‘WHERE ARE THE LEPERS AMONG US?’ (Mk 1:40-45): 17 January 2008 (Thursday)
There is something about the behavior of our Lord in the gospel story that has always bewildered me: He tells the leper not to tell anyone that he has healed him, and yet almost in the same breath, he asks the leper to show himself to the priest.
This sounds like false modesty, but it’s not. Our Lord really does not want people to know of his healing powers, and the reason for this, biblical scholars tell us, is that he doesn’t want people to overreact and misunderstand his mission, and make him a political messiah.