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Morning Devotion for the Season of Epiphany
January 15, 2026
Reading: Mark 1:40-45
A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying 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.’ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.
Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones
One of the interesting and striking features of Mark’s Gospel is that it is not the disciples, first and foremost, who serve to proclaim the Good News; in fact, the disciples are in many ways late to that particular party.
Alas, the disciples are often confused, or disbelieving, or slow to understand. There are others, though, whose first response is to acknowledge what Jesus has done for them (or in the case of the demons to them) by sharing — proclaiming — what Jesus has done, and so who Jesus is. Despite his admonitions to the contrary.
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus begins his public ministry by healing several times. There are three separate stories of Jesus healing: first a man with an unclean spirit, then at Simon and Andrew’s house Simon’s mother-in-law followed by a multitude of sick persons with various diseases or possessed by demons, and finally of cleansing a leper.
This final story is striking in three ways.
First, presumably because word of Jesus has already spread, the man with leprosy calls out to Jesus, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” The force of that statement is striking. The leper knows who Jesus is, and knows what Jesus can do, and he is counting on Jesus to be and do exactly what he can. His begging of Jesus demands that Jesus not hide himself, or keep a secret, but that he act.
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As a result, Jesus is moved by pity. This is the only time in Mark in which Jesus is so moved. This highlights Jesus’ responsiveness on the one hand and on the other it points to the responsiveness of God who, at the right time, has sent Jesus to bring the kingdom of God near to just such people in need of healing.
Jesus instructs the leper to offer the proper sacrifice according to “Moses,” the Book of the Law for cleansing. Leviticus outlines the ritual process by which one becomes clean. Interestingly, Jesus tells the man now cured of his leprosy to go through motions, even though the cleansing has already happened. This is backwards, of course, and will no doubt get the attention of the temple officials. How ironic! If Jesus wants his healing to be kept secret, why does he instruct this ex-leper to show himself to the priest “as a testimony to them”?
What we encounter in this story is a “healed proclaimer.” Jesus heals the man and commands him to keep quiet about it, but, “He went and began to proclaim it freely” This once unclean man now offers himself by showing his healed body and professing as a witness to Christ. His cleansed body, and his formerly begging-tongue, announce the nearness of God’s Kingdom.
A Prayer for Healing and Blessing
Come now reviving Spirit of our God. Breathe your healing strength upon those who suffer. And then, renew and bless all who proclaim and perform your liberating Word. Amen.
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