Mar 1:44 See you say nothing to any man: but go thy way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
Alternative: See that you say nothing to no one. Instead go away, reveal yourself to the priest, and pay for your cleansing what Moses ordered as proof to them.

Christ again repeats the idea of being silent and going away that we saw in Mrk 1:25. Christ knew that the leper would not heed his direction, but Christ wanted to take a stand again broad, public, anonymous communication. The cleansing that Christ is bringing is a personal, private awareness not a social movement. Cleansing changes society one person at a time.

Why does Christ want the leper to show himself to the priest? Because the law of Moses commanded a specific ritual upon the healing of a leper (Lev 14:2). Such a healing was to be followed by a ceremony of cleansing that involved several sacrifices over several days time, along with certain good, public health practices, such as saving, washing, and washing clothes. The end of the disease was separated from this cleansing, which allowed time to pass and proved to the public that the victim was clean and could be welcomed back into society.

So we have two cleansings, the real physical one and the second social one, bringing the victim back into society. Christ provided the real healing, but the second one depended upon the traditions of the people involved. Christ did not come to change those traditions. Rather his job was to put them into perspective.

We learned from the beginning of Matthew that Christ saw our temporary life on earth as consisting of three components: the physical, the mental, and the emotional. The emotional components involves our relationships with one another, both personal and social. For Christ, all three components were important as part of a process.

Words, that is the intellectual part of life, affect the physical and social. Words and ideas can improve our lives. Learning can alleviate suffering. Christ's words here heal the leper. But the power of words has a limitation: they should not be used to change emotions. Emotions and relationships must depend on actions, in this case, the actions dictated by tradition. Thought (words) directs action. Action directs feeling. Feelings direct thoughts. Spirit (or information) must direct all of these components. As productive as words are in the intellectual world, they are destructive in the emotional world. Our emotional relationships should depend on actions, not words. Our relationships should not be based upon what happens moment to moment but upon what happens over time.

Ideas can physically change our lives in a moment, but our actions over time are the proof of our healing and feeling.

What would Christ think of public religious healings held for show? What would Christ think of the instant verbal professions of healing for the crowd? All we can say is that this is is not what he recommends here.

"Say" is from the word epo, which means "to speak" or "to say" (from epos, which means "word').

"Nothing" and "any man" are from a repitition of the word mêdeis (medeis), which means "nobody," "no one," "not even one," "naught," "good for naught," and "nothing."

"See" is from horaô (horao), which means "to see," "to observe," "to look," "to take or give heed," "to look out for," and "to see visions."

"Go your way" is from hupagô (hupago), which means "to lead under," "to bring under," "to bring a person before judgment," "to lead on by degrees," "to take away from beneath," "to withdraw," "to go away," "to retire," "to draw off," and "off with you."

"Priest" is from hiereus (hiereus), which means "priest," "sacrificer," and "diviner."

"Show" is from deiknuô (deiknuo), which means "to bring to light," "to show forth," "to show," "to point out," "to make known," "to prove," "to display," and "to offer."

"Brought" is from prospherô (prospero), which means "to bring to," "to add," "to apply to," "to present," "to offer," "to contribute," "to pay," and "to bear in addition."

"Commanded" is from prostassô (prostasso), which means "to place," "to post," "to attach to," "to command," "to prescribe," "to enjoin," and "to order."


"Witness" is from marturion (marturion), which means "testimony" and "proof."