Premature Publicity

Last Updated on February 18, 2024 by Gloria M. Chang

A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. He said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

Mark 1:40-45

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Inescapable Fame

Moved with compassion, Jesus healed a leper, risking premature publicity among religious nationalists seeking a powerful Messianic figure. Since even his own disciples failed to grasp the Father’s will to have his own Son crucified, Jesus preferred to stay out of the limelight while preaching the kingdom “not of this world” (John 18:36). Despite his efforts to conceal this miracle, the leper proclaimed his wonders far and wide, making it impossible for him to escape the multitudes that swamped him.

Traditional Chinese Translation

《過早的宣揚》
一個痲瘋病人讓耶穌一舉成名，
動員成群的盲人、聾子、和瘸子。