Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 10 Study # 2
April 23, 2019
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(068)
1901 ASV
41 And being moved with compassion, he stretched forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou made clean.
42 And straightway the leprosy departed from him, and he was made clean.
43 And he
strictly charged him, and straightway sent him out,
44 and saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing the things which Moses
commanded, for a testimony unto them.
45 But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to spread abroad the
matter, insomuch that
Jesus could no more openly enter into
a city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.
- I. Mark's Description of Jesus' Motivation.
- A. "Having felt compassion..." (Aorist Participle; deponent).
- 1. Mark sought to highlight "compassion" in four texts: 1:41; 6:34; 8:2; and 9:22.
- a. This first "highlight" is set in a context of a leper who "knows" Jesus "can"; the last such is set in a context of a father whose son is possessed and he admits his "unbelief", though he does set his "request" in the form of a first class condition ("...If You can do anything..."), which typically assumes a positive result.
- b. Thus, first and last, "compassion" is at the root of Jesus' activities, though "faith" is in serious difficulty: the leper "knows" He can but does not "know" if he is willing (he uses a third class conditional clause, but wonders about how much impact "compassion" might have on Jesus); and the father "attempts to assume" Jesus' "ability" while resting his case upon the impact "compassion" might have on Jesus. In other words, the leper assumes "ability" but not "compassion", and the desperate father assumes "compassion" but not "ability".
- c. And in the midst of the first and last references, there are two "compassionate" actions taken with a view toward providing a large number of people with "food" (5,000 men in the 6:34 context, and 4,000 who ate in the 8:2 context).
- 2. Though it is clear, both in the New Testament and the records of history, that Jesus' "compassion" is often not the "bottom line" in His decision-making, it is Mark's explanation for what Jesus did.
- a. This means that though we need to see Jesus as being moved by His "compassion", if we see what amounts to us to be an absence of it, we are to be very cautious about thinking of Jesus as somehow lacking in this regard. His "compassion" is as infinite as every one of His other attributes.
- 1) This raises the question of the actual nature of "compassion: What is it?
- 2) There is an interesting record in Matthew 18 in which we see two significant facts.
- a) In 18:33 the "compassionate" one called his treatment of his debtor "pity" (the typical term for "mercy").
- b) Then, in 18:34 we are told that this "compassionate" man was so angry with his debtor that he revoked his earlier "merciful/compassionate" action and "delivered him to the tormentors".
- 3) The root word for this verb is the word "bowels" and refers, in the physical realm to a person's intestines.
- a) What happens in a person's "intestines" when he/she witnesses a situation of great distress has become a metaphor for a non-physical attitude wherein a person is willing to "do something" in the face of the "distress".
- b) There is an interesting play on this physical/metaphorical reality in Luke's record of Judas' end when he burst open and his "bowels" spilled out (Acts 1:18). He is simply recording a "use it or lose it" factor: the uncompassionate was subjected to the violent loss of his intestines (the source of his "compassion"). Judas was likened unto the "elder brother" in the context of Luke 15:20 whose father exercised "compassion" on the younger brother, but he did not. And, again, he is likened unto the legalists of Matthew 9:13 and 12:7 whose self-righteous condemnation of the "sick" was declared by Jesus to be totally opposed to the attitude which God often takes for those who "need a physician" (the concepts of "sick" and "in need of a physician" are both used metaphorically of sinners in need of Jesus' merciful aid).
- b. This means that there is such a thing as issues that trump compassion even in the glory of God. These issues do not mean there is no compassion; they just mean that there can be a greater need involved than the need for compassion.
- B. This particular motivation is not automatic to every case just as all of the other issues of divine character in action.
- II. Mark's Description of Jesus' Actions.
- A. "...Having extended His hand..." (Aorist Active Participle).
- 1. This "extension of the hand" is both literal (this text and others) and metaphorical (Acts 4:30) and it denotes the actual action that will do what is desired.
- a. In a number of cases, it is the one seeking healing that stretches forth the hand (to touch the "healer"). In these cases, it is "an action of faith" [Note Mark 5:27 and 34].
- b. In others, it is Jesus Who stretches forth the hand that heals.
- c. But, the bottom line is that the action is taken to accomplish a desire, even when that desire is wicked (Matthew 26:51 and Luke 22:53).
- 2. This is the second participle that modifies the main verb: "touched".
- a. This word is widely used in the New Testament and even Mark uses it in ten texts.
- b. In this verse, it is highly significant because it is set in the context of "leprosy" and the Leviticus 22:4 declaration of "uncleanness". In a sense, Jesus took the "uncleanness" upon Himself and "cleansed" the leper.
- B. He "touched" and "said".
- 1. The "touching" is as above.
- 2. The "saying" is what triggered the healing.
- a. It was in the "saying" that Jesus healed.
- b. What was "said" was two-fold.
- 1) "I am willing."
- 2) "Be cleansed" (Aorist Imperative Passive).
- III. Mark's Description of What Occurred.
- A. There is another "immediately" here as Mark's way of pressing the focus here.
- B. The leprosy "went away from him".
- C. He was "cleansed".
