Gospel of Mark Chapter 1 Vs. 44

 Jesus Cleanses a Leper

Mark 1:44 “And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.”

say nothing to... See, Mat. 8:4. It was unlawful to touch any unclean person as it made the one touching also unclean (Lev. 5:1-14; 15:5-27). There is no record of Christ going through ceremonial cleansings every time He touched sick people. This would be an impossibility, for it took a day to become clean (Lev. 15:5-27). Also, if He healed people every day, He would be going through ceremonial cleansing all the time. In many things Christ set aside the law, proving that He considered it a dead thing and ready to be abolished (Rom. 10:4; Gal. 3:19-25; 4:21-31; 2Cor. 3:6-15). The ensuing publicity would hinder Jesus’ ability to minister as in fact happened, verse 45, and divert attention away from His message (3:12; 5:43; 7:36; see on Mat. 8:4).

shew thyself to... The priest was the one on duty at the temple. Jesus commanded the healed leper to observe the Old Testament regulations concerning cleansed lepers (Lev. 14-32). Until the required offerings had been made, the man remained ceremonially unclean.

which Moses commanded... Moses is mentioned eight times in Mark (Mar. 1:44; 7:10; 9:3-4; 10:3-4; 12:19, 12:26). And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. Moses had been dead over 1,700 years and his body was then in corruption (Deut. 34:1-12; Jude 1:9). He evidently was brought up from paradise below the earth (see, Luke 16:21-31). This is an example of full consciousness and of a soul wearing clothes between death and resurrection (Rev. 6:9-11; Heb. 12:23; Psm. 16:10). Christ had not yet become the firstfruits of all that had died, so Moses could not have had a resurrected body (1Cor. 15:20-23).

Moses and Elijah Sent to Confirm:

1. The abolition of the law (Mat. 11:11-13; Luke 16:16; Gal. 3:19-25; 4:21-31; 2Cor. 3:6-15; Col. 2:14-17)

2. The fulfillment of prophecies of the sufferings of Messiah (Luke 24:25-27, 24:44-45; John 1:45; Acts 13:29-41)

3. Christ as the Messiah, the sole authority from God and the Mediator between God and man (Acts 3:22-23; Heb. 1:1-2; 1Tim. 2:5)

4. The reality and consciousness of departed spirits (Luke 16:19-31; Rev. 6:9-11; Heb. 12:23; Eph. 4:8-10)

5. The immortality of the soul (1Pet. 3:4; 4:6; Psm. 16:10; Luke 20:38)

6. The second coming, rewards and punishments (Mat. 16:27; 24:29-25:46)

7. Physical resurrection (Mat. 17:9; John 5:28-29; 1Cor. 15:1-58; Rev. 20:4-15)

8. The reality of the future eternal kingdom (Mat. 16:28; 17:1-9; Rev. 5:10; 11:15; 20:1-10)

Elijah, not yet dead, had then been living in heaven in his earthly body for nearly 1000 years (2Kgs. 2:1-25; Mal. 4:5-6; Zec. 4:11-14; Rev. 11:3-11).

a testimony unto... The priest’s acceptance of the man’s offering would be public affirmation of his cure and cleansing.

Jesus had told him to show himself to the priest. The priest had to examine him and declare him clean before he could move freely among his people. The man was to give an offering suitable in the temple as the Law of Moses had specified.

This ceremony took place without the camp, and the offering was two living birds (clean), cedar wood, scarlet wool, hyssop, two he lambs, one ewe lamb, three tenth deals of flour mingled with oil, and one log of oil. To read more about this, look in the book of Leviticus.

The touch of a leper made a Jew unclean. And there is a surprising theory, that when Jesus could no more openly enter into a city, it was because the leper had disobediently published what implied His ceremonial defilement. As if our Lord were one to violate the law by stealth.

A more satisfactory view is that Jesus wanted to avoid misunderstandings that would precipitate a premature and/or erroneous popular response to Him (cf. comments on Mark 11:28). He did not want His identity declared till He had made the character of His mission clear (cf. see 8:30; 9:9). Thus, there was a progressive withdrawal of the veil from His identity until He openly declared it (Mark 14:62; cf. Mark 12:12).

Second, Jesus instructed the former leper to show himself to the priest, who alone could declare him ritually clean, and to offer the sacrifices prescribed by Moses (cf. Lev. 14:2-31).

This demand is qualified by the phrase as eis, for a testimony to them. This phrase could be understood in a positive sense a convincing witness or negative sense an incriminating witness to either the people in general or the priests in particular. In this context, as in the two other occurrences of this phrase (Mark 6:11; 13:9), the negative sense is preferred. Thus testimony means an item of proof which can serve as incriminating evidence (cf. TDNT, s.v. “martys,” 4:502-4) and them refers to the priests.