Mark 1:43,44

‘And he sternly charged him, and immediately sent him away, and says to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go your way, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing the things that Moses commanded for a testimony to them”.'

‘And He sternly charged him --.' The verb is another word which can indicate anger (so used in Mark 14:5, also externally and in LXX), but note how it is used in Matthew 9:30 in a similar way to here. Jesus is clearly powerfully disturbed by the incident. Compare John 11:38 where He has the same feeling about the death of Lazarus. As suggested above, if there was anger it must have been because of what He saw as lying behind the appalling disease. It was because He saw it as evidence of the consequences of sin, and of the Enemy who had dragged man into it. But more probably the verb simply refers to the severity with which He ‘charged him' because He knew what he consequences might be.

‘And immediately sent him away.' The haste with which He sent him away (the verb can be strong - ‘thrust him away', but here simply indicates urgency) demonstrated that He was aware of the problems that the incident could cause. He realised what the consequences could be, and that it could bring crowds of sensation seekers to see Him. The more dreadful the disease the more the impact of the healing in this way.

‘See that you say nothing to any man.' He does not want sensation seekers. They can only hinder His ministry. That this is His thought is brought out by the next verse. For the very thing that He was trying to guard against id depicted as happening.

‘But go your way, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing the things that Moses commanded for a testimony to them.' 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, after which the man 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.

Jesus told the man that he must fulfil what was required. Indeed it was important, for no one would have accepted him as clean otherwise. He wanted him to disappear quickly from the scene and go to Jerusalem.

This sending of him to Jerusalem reminds us that Jesus was ever faithful to the requirements of the Law of Moses. And He must also usually have followed Pharisaic ritual rules when He felt it necessary, for although his disciples are sometimes pulled up for ‘falling short' (Mark 2:23; Mark 7:5), we rarely find the Pharisees accusing Jesus of the same. So although He defended His disciples it is clear that He Himself went beyond what He believed necessary so as not to cause offence. It is not holy to be awkward except when an important principle is at stake.

‘For a testimony to them.' This probably meant that the ritual the man went through would be a testimony to priest and people of his being clean (rather than, as some have suggested, as testimony that Jesus observed the Law, or as a testimony of what Jesus had accomplished, or as a testimony against them at the final judgment because of their unbelief after what Jesus had done). On the other hand its use elsewhere in Mark always indicates conveying a strong message. See Mark 6:11; Mark 13:9. Thus it may suggest that Jesus did want the priest to recognise that the One Who could make clean was among them.