The Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark
During that time,
A leper came to Jesus;
asked him and, falling on his knees, said to him:
“If you want, you can purify me. »
Filled with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand,
touched him and said to him:
“I want it, be purified. »
The leprosy left him immediately
and he was purified.
Jesus resolutely sent him immediately
telling him:
“Be careful, don’t tell anyone anything,
but go and show yourself to the priest,
and give for your purification
which Moses prescribed in the Law:
this will be a testimony to the people. »
Once it’s gone,
this man began to announce and spread the news,
so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city,
but they stayed away, in deserted places.
However, people came to him from everywhere.
Source: AELF
Meditation Father Nicolas de Boccard
The healing of a leper who comes to pray to Christ for healing is not in itself surprising, even if it defies the prohibitions of time. Didn’t Jesus come to heal the sick, according to Isaiah’s prophecy? He will go so far as to touch the untouchable and heal him. What is more surprising is the answer that Jesus gives to this healed patient, he sends him away and tells him: “Be careful, don’t say anything to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest and give for your cleansing. which Moses prescribed in the Law: your healing will be a testimony to the people.” Jesus wants to include that man again in the community of believers. And this man will do the opposite – which was predictable – he will publish and spread the news, which will make Jesus run away from the crowd that is coming to him.
This is not the first time that Jesus imposed silence on those who acknowledge him as the Messiah. But can He reveal what He is by His works while preventing it from being known? Above all, he wanted to prevent people from mistaking him and his mission.
Jesus did not come to make all evil disappear. Moreover, at the time of his coming, not all the sick were healed, nor were all the dead raised. He did not come as a messianic king who came to eradicate evil; but to introduce us to another logic, the one that goes through his death and his resurrection. It is the crucified Messiah whom we proclaim, who goes through the temptation of the cross and for us through bodily death. Let us never forget that, even if it tempts us. Jesus does not return us to the earthly paradise or the kingdom of the care bear, He brings us into the heart of the mystery of the Trinity: the mystery of love that we only access by giving all of ourselves, following him. .