Matthew 8:1-4: When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. 2 And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord , if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And 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.”

COMMENTARY: The first thing to understand here is the symbolism of leprosy.

There are three commands here.

• • • Tell no one about the healing.
    • The one healed is to show himself to the priest.
    • The one healed is to present the offering that Moses commanded.

Regarding the first command, we might wonder why Jesus would warn the healed person not to tell anyone what Jesus had done. It seems logical to give credit to the one who has done something miraculous. Praising Jesus/God and giving them credit for good things seems normal and reasonable. But Jesus knew that he personally did nothing miraculous. He knew that God did the miracle of healing the leper — not him. Jesus knew he was only a servant who spoke God’s words. He knew that the healing happened because the leper was delivered from religion because he heard God’s voice. Jesus didn’t want the man to confuse others about who had the power to heal, so he told him not to tell anyone.

Christians who are eager to report signs, wonders and miracles the think they see will have difficulty obeying Jesus commands. Because they hold onto the belief that Jesus is both man and God, they ascribe spiritual power to Jesus himself instead of looking at him as a conduit of spiritual power that exists in God’s spoken word.

That Jesus had no natural power of his own is a difficult fact to understand, of course, but it is still a fact that the only thing that makes Jesus special is God’s anointing that empowers him to speak for God. Any power that Jesus had was in the words that he spoke — not in Jesus the man. It is wrong, therefore, to worship Jesus and consider him to be equal to God.

Luke 5:12-15 While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord , if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 13 And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 15 But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.

Matthew 9:29-30Then He touched their eyes, saying, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: “See that no one knows about this!”

Matthew 12:14-16 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. 15 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, 16 and warned them not to tell who He was.

Matthew 16:13-20 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.

Matthew 17:1-9 Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord , it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. 7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” 8 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone. 9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

Mark 1:40-44 And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” 41 Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. 43 And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, 44 and He said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Mark 3:1-12 He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. 2 They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward !” 4 And He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. 5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. 7 Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea, 8 and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him. 9 And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him; 10 for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!” 12 And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was.

Mark 5:38-43 They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. 39 And entering in, He said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.” 40 They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions , and entered the room where the child was. 41 Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. 43 And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat.

Mark 7:32-36 They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him. 33 Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; 34 and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” 35 And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly. 36 And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it.

Mark 8:30 And He warned them to tell no one about Him.

Mark 9:7-9Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!” 8 All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone. 9 As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead.

Luke 8:51-56 When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl’s father and mother. 52 Now they were all weeping and lamenting for her; but He said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep.” 53 And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died. 54 He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Child, arise!” 55 And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat. 56 Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened

Luke 9:18-21 And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the people say that I am?” 19 They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.” 20 And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.” 21 But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone,

COMMENTARY: In the original Greek text, the Greek word “christos” is an adjective — not a masculine noun. The name “Jesus” is a masculine noun word in Greek.

Bible scribes/editors distorted the meaning of this verse when they changed  the adjective “christos” into a proper, masculine name “Christ.” Jesus was his proper name, and christ was an adjective that described him. Christ is not a name. The word “christ” describes a person. Christ describes Jesus as a messiah, but he is not the one and only messiah that God ever sent to his people. All the prophets sent by  God were messiahs because they spoke for God. That is why they were anointed.

Peter’s response that Jesus is “christ of God” shows that he understood that Jesus was a messiah of God. Bible scribes/editors changed the meaning of the verse by including “the” to describe christ as the one and only christ. Here is how verse 20 reads in the original Greek:

The main point to learn from this scripture is that Jesus is “a” christ — not “the” christ. God did not send only one christ/prophet. He sent many christs/prophets to speak for him. And, if he is one of many christs/prophets, he is not God.

Messiahs are anointed by God to speak for God. They, including Jesus, are not all Gods because God is one.

The other thing to learn from this scripture is that this is another example of Jesus warned his disciples not to tell what they have learned to others. This seems like a strange thing for Jesus to say because we might expect him to want his disciples to share truth with others.

Christians who claim to follow Jesus clearly do not obey his commandments when they make public reports about the things that they have seen Jesus do. In their boasting about Jesus, they are really boasting about themselves and their acute spiritual perceptions that enable them to make such observations. They are making names for themselves while they practice public religion.

Jesus’ warnings in the above scriptures would appear to contradict the following scriptures:

Luke 8:39 “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you. “So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

Notice that the interpretation comes as a series of related truths — not as a coherent, linear thought. This is consistent with how we hear God’s spoken voice.

Mark 5:15-20 They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion “; and they became frightened. 16 Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. 17 And they began to implore Him to leave their region. 18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him.

COMMENTARY: The highlighted (i.e. linked) words are the Greek words of the original Bible texts. Clicking on each of these words reveals that the original Greek words could have been transcribed with a wide variety of English words. The scholars who wrote the Bible made their translation decisions agree with their religious doctrines. All the other words (i. e. those not highlighted) have been inserted by scribes who chose them as filler words to make the text understandable in English. The scribes/editors chose these filler words to make the English text agree with their doctrinal biases. If we remove the filler words, we have these words available to give us understanding:

let said Go home people report what great things Lord done had mercy went away began proclaim Decapolis what great things Jesus done everyone amazed.

Admittedly, these words alone do not make it clear what God wanted to communicate through this scripture. Because they don’t go together like English speakers expect, we need to hear God’s spoken voice to understand God’s intended meaning in the verses. When we listen to God while we read, the following is how we will understand them:

• • • Jesus did not deliver the man.
    • It was the Lord God who did great things for the man — not Jesus.
    • God’s word, spoken through Jesus, ,delivered the man from a demon.
    • Jesus told the man to bring God’s word into his heart.
    • Jesus said that God (i.e. the Lord) — not Jesus — had given the man mercy.
      
    • Jesus told the man to report what the Lord, not Jesus, had done for the man. He told the man to report what the Lord had done because he knew that the deliverance the man had received was accomplished because of the power of God’s words spoken by Jesus — not because of any special power that Jesus had.
    • Because the man who was delivered did not understand the spiritual meaning of home (i.e. heart), he disobeyed Jesus’ command to bring God’s word into his heart.
    • Because the man did not understand that God’s word, not Jesus, had delivered him, he told others that Jesus had delivered him.