He is my Delight

Mark 1:40-45 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.” Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, 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.” 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.

I can understand the excitement of the leper. Who knows how long it had been since he was even able to approach anyone to talk to them. Now he has been cleansed and all the limitations of leprosy have been removed. I can imagine that it must have felt nearly impossible to keep quiet about it. But Jesus had stated his purpose just a few verses prior to this incident:

Mark 1:38 But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.

This is what Jesus had planned to do but because the leper had done what he was told not to do, Jesus had to change His plans and instead of going into the city He had to stay outside in deserted places. I’m sure this ex-leper had no idea that it would cause such problems. But what it comes down to is this….He is to be obeyed even when it runs contrary to all our feelings and desires and when we don’t even understand why it’s necessary. The problem today is that everybody wants to be blessed, but few want to be obedient. We need to just do what He says.