NOTES for Mar 1:35-44
35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. |
36 And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. |
37 And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee. |
38 And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth. |
39 And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils. |
40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. |
41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. |
42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. |
43 And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; |
44 And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. |
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Human joy sometimes expresses itself in strange ways. A person who has suffered for many years from an incurable disease comes to a Prophet unknown to him, whom he most likely sees for the first time. This Prophet heals him and says: keep silent, do not chatter about Me on every corner; go and do what the Torah prescribes for cleansing. But the healed man, instead of doing what he was told to do, joyfully shouts on every corner about what happened to him, plainly blurting out what he had been asked to keep silent about.
What is this: talkativeness? Neglect and disrespect toward the One who healed him? It is hardly either one. Rather, not everything, sadly, is serious for us that really is serious. Or better: for us, only what is serious to us is serious in earnest. For the healed man, throughout the whole time of his sickness, the sickness itself was at the center. It blocked out the whole world for him, and he can hardly be blamed for that.
But now his life changes: Someone enters it who is able and ready to deliver him from sickness, to heal and cleanse him. What then: should all attention be given to Him? Surely it should. If He delivered him from sickness, if He is from God, then he should listen to Him and do everything exactly as He commands.
Why then does the healed man act otherwise? Perhaps precisely because he has not yet truly been healed. His body is already healthy, but his attention is still entirely focused on the sickness that is no longer there, but whose memory is alive. And the healed man shouts on every corner: not about God and not about the One who healed him, but about the sickness that is no more. He shouts so much that he even forgets what the mysterious Savior asked of him.
Readings for 7 March 2026
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