Jesus prays in solitude and heals a leper

St Mark Chapter I : Verses 35-45

Jesus prays in solitude

He went into a desert place: and there he prayed. J-J Tissot

[35] And rising very early, going out, he went into a desert place: and there he prayed.
[36] And Simon, and they that were with him, followed after him. 

[37] And when they had found him, they said to him: All seek for thee.

[35] Et diluculo valde surgens, egressus abiit in desertum locum, ibique orabat. [36] Et prosecutus est eum Simon, et qui cum illo erant. [37] Et cum invenissent eum, dixerunt ei : Quia omnes quærunt te.

Notes

35. Rising very early. Jesus had had a very busy Sabbath, and now, after a short rest, He retires to pray in a desert place. Galilee was surrounded by solitary places.

36. Simon and they that were with him followed, etc. Literally they pursued Him, as though fearing lest He should leave them.

37. All seek for thee. Those who had witnessed the miracles on the previous day were eager to see our Lord again.

 

Journey in Galilee

[38] And he saith to them: Let us go into the neighbouring towns and cities, that I may preach there also; for to this purpose am I come. 

[39] And he was preaching in their synagogues, and in all Galilee, and casting out devils.

[38] Et ait illis : Eamus in proximos vicos, et civitates, ut et ibi praedicem : ad hoc enim veni. [39] Et erat prædicans in synagogis eorum, et in omni Galilæa, et dæmonia ejiciens. 

Notes

38. He saith to them. Our Lord probably said this, in answer to an expressed or tacit wish of the Apostles, that He should return to Capharnaum.

to this purpose am I come. Here Jesus asserts His own Divine authority ; when addressing the multitude we find our Lord saying, I am sent, thus showing the authority of the Father. At this stage of His ministry Jesus reveals Himself more to His disciples than to the people.

towns and cities. Rather villages and cities.

39. in all Galilee (see Galilee).

The healing of the leper

If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. J-J Tissot

[40] And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down said to him: If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
[41] And Jesus having compassion on him, stretched forth his hand; and touching him, saith to him: I will. Be thou made clean. 

[42] And when he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was made clean. 

[43] And he strictly charged him, and forthwith sent him away. 

[44] And he saith to him: See thou tell no one; but go, shew thyself to the high priest, and offer for thy cleansing the things that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them. 

[45] But he being gone out, began to publish and to blaze abroad the word: so that he could not openly go into the city, but was without in desert places: and they flocked to him from all sides.

[40] Et venit ad eum leprosus deprecans eum : et genu flexo dixit ei : Si vis, potes me mundare.[41] Jesus autem misertus ejus, extendit manum suam : et tangens eum, ait illi : Volo : mundare. [42] Et cum dixisset, statim discessit ab eo lepra, et mundatus est. [43] Et comminatus est ei, statimque ejecit illum, [44] et dicit ei : Vide nemini dixeris : sed vade, ostende te principi sacerdotum, et offer pro emundatione tua, quae praecepit Moyses in testimonium illis. [45] At ille egressus cœpit prædicare, et diffamare sermonem, ita ut jam non posset manifeste introire in civitatem, sed foris in desertis locis esset, et conveniebant ad eum undique.

Notes

N.B. — This miracle was probably worked after Christ’s sermon on the mountain, which St Mark omits.

40. A leper. One afflicted with leprosy — a terrible skin disease, and very common in the East.

The Jews called it “ The Finger of God ” or “the Stroke.” It is rarely cured, at least in its most malignant forms. It is also extremely loathsome in its worst stages. Scales cover the body, and the members gradually drop off. It resembles a universal cancer. Leprosy is a type of sin. Lepers were considered unclean in general, and were forbidden to approach the dwellings of those not so affected.

beseeching, kneeling down. One of St Mark’s vivid touches.

If thou wilt. The leper’s prayer shows modesty, humility, confidence, submission to God’s will, and a firm faith in Christ’s healing power.

