From: Mark 1:40-45
The Curing of a Leper
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Commentary:
40-44. Leprosy was seen as a punishment from God (cf. Numbers 12:10-15).
The disappearance of the disease was regarded as one of the blessings of the
messianic times (Isaiah 35:8; cf. Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22). Because leprosy
was contagious, the Law declared that lepers were impure and that they trans-
mitted impurity to those who touched them and to places they entered. There-
fore, they had to live apart (Numbers 5:2; 12:14ff) and to show that they were
lepers by certain external signs. On the rite of purification, see the note on
Matthew 8:4.
[The note on Matthew 8:4 states:
4. According to the Law of Moses (Leviticus 14), if a leper is cured of his di-
sease, he should present himself to a priest, who will register the cure and give
him a certificate which he needs to be reintegrated into the civil and religious life
of Israel. Leviticus also prescribes the purifications and sacrifice he should offer.
Jesus’ instruction to the leper is, then, in keeping with the normal way of fulfilling
what the laws laid down.]
The passage shows us the faithful and confident prayer of a man needing Jesus’
help and begging Him for it, confident that, if Our Lord wishes, He can free him
from the disease (cf. Matthew 8:2). “This man prostrated himself on the ground,
as a sign of humility and shame, to teach each of us to be ashamed of the stains
of his life. But shame should not prevent us from confessing: the leper showed
his wound and begged for healing. If You will, he says, You can make me clean;
that is, he recognized that the Lord had the power to cure him” (St. Bede, “In
Marci Evangelium Expositio, in loc.”).
On the discretion and prudence Jesus required regarding His person, see the
note on Mark 1:34 and Matthew 9:30.
[The note on Mark 1:34 states:
34. Demons possess a supernatural type of knowledge and therefore they re-
cognize Jesus as the Messiah (Mark 1:24). Through the people they possess
they are able to publish this fact. But Our Lord, using His divine powers, orders
them to be silent. On other occasions He also silences His disciples (Mark 8:
30; 9:9), and He instructs people whom He has cured not to talk about their
cure (Mark 1:4; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26). He may have acted in this way to educate the
people away from a too human and political idea of the Messiah (Matthew 9:30).
Therefore, He first awakens their interest by performing miracles and gradually,
through His preaching, gives them a clearer understanding of the kind of Mes-
siah He is.
Some Fathers of the Church point out that Jesus does not want to accept, in
support of the truth, the testimony of him who is the father of lies.]
[The note on Matthew 9:30 states:
30. Why did our Lord not want them to publicize the miracle? Because His plan
was to gradually manifest Himself as the Messiah, the Son of God. He did not
want to anticipate events which would occur in their own good time; nor did He
want the crowd to start hailing Him as Messiah King, because their notion of
messiah was nationalistic, not a spiritual one. However, the crowd did in fact pro-
claim Him when he worked the miracles of the loaves and the fish (John 6:14-15):
“When the people saw the sign which He had done, they said, ‘This is indeed
the prophet who is to come into the world!’ Perceiving then that they were about
to come and take Him by force to make Him king, Jesus withdrew again to the
hills by Himself.”]
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
Liturgical Colour: Green.
| First reading | 1 Samuel 4:1-11 © |
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| Responsorial Psalm |
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| Psalm 43(44):10-11,14-15,24-25 © |
| Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:88 |
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| Or | cf.Mt4:23 |
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| Gospel | Mark 1:40-45 © |
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