Mark 1:44, “See that you [the guy I just cured of leprosy], don’t tell this to anyone.”
Jesus asks me to do strange things sometimes. Sometimes it’s to cast my net on the other side of the boat (I mean, those guys were professionals, right? They knew how to fish – duh). And in this case, I would think Jesus wanted his message to get out. But he told this guy to go to the priests and then to shut up, ‘don’t tell a soul what I’ve done for you.’
Jesus had a reason. Once this guy ran off at his mouth, “Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places.” (v45). Now, he didn’t do this exclusively because in chapter 2, he’d gone back home to Capernaum. Nonetheless, it changed Jesus’ strategy. It wasn’t a minor strategy change either, in verse 38 and 39, ““Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.”” (Emphasis mine).
Of course, still Jesus mission on earth was accomplished, but I wonder how many people lost direct contact with Jesus because this guy though he knew best. Sure they could have gone out to see him in the wilderness or punch a hole through his roof (Mark 2:4) but Jesus still had to conduct himself differently.
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