Mark 1:45

‘But he went out and began to proclaim the story in detail and to spread abroad the matter (Greek: logos) in so much that he could no more openly enter into a town, but was outside in desert places. And they came to him from every quarter.'

That the first part of this sentence refers to the man and not to Jesus is evidenced by the contrast with the previous verse. The second part, of course, refers to Jesus.

‘He went out.' This whole incident must have taken place over a period of time for we must assume that first of all he did what he was told and went to the priests for a certificate of cleansing, which would take a minimum of seven days in addition to travelling time. Indeed had he not done so no one would have listened to him, for they would have seen him as still unclean. But having obtained his certificate he then went and spread abroad what had happened to him instead of doing what Jesus had asked him to. Possibly he thought that the silence enjoined was only until he had received his certificate of cleansing. Or it may just be that he was so amazed and so grateful that he could not keep quiet.

But in doing so he did Jesus a bad turn, for the result was that huge crowds who were coming for the wrong purpose gathered to see Jesus, with the result that for a time He was squeezed out of the towns and had to remain in desert places. But even this action accomplished little, for everyone flocked to see Him wherever He was. They came to Him from all directions.

There has been no mention in this whole passage of Isaiah 61:1, but in Luke 4:18 Jesus early in His ministry certainly cites those verses of Himself, and they equally certainly refer to what we find here in Mark, for He is anointed with the Spirit (Mark 1:10), He proclaims the Good News (Mark 1:15), He releases captives (Mark 1:26), and He offers freedom to those who were bruised (Mark 1:42). Mark may well therefore have had Isaiah 61:1 in mind. Isaiah then goes on to speak of the coming of the acceptable year of the Lord which is the thought that lies behind chapter 2.