41. having compassion. A detail peculiar to St Mark.

stretched forth his hand. Jesus touched the leper in spite of the Mosaic prohibition, possibly —

(a) to show that He was “ the Lord of the law.”

(b) To prove the virtue of His human nature.

(c) To show His loving compassion for the leper.

Priests were allowed to touch the lepers in pronouncing them clean, and Jesus is our High Priest. Although the Jews were forbidden to touch a corpse, yet Eliseus touched the dead child whom he restored to life (4 Kings iv. 34), thus showing that divine miracles are above ritual precepts.

43. charged him, i.e. He charged him that he should tell no man (St Luke v. 14). Jesus strictly commanded the leper not to noise abroad the miracle. He did not wish to confirm the Jews in their idea concerning the temporal reign of the Messiah. On other occasions our Lord commanded silence respecting miraculous cures.

Jesus in dismissing the leper bids him practise —

1. Humility, see thou tell no man.

2. Obedience, go, shew thyself to the -priests.

3. Gratitude, offer for thy cleansing, etc.

44. to the high-priest. These words may refer to the one who presided over the priests then serving in their weekly course, or to the high-priest himself.

the things that Moses commanded. Two living sparrows, cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop (a kind of wild marjoram).

45. began to publish, etc. Did the leper sin by so doing? Probably not, as it is most likely that he regarded the prohibition as being prompted by our Lord’s humility. Doubtless the man in his excitement could not refrain from expressing joy and gratitude ; moreover, even if he himself had not published it, the leper’s friends and acquaintances must have perceived his sudden return to perfect health. 

not openly go into the city, on account of the crowd, which, attracted by the fame of His miracles, continually followed Him, and impeded His journey.

On Leprosy

There are three kinds of leprosy —

(1) A mild form, in which only small scales form on the body, and this form is less revolting than the other two, and is often cured.

(2) A more serious form, which assumes a cancerous appearance. Dark livid spots cover the body, the joints swell, and the limbs rot away.

(3) The “ white leprosy,” which was the kind spoken of in the present case. “ It begins with red shining elevations of the cuticle, turning into white scales, and accumulating into thick crusts ; the hair on the infected spots becomes white, the extremities swell up, the nails fall off, sensible perception grows dull, and the sufferers finally die of consumption and dropsy.” When the disease develops very rapidly there is a good hope of recovery, and such a patient is not deemed “ unclean ” (Lev. xiii. 12, 13). Lepers were forbidden to approach those in health (Lev. xiii. 46). They kept at a distance and called out “ unclean,” that passers-by might avoid touching them. Lepers were excluded from the Jewish dwellings, but not from the Christian assemblies. Leprosy is a type of sin, for as it separated a man from his fellows and gradually produced death, so mortal sin separates and cuts off the soul from the society of the blessed in heaven and leads to the sinner’s eternal death. The ceremony of the purification of a leper was very solemn and complex. The leper, when he was to be cleansed, that is, pronounced clean by the priest (not healed by him), was commanded to offer — “ two living sparrows, which it is lawful to eat, and cedar-wood, and scarlet and hyssop. And he shall command one of the sparrows to be immolated in an earthen vessel over living waters. But the other that is alive he shall dip, with the cedar- wood, and the scarlet and the hyssop, in the blood of the sparrow that is immolated ” (Lev. xiv. 4-6). The priest then sprinkled the leper seven times with the blood of the dead sparrow and restored the other to liberty. The man had to perform certain ablutions, to shave his hair and beard, to wash his clothes, and to remain outside his own tent for seven days. On the eighth day he took two lambs and a ewe lamb, “ three-tenths of flour tempered with oil,” and “ a sextary of oil.” The priest then offered a sin offering and also a holocaust. The significance of these ceremonies is fully explained by the translators of the Douay Bible. (See footnote to Lev. xiv. 14.)

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.