“Jesus said to him, ‘See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them’” ( Matthew 8:4 4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. ).

Following times of greatest blessing and triumph, our Lord often tests us to see if our faith is obedient. In the case of the cleansed leper, Jesus commanded him to fulfill the ritual requirements of the law and let the priests attest to his healing (cf. Lev. 14). This responsibility had to precede any celebrations of his newfound health or telling others about his cure.

Perhaps Jesus told the man not to tell others of this healing so that people would not merely give adulation to Him as a miracle worker. Furthermore, He would not have wanted this event to encourage any speculation that He was a political deliverer. Christ was still in His period of humiliation, and any exaltation of Him by the crowd would have been premature within the Father’s plan.

However, the major reason for Jesus’ command to the healed man to respect the Mosaic requirements was to testify to the crowd, particularly the Jewish leaders. He blasted their hypocrisy, superficiality, and unscriptural methods, but He did not want to communicate that He had no regard for God’s law at all. When the priest declared the man healed—and the evidence would be obvious—it would allow Jesus’ miracle to be verified by the Jewish establishment. That would give added weight to His credibility as Messiah, as One who “did not come to abolish but to fulfill” (Matt. 5:17).

Ask Yourself

How would you describe your spiritual state after a season of great accomplishment or at the culmination of a long struggle that has ended in victory? Is this a time when you deliberately focus on the basics of Christian faith, or when you decide to take a break for a while?

From Daily Readings from the Life of Christ, Vol. 1, John MacArthur. Copyright © 2008. Used by permission of Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL 60610, www.moodypublishers.com.

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