Written by former President of Masters University of Divinity (My Alma Matar)

The miracle of the cleansing of the Leper is recorded by each of the Synoptic Gospel writers (Matthew, Mark and Luke), with Mark’s account providing the most detail (Mark 1:40-45). The miracle itself is sufficiently well known, and is a wonderful demonstration of Jesus’ compassion for the outcasts of society.

Lepers were considered unclean, and as such avoided by all but a few. The man Jesus healed begged Him on his knees; an overt expression of desperation. The man was healed instantly. In other words, his skin lesions and sores disappeared in a moment. This was an amazing miracle!

In fact, it was so amazing that Jesus, not yet ready for the onrush of publicity that it could excite, warned the man to keep the source of his healing a secret. “Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: ‘See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifice that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.’ Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news” (1:43-45 NIV).

As a consequence of the man disobeying Jesus’ warning, Mark records that: “Jesus could no longer enter a town openly, but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people came to Him from everywhere” (1:45 NIV).

Notice something even more amazing than the miracle. Notice that Jesus does not rebuke the man for disobeying the strong warning given to him by the very One to whom he owed his instantaneous healing, nor does Jesus prevent it. Bearing in mind that Jesus was not less God during the Incarnation, it is amazing that He allowed the man to disobey.

There is a great lesson here on the subject of God’s sovereignty and His love. Though He created mankind, God will have no forced followers; no conscripted sons or daughters; no unwilling servants; no puppets. The way to salvation is a way of choice.

Jesus knew exactly what the man would do, and yet He did not prevent it. The man disobeyed of his own free will, and it was his free will that Jesus would not go against. This is a hard concept for many, and yet it goes to the very core of what it means to be a human being. We may well enjoy the creation blessings of a loving God, receive His Word (warnings, commands, and promises), yet take His gifts, enjoy them, then go our own way in complete disregard of our debt.

Obedience is a virtue above all others. It transcends self, and self is the real problem of mankind. The big “I” takes first place, and God is obeyed only when it is convenient. Such obedience is but a shame, a pretense and a sin.

There is another kind, and the millions of Christians, who down through the centuries have exercised it, have found the deep peace that is only possible in the abandonment of selfish interests for the pure joy of full obedience. The refrain of an old Gospel hymn says it well, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey.”

Dr. Dennis D. Frey