Why don't we know his name? Mark 1:10-45

Mark 1:40-45

And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, "If You are willing, You can make me clean." Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, and He said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere. NASU

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Why don't we know "the Leper's" name? The first time I read this passage I was moved to tears with the realization that we are often known by our labels, not by our name. For instance, we may have been a liar, but in Y'shua (a.k.a Jesus) we are cleansed from that label. Now we are know as a child of the Almighty! Once we were a drug-addict, an alcoholic, a thief, adulterer.... or any other label but once we encounter Y'shua and are cleansed, we become "a child of the Almighty". That is what being born again is all about.

I am pretty sure that is what happened to this man. In case you have not seen my earlier posts on the book of Mark, I will remind you that I believe the word "immediately" is mistranslated. It should be translated from the Hebrew word YASHAR meaning, upright in relationship to YHVH (the LORD). The Leprosy left him (he was cleansed) putting him in a right relationship to the Almighty, Next, Y'shua sent him on his Way in a right relationship to the Almighty with a command.

• See that you say nothing to anyone; 
• but go, show yourself to the priest 
• and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.

In Greek, the first part of the command is for him to "slink away" to go on his Way in secret. He is not to SHOW himself to ANYONE, not a single soul! (the Greek repeats "anyone" as emphasis that he is not to show himself to ANYONE) ...until he gets to Jerusalem where he is to show himself to the priest. Why the priest? He is to be Torah observant in making the offering to the priest that Moses commanded. Leviticus 14 He had the privilege of being a "Christian" witness to the priest. That was his purpose in life. I do not think that anyone since the gentile Naaman 2 Kings 5:1-14 had been cured of Leprosy, and being a Syrian, he was sent on his Way instead of to the priest. This would have been HUGE if the man had obeyed! But our un-named man disobeyed. He told EVERYONE instead of no one. There is no indication that he even started on The Way to Jerusalem.

Is that important? Was the compassion of Y'shua wasted on this man? No! He was restored. In all likelihood, his family was also restored. The people of Galilee knew that Y'shua is the only hope for the hopeless. But that is not what he was told to do as one who is Upright in his relationship to the Almighty. We never learn his name or anything he ever did for the Almighty except for making Y'shua's ministry difficult.

What has he asked you to do? Have you done it?

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you 

• to do justice, 
• to love kindness, 
• and to walk humbly with your God?         Micah 6:8

Mrs. Hagerty, August 13, 2016