The Places Where Jesus Commands
Multiple times in the New Testament after Jesus performed a miracle, He commanded the one He healed or exorcised, and also the witnesses, to not speak of the work He did. Sometimes, these people listened to Him, and sometimes, they did not.
A non-exhaustive list of these occasions in which Jesus commanded knowledge of His works not be distributed is: Mark 5:21-43, Mark 7:32-26, Mark 8:22-26, Luke 9:20-22, and Mark 1:34. Most of the time when we see this command, it comes to one of three groups of people/beings: the disciples, the people, and demons. And from each group, we typically see a different response.
What Happens When Jesus Commands
When Peter exclaims that Jesus is “God’s Messiah” in Luke 9, Jesus commands the disciples not to speak of this to others because, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised on the third day” (Luke 9:22).
“None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
In this case, the disciples held in their knowledge, and we know this because Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, “None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” The wisdom He speaks of is the gospel, that Jesus Christ is God, and that His sacrifice provided the means for our salvation and sanctification.
…’See that you say nothing to anyone; but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.’ Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But He was out in deserted places, and they would come to Him from everywhere.”
When the demons in Mark 1:32-35 were brought out of the people they had possessed, they were kept unable to speak of who Jesus was because of His power over them. Not only did Jesus command them not to, they had no option but to listen.
The final possible response of these people is evidenced in Mark 1:40-45, most particularly in 44-45, which says, “…’See that you say nothing to anyone; but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.’ Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But He was out in deserted places, and they would come to Him from everywhere.”
The Disobedience of the Leper
“This leper was disobedient to Christ—perhaps we might think he was naturally and excusably so—but we must never make excuses for doing what Jesus tells us not to do! Our duty is not to judge whether such and such a course will be profitable but to consider whether such and such a course is in accordance with the word of the Lord.”
Many sermons will include something akin to praise for the people who “just couldn’t hold in how amazing the works of Jesus were, so they just had to go and tell everyone.” And I was right there with them until I read through the note from Charles Spurgeon in my study Bible: “This leper was disobedient to Christ—perhaps we might think he was naturally and excusably so—but we must never make excuses for doing what Jesus tells us not to do! Our duty is not to judge whether such and such a course will be profitable but to consider whether such and such a course is in accordance with the word of the Lord.”
Perhaps I am the only one who never thought of this scripture in this way, but in case I am not, I feel it necessary to explain why this is the proper viewpoint by which to analyze these situations wherein a healed person or witness would deliberately ignore the orders of God.
First, we do not know why Jesus commanded people to keep silent about these situations unless He deliberately explains them. We may presume and make conjecture, but bar examples like with the disciples when He directly says it is so that He will be crucified at the appropriate time, we do not know for sure.
Second is that we reason with the leper’s humanity; of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the leper wanting to tell everyone about what had happened! Naturally, he would want to find every excuse to do so. But we also reason with the fact that Christ gave him an excuse: the law of Moses. He could have taken the appropriate sacrifices before the priests and joyously proclaimed God had healed him in accordance with His covenant with Moses. And this would have stolen no glory from the Lord.
Instead, we find an occasion somewhat in alignment with the way Job speaks to God as he rants about his desire to see God in court, to make a case for himself. The leper believes himself on a level at which he can approach God and say, “I am righteous enough to think my way of doing things is as good as, if not better than, Yours.”
Obedience is the Only Answer
But the prophet Isaiah is told, “’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.’ This is the Lord’s declaration. ‘For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
“’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.’ This is the Lord’s declaration. ‘For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
We are to never take up the act of thinking on our own as if we can make the right decisions. It is not our responsibility to determine if the course of an action is the appropriate one; it is only our responsibility to obey the course of an action that God directs us down to the best of our ability. When we start thinking we know better than God, we start to open up a real deep hole we can’t get out of, and suddenly we are lord, and God is not.