Mark 1:40-45

⁴⁰ Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”

⁴¹ Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

⁴² As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.

⁴³ And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once,

⁴⁴ and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

⁴⁵ However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.

Also found in Matthew 8:2-4 and Luke 5:12-16.

to Him (v.40) = face to face, a confrontation

imploring (v.40) = beseeching, begging

if You are willing (v.40) — The Greek indicates an appeal to emotion, not to reason.

You can (v.40) — The leper didn’t doubt Jesus’ ability, but he was unsure of His willingness. At the time, possibly no leper had ever been cured.

 The rule of Greek grammar that governs this construction is that the action of the present tense participle goes on simultaneously with the action of the leading verb. That is, Jesus was saying “I will” at the time He was touching the leper. But the thought “I will,” the determination to follow out His desire to cleanse the leper, and the act of cleansing him all preceded the spoken words and the outstretched hand. All of which means that our Lord did not touch the leper in order to cleanse him, but to show him and the people around, that he was cleansed of his leprosy. The Levitical law forbad a jew to touch a leper. Our Lord lived under that law and obeyed it.

Leprosy is a type of sin. The sinner comes crying, “Unclean, unclean, if Thous wilt, thou canst make me clean.” And the Lord Jesus, moved with compassion, stretches out His hand and touches him, saying, “I will, be thou clean.” And, as in the case of the leper, He cleanses us from sin before He touches us. In John 1:12, justification precedes regeneration in the divine economy. Mercy is only given on the basis of justice satisfied. So it is, “But as many as appropriated Him, to them He gave a legal right to become born ones of God, to those who put their trust in His name. And so, as the sinner recognizes the Lord Jesus as the One who through His outpoured blood on the Cross, procured for sinful man a legal right to the mercy of God, he becomes the recipient of regeneration and of all the other parts of salvation. — Wuest, page 41.

As soon as He had spoken (v.42) — not in the best texts

He strictly warned him (v.43) — The verb is from [a word meaning] “to be moved with anger. The word Mark uses means “to snort,” and was used of horses. In the classics, it meant “to be very angry, to be moved with indignation.” In the Bible, it has a use unknown to profane authors, “to charge with earnest admonition, sternly to charge, threateningly to enjoin.”– Wuest, page 42.

sent him away (v.43) = threw him out — from the crowd that was surrounding him.

The reason for [Jesus’] charge and dismissal lay in the desire of Jesus not to thwart His ministry by awaking the premature violence of His enemies; who, if they should see the leper and hear his story before he had been officially pronounced clean by the priests, might deny either that he had been a leper or had been truly cleansed. … He (Mark) does not mean to impute real anger to Jesus, but only la masterful manner dictated by a desire that the benefit should be complete — away, out of this, to the priest; do what the law requires, that you may be not only clean but recognized as such by the authorities, and so received by the people as a leper no longer.” — Wuest, page 42.

testimony to them (v.44) — the testimony of the priests to the people that the leper was official pronounced clean. In my study of this occasion in Matthew 8:1-4, the commentaries believe this means a testimony to the priests and rulers that Jesus was the Messiah.

proclaim (v.45) — tense indicates continuous action.

the city (v.45) — There is no “the” in the Greek. Jesus was not able to enter any city.

came (v.45) = kept on coming.

What Jesus feared seems to have happened. the man went about telling of his cure, and neglecting the means necessary to obtain social recognition as cured. This cure and the popularity it caused may have cooperated to bring Christ’s synagogue ministry to an abrupt termination by stirring up envy. Jesus was between two fires, and His order to the leper, “Go, show thyself,” had a double reference: to the man’s good and to the conciliation of the scribes and synagogue rulers. — Wuest, page 43.

Jesus wasn’t trying an end around to replace the priests or render them unnecessary.  He wanted the leper to proceed in the proper channels.