Luke 5:14

‘And he charged him to tell no man: “But go your way, and show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.'

Then Jesus bade him not to tell anyone, but to obey the Law of Moses and go on his way to the Temple in Jerusalem, and show himself to a priest, who would be able to examine him and pass his verdict on whether his skin disease was cleansed. Then he must make the usual offerings as a testimony to the priests of what God had done.

The command not to tell anyone was in order to prevent him in his excitement from contacting others and thus rendering them ritually unclean, for until he had received a certificate from the priests he was still officially unclean. It may also have been in order to prevent people coming to see Jesus as a spectacle, and in order to stress that it was primarily not in order to heal that He had come. He wanted people to come to Him out of hunger for the word. And while people continued to flock to Him He found it very difficult to find quiet places where He could meet with His Father.

‘A testimony to them.' This demonstrates that his silence was to endure only until he came to the priest. And he would inform the priest how it had happened and who had done it. And the priesthood would be made aware of the activities of Jesus and how He was making sick people whole. But the ‘testimony' in mind was to both to priests and people. The offering of the sacrifices would be witness to the fact that the man was clean. It made clear that he had been officially passed as clean. But Luke may have intended the double entendre. The man's very healing was a witness of what Jesus had come to do, bear the sin and uncleanness of man.

Note On What Was Involved Before The Priests.

A man who claimed to be healed of a disfiguring skin disease had to go and show himself to the priests in Jerusalem and then offer the appropriate sacrifices. Once he had been examined and declared free of the disease, two birds were taken, and one was killed over running water. Then cedar, scarlet and hyssop, with the living bird, were dipped in the blood of the dead bird and he was sprinkled with the blood seven times and pronounced clean. Then the live bird was allowed to go free. The man then washed himself and his clothes and shaved himself.

Seven days later he was re-examined. He then had to shave his head, hair, beard and eyebrows, and bring an offering of two male lambs without blemish and one ewe lamb (less for a poor person), with three tenths parts of fine flour for a meal offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. The priest then offered one he-lamb as a guilt offering, together with the log of oil, and waved them as a wave offering before the Lord to make atonement for him. The other two were offered as a sin offering and a burnt offering. The restored person was then touched on the tip of the right ear, the right thumb and the right great toe with blood from the guilt offering and, after the oil had been sprinkled seven times before the Lord, with oil. The remainder of the oil was then put on his head. Thus was atonement made for him. Then he was finally examined and, if he was clear of the disease, was given a certificate that he was clean and allowed to go. See for all this Leviticus 14.

End of note.

It should be noted that we have in this passage a demonstration of Jesus' loyalty to the Law, and that this comes prior to a number of cases where He is challenged concerning His loyalty to the Law. he has already established His bona fides.