sent him out,
44 and saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing the things which Moses
commanded, for a testimony unto them.
45 But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to spread abroad the
matter, insomuch that
Jesus could no more openly enter into
a city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.
- I. Mark's Record of Jesus' Cleansing of a Leper.
- A. Mark only uses the word "leper" twice in his record; the second time telling of "Simon, the leper..." as if his readers would know this man: strong implication that he is the same as the one in our present text (14:3).
- 1. The main question at this point in the record is: What is Mark's point in recording this cleansing of a leper?
- 2. Hints as to the answer to this main question.
- a. There seems to be a "pattern": exorcism followed by healing [exorcism in the synagogue followed by the healing of Simon's mother-in-law; then, a large number of healings coupled with indiscriminate exorcisms as the city gathered at the door; then, preaching in the synagogues of Galilee coupled with exorcisms coupled with this cleansing of a leper].
- b. Mark is clearly "upping the ante" on the main thesis: The Mighty One (as John initially announces Him) has "Authority" (as Mark sets this stage in the synagogue). Leprosy was among the worst of "diseases" that people might be "having" (the phrase in 1:32 is "having badly", i.e., "having a disease that was making life 'bad' for them").
- c. This record is followed immediately by a "major" question of "authority" (2:10; the word translated in the Authorized Version as "power" is "authority"). Thus, the "evidence" has been given for "faith" and then the issue of "faith" (forgiveness of sins -- the promise of both John and Jesus) is pressed upon the leaders and the masses by Jesus.
- B. The leper comes to Him.
- 1. The leper's initiative.
- 2. The leper's intense desire (the verb is in the present tense, indicating "vividness"; the translators of the Authorized Version treat it as an aorist, the ASV is correct).
- C. The leper's reason for coming to Him.
- 1. Leprosy was among the most dreaded conditions in Israel because it attacked men at all three levels of their need (body, soul, and spirit).
- 2. He is presented as "calling Jesus alongside": the verb is widely used with a number of nuances that all have to do with calling upon a person to "move alongside the one issuing the summons".
- a. These nuances move all the way from abject "begging/pleading" to "authoritative demanding".
- b. Mark only uses this word in contexts where a certain level of desperation on the part of the one "summoning" exists (nine texts/contexts in Mark).
- 3. The part of the text translated "...and kneeling down to Him..." is of very weak textual support. According to the explanation in the Textual Commentary, the editors included the phrase because it could have been a part of Mark's record, but put it in brackets because of the great weakness of textual support in the various manuscripts. It got a "D" rating as to likelihood of being in Mark's words.
- 4. The leper's "declaration" (using lego as the way to describe it) was "If You want to, you are able to cleanse me".
- a. The third class conditional clause indicates "a hopeful possibility, without guarantees".
- 1. The declaration of "ability" is in the strongest form of "power": of this there is no question.
- a. How the leper made the mental, faith, "jump" to Jesus' identity as "The Mighty One" may well be tied to John's preaching: The Mighty One is coming after me (1:7).
- b. This leper's "faith", however, did not automatically assume that "forgiveness of sins" would translate into "health" for him.
- 2. The use of thelo indicates the focus upon "hopeful possibility" because "desire" is a positive (but not potent) term.
- 3. The leper's use of "cleanse" ("You are able to cleanse me") is in direct contrast to Mark's characterization of the "unclean spirit(s)"
- a. Leprosy was first presented in Israel as a judgment from God for evil done when Miriam was stricken with it for her arrogance (Numbers 12:10), and this was reinforced when God smote Uzziah with it for his arrogance (2 Chronicles 26:16 and 19).
- b. But this leper has no present evidence of "arrogance" at this point in his experience; he, instead, approaches Jesus in significant humility.
- b. The leper expresses what most "believers" face: the conundrum, not of Jesus' "ability", but of the "level of power" that will be applied to the "desire".