Mark 1:45

And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. For the exposition, see the notes at Matthew 8:1....

Mark 1:45._So that Jesus could no longer enter openly into cities _Hence we learn the reason why Christ did not wish the miracle to be so soon made known. It was that he might have more abundant opportunity and freedom for teaching. Not that his enemies rose against him, and attempted to shut his mouth, but because the common people were so eager to demand miracles, that no room was left for doctrine. He wished that they would all be more attentive to the word than to signs. Luke accordingly says, that _he sought retirement in the deserts _He avoided a crowd of men, because he saw, that he would not satisfy the wishes of the people, without overwhelming his doctrine by a superfluity of miracles. (497)...

40-45 We have here Christ's cleansing of a leper. It teaches us to apply to the Saviour with great humility, and with full submission to his will, saying, "Lord, if thou wilt," without any doubt of Christ's readiness to help the distressed. See also what to expect from Christ; that according to our faith it shall be to us. The poor leper said, If thou wilt. Christ readily wills favours to those who readily refer themselves to his will. Christ would have nothing done that looked like seeking praise of the people. But no reasons now exist why we should hesitate to spread the praises of Christ....

Verse Mark 1:45. _BEGAN TO PUBLISH IT MUCH_] Began to publish πολλα, _many things_; probably all that he had heard about our Lord's miraculous works. _AND TO BLAZE ABROAD THE MATTER_] That is, his own healing; thinking he could never speak too much, nor too well, of him who had thus mercifully and miraculously cleansed him. _JESUS COULD NO MORE OPENLY ENTER INTO THE CITY_] A city of Galilee, probably Chorazin or Bethsaida, in which he did not appear, for fear of exciting the jealousy of the secular government, or the envy and malice of the Jewish rulers. _AND THEY CAME TO HIM FROM EVERY QUARTER._] So generally had the poor man, who was cleansed of his leprosy, spread abroad his fame. And can we suppose that, of all these people who came to him from all parts, and to whom he preached the glad tiding

AND THERE CAME A LEPER ... - See the notes at Matthew 8:1. KNEELING DOWN TO HIM - He kneeled and inclined his face to the ground, in token of deep humiliation and earnest entreaty. Compare Luke 5:12. IF THOU WILT - This was an acknowledgment of the almighty power of Jesus, and an appeal to his benevolence. MAKE ME CLEAN - You (Jesus) can heal me of this loathsome and offensive disease, in the eye of the law justly regarded as “unclean,” and render me “legally” clean, and restore me to the privileges of the congregation. AND JESUS ...TOUCHED HIM - It was by the law considered as unclean to touch a leprous man. See

EXPOSITION MARK 1:1 THE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. These words mean, not the title of the book, but the commencement of the narrative; and so they depend upon what follows, namely, "as it is written" (καθῶς for ὠς), "even as it is written." The words "the gospel of Jesus Christ" do not signify the book which St. Mark wrote, but the evangelical teaching of Jesus Christ. St. Mark means that the gospel announcement by Jesus Christ had such a beginning as had been predicted by Isaiah and Malachi, namely, the preaching of John the Baptist, and his testimony concerning Christ, to be fully laid open by the preaching and the death of Christ. The preaching of repentance by the Baptist was the preparation and the beginning of the evangelical preaching by Christ, of whom John was the forerunner. It has been well observed that St. Matthew an

BUT HE WENT OUT,.... Either out of the synagogue; for in Mark 1:39, it is said, that Christ preached in their synagogues, c. and in Mark 1:40, "there came a leper to him" and Luke very, plainly suggests, that he was in the city, Luke 5:12, and he might be in the synagogue: and this was allowed a leper, according to the Jewish canons, provided some rules were observed; which were these x: "if a leper enters into a synagogue, they make for him a partition ten hands high, and four cubits broad; he enters in first, and goes out last:'' or, it may be, he went out of the house where he was, into the city, and parts adjacent; for it seems as if the cure was done privately: and yet a leper was not allowed to enter into a hous

Mark 1:28. _And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee._ «Immediately.» That is, as soon as Jesus had healed the man with an unclean spirit, his fame spread like wildfire. The miracle was reported from mouth to mouth till everybody in that region knew of it. It was said that the words and writings of Martin Luther were carried as by the wings of angels, so speedily was everything that he said and wrote made known far and wide. On this occasion, it was so with our Lord's wondrous deed of mercy and power: «Immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.» Mark 1:29. _And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John._ «Forthwith,» or

PART II. THE SERVANT'S WORK; NOT TO BE MINISTERED UNTO, BUT TO MINISTER -- CHAPTER 1:14-10:52 Chapter 1:14-45. The Ministry in Galilee after John's Imprisonment. _ 1. The Servant in Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. (Mark 1:14 .Matthew 4:12; Luke 4:14 .)_ 2. The Calling of fellow servants. (Mark 1:16. Matthew 4:18; Luke 5:1 .) 3. The Servant in Capernaum. (Mark 1

THE HEALING OF THE LEPER. By placing this incident at this point in his narrative, Mk. gives a further reason for the difficulty which met Jesus on His return from Capernaum. The story with Mk.'s ending connects closely with ch. 2. We have here a work of healing (not, as some think, a request to Jesus to declare the man free from leprosy), but the original interest centres on the sayings of Jesus embedded in the story. MARK 1:40. HNT cites Epictetus III. Mark 10:14 f.: Why then do you flatter the physician? Why do you say, - If thou wilt, sir, I shall be well-' ? Mark 1:41. An early reading gives moved with anger instead of with compassion. If this reading be original, the flattery of if thou wilt, or the implied