Three Nails

On Sunday we were talking about Mk 1:45. It is the scene where Jesus touches a leper and heals him. Instead of following Jesus’ instructions, he goes throughout the city telling everyone about Jesus and becuase of this Jesus cannot go about openly in the city. I raised the possibility that the reason may not be the popular understanding that Jesus was mobbed by people seeking healing. I offered the possibility that Jesus may have been considered unclean by touching a leperous man and was then required to remain outside the city for a given period of time as per the Levitical law.

We were unable to really get to the bottom of it on Sunday, but the general consesus was that it was his popularity that made things difficult and after further study and an email to one of our NT professors it appears that my postulation is probably unfounded. Here is what he has to say:

Well, it is an interesting suggestion, but doubtful. Jesus was not
strictly breaking the law by touching the man, and although one would
expect Jesus to become unclean, in fact the man becomes clean -
purity/impurity seems to work backwards in this case. And although Jesus
may have been considered ‘unclean’ for touching the leper (he certainly
puts himself into the unclean realm, but somehow the impurity does not
touch him), even that uncleanness would not have been considered
contagious. One