Mark 1

If Jesus had just removed a curse from me,
and all He demanded in return was my cooperation,
and he "strictly charged" me to do something,
I think I would do it.
(I would probably be afraid the healing would reverse itself or something if I didn't.)

Now I'm quoting myself.
Is this the first sign of madness?

In my previous post I was wondering about the leper who ignored a stern warning from Jesus.

Since then I discovered a speech on these verses
("The Healer of Hurts" by Ray Stedman)
that taught me something interesting about this event.

Mar 1:40 Then a leper came to Jesus and began pleading with him.
He fell on his knees and said to him, "If you want to, you can make me clean."

Back then, leprosy was considered incurable,
and no one since the days of Elisha had ever recovered from it.

(This one fact alone shows that the leper had incredible faith in Jesus by saying
"If you want to, you can make me clean",
but that's not related to the point I want to record here)

This is a description of leprosy by William Barclay:

The whole appearance of the face is changed, till the man loses his human appearance and looks, as the ancients said, "like a lion or a satyr". The nodules grow larger and larger. They ulcerate. become staring. The voice becomes hoarse, and the breath wheezes because of the ulceration of the vocal chords. The hands and the feet always ulcerate. Slowly the sufferer becomes a mass of ulcerated growths. The average course of the disease is nine years, and it ends in mental decay, coma, and ultimately death. The sufferer becomes utterly repulsive -- both to himself and to others.

Since way-back in Jewish history, leprosy was a symbol of evil and sin.
Not that everyone who had it was evil,
but it was a visual reminder of what happens on the inside of a person who remains in sin.
It grows
and distorts
and consumes,
it eventually makes a person unrecognizable,
repulsive to God and to himself.

so people would truly be amazed to hear that

Mar 1:41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand, touched him,
and said to him, "I do want to. Be made clean!"
Mar 1:42 Instantly the leprosy left him, and he was clean.

Isaiah had predicted that when Messiah came,
he would do certain physical miracles.
The eyes of the blind would be opened,
the lame would leap like the hart,
the tongue of the dumb would sing,
and lepers would be cleansed and healed.

immediately Jesus commands him to do a specific thing:

Mar 1:44 telling him, "See to it that you don't say anything to anyone.
Instead, go and show yourself to the priest,
and then offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded
as proof to the authorities."

So it is clear that Jesus had something in mind other than the obvious.
What he had done was enough,
but it could have been so much more!
Not just a healing
but evidence to the proper authorities that Jesus deserved their attention.

The part I am not capable of understanding is
Why would God have this event turn out the way it did?

Mar 1:45 But when the man left, he began to proclaim it freely.
He spread the word so widely that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly,
but had to stay out in deserted places...

Sure the man went around praising and proclaiming.
But that's not what Jesus wanted here!
Doesn't God prefer obedience over praise?

What if the man had done what Jesus commanded him to do?
What if he had presented himself cleansed in front of the authorities,
asking them to do whatever Moses had instructed them to do?
The priests,
never hearing of such a thing before,
would have had to scramble to find the appropriate scriptures,
just to fulfill their duty correctly in such un unfamiliar situation.

It would have been an incredible witness!

Even Jesus calls it a testimony,
or evidence
or proof,
or however your bible translates the Greek #3142

so......

If I believe
1) Jesus never acted in any way other than perfect faith and living in accordance with the will of God

and I believe
2) These events are so important that nothing is accidental, God is involved and paying attention to these events.

then what the heck just happened here?

Jesus did a miracle that was predicted for the Messiah,
he asked the man he just healed to do something.
the goal was pure,
but it didn't happen.

The result was that the ministry of Jesus was limited,
he couldn't even enter the city.

I know this result has to fit both points 1 and 2 above,
but it just seems strange to me that Jesus,
being perfect in my opinion,
didn't get what he asked for.

kinda makes me go "Hmmmmm..."

You know what it makes me think?
That this is exactly what happens when christians have free will.
and decide to not do what they know they should do.

Up at the beginning when I said this:

If Jesus had just removed a curse from me,
and all He demanded in return was my cooperation,
and he "strictly charged" me to do something,
I think I would do it.
(I would probably be afraid the healing would reverse itself or something if I didn't.)

SUDDENLY I REALIZE HOW FITTING THIS IS FOR ME.

Jesus HAS removed a curse from me.
Jesus HAS commanded me to do certain things
and I HAVEN'T done them very well.
oops...
(hope the healing doesn't reverse itself)