Enjoy The View

Have you ever wondered why there were times when Jesus would heal someone yet command them not to tell anyone?  The girls and I were reading through some of Luke 5 this morning and we came to one such instance when he healed a leper and commanded him not to tell anyone, but to go right to the priest and offer what Moses commanded for cleansing.  We were talking about that and wondering why Jesus wouldn't want everyone to know that the man had been healed and Karly said, "YEAH, like"....and started singing, "Go Tell It On The Mountain".

Thankfully, when we put Luke's record of this healing together with Mark's account, we get a little more understanding of what Jesus was up against and why He would ask or command people not to tell of their healing.

In Mark we read that the leper disobeyed Jesus's warning and shared the news with people and that the consequence for this disobedience was that Jesus was banned from entering certain cities and had to remain outside.  It seems as though Jesus already knew or discerned this would put limits on His ministry and He was working to prevent this for happening.  I am sure He felt disappointed and frustrated by this as He was working so hard to advance the gospel.  One of the awesome parts of this scripture is that, even though Jesus was banned from cities, people still would flock to Him from everywhere.  One beautiful takeaway from this scriptures is that God can and will move to allow us to further His mission through us in spite of our plans and hopes being frustrated....wherever you are...be faithful and enjoy the view.

Another thought I had about it was that Jesus always turned people toward His Father....He really didn't want people to be in awe and worship Him just because of the miracles He was performing, but wanted them to fully understand the message He was giving them and the reason He was sent to them...to be a sacrifice for sin and to bring them salvation....the ultimate healing.  That is the message to shout from the mountain tops.