Mark 1:40-45
40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”41 Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
“The Miracle of Intimacy”
Jesus didn’t want the man healed of leprosy to tell any one.
But it was too big to keep quiet about. He spread it freely.
The result was distorted attention by many who wanted some of the same or suspicion by others who saw this as a violation of religious traditions. Neither was what Jesus wanted. He wanted true intimacy between him and them.
The leper came asking. It is not weakness to ask for help. It is a sign of strength, and the beginning of healing and growth.
Those who heard about it wanted more of the same. They wanted to get something out of Jesus not be with Jesus. Others wanted to do away with him. Jesus wanted to let them know that no matter what - he would be there for them and with them. A deeper miracle even than healing, the miracle of intimacy, yet one we tend to miss because we want the easier way
“Telling Jesus story is not enough!”
These words from Deborah Krause, Academic Dean and Associate Professor of New Testament at Louisville Seminary are too good to not pass on. They get to the heart of what is needed in the church today - mission beyond ourselves.
“Mark manages to tell (in this text) of both the crushing press of Jesus’ ministry and the unrestrained flowing of the spirit of God in his ministry. It is both success and hardship for Jesus. ...Mark’s story reveals his purpose to portray that in Jesus Christ the kingdom of God is on the loose. It is beyond even Jesus’ control. Mark shows even Jesus getting knocked off his intended mission and pressured by the force of God’s spirit in the world.
“The call is to mission, and Jesus’ faithfulness to that call - through conflict, disobedience, suffering, and even death - is a witness that the church must be bold to see. While we would enshroud ourselves in our worship in the story of Jesus Christ, the ultimate goal of this story and our worship is the mission of the gospel of God in this world. It is a mission that invites conflict in its challenge to any power that does not intend peace (shalom), justice, and love. The church must not fool itself that telling Jesus’ story is enough. The story provokes a mission that calls for our passion in proclaiming and living out the good news of God in the world in the face of conflict, suffering, and death.”
New Proclamation, Year B, 2005-2006 pp.113,114.
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