Mark 1:40-45
A leper
came to him, begging on his knees, "If you want to, you can cleanse
me." Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, "I
want to. Be clean." Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin smooth
and healthy. Jesus dismissed him with strict orders: "Say nothing to
anyone. Take the offering for cleansing that Moses prescribed and present
yourself to the priest. This will validate your healing to the people."
But as soon as the man was out of earshot, he told everyone he met what had
happened, spreading the news all over town. So Jesus kept to out- of- the- way
places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city. But people found
him, and came from all over.
Food for thought!
It is curious and interesting. Jesus is telling someone not to tell anyone: "Say nothing to anyone." The common practice is the opposite, especially when we do something good. We even call the Press to come and broadcast what we have done. Not so with Jesus. But why would Jesus tell anybody not to tell anybody?
The lesson is simple: Not everything Jesus does for us or tells us is for telling; there are things Jesus tells us not to tell anybody; they're things Jesus tells us to do that we cannot tell anyone about, things that make sense to only the Lord and ourselves. Indeed, if and when we tell others such things, we do more harm than good both to Jesus and to ourselves.
Look again at the gospel of today, because the man didn't keep quite as told, "Jesus kept to out- of- the- way places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city."
Imagine Jesus no longer free to move about, and no longer able to operate just because of the good he did to a bad man. The man made a disservice to Jesus' ministry and service just because of his imprudence; the man disobeyed and what would have been a great testimony to the priests went untold. Jesus told the man to tell no one but the priests; the man went out and told everyone but the priests! The priests missed Jesus' message because the man didn't go to them. Yes, there're many things that we cannot and we should not tell anyone about.
This gospel is also about us. That there're things others tell us that we must keep to ourselves, things they share with us that we cannot tell anyone without causing great damage to our friends' reputation. Oh yes, there are brothers and sisters of ours who are no longer moving about freely because we damaged their reputation. In other words, not all we know about others is for telling. "Do not tell anyone" is still a good council to many of us.
Food for thought!
It is curious and interesting. Jesus is telling someone not to tell anyone: "Say nothing to anyone." The common practice is the opposite, especially when we do something good. We even call the Press to come and broadcast what we have done. Not so with Jesus. But why would Jesus tell anybody not to tell anybody?
The lesson is simple: Not everything Jesus does for us or tells us is for telling; there are things Jesus tells us not to tell anybody; they're things Jesus tells us to do that we cannot tell anyone about, things that make sense to only the Lord and ourselves. Indeed, if and when we tell others such things, we do more harm than good both to Jesus and to ourselves.
Look again at the gospel of today, because the man didn't keep quite as told, "Jesus kept to out- of- the- way places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city."
Imagine Jesus no longer free to move about, and no longer able to operate just because of the good he did to a bad man. The man made a disservice to Jesus' ministry and service just because of his imprudence; the man disobeyed and what would have been a great testimony to the priests went untold. Jesus told the man to tell no one but the priests; the man went out and told everyone but the priests! The priests missed Jesus' message because the man didn't go to them. Yes, there're many things that we cannot and we should not tell anyone about.
This gospel is also about us. That there're things others tell us that we must keep to ourselves, things they share with us that we cannot tell anyone without causing great damage to our friends' reputation. Oh yes, there are brothers and sisters of ours who are no longer moving about freely because we damaged their reputation. In other words, not all we know about others is for telling. "Do not tell anyone" is still a good council to many of us.
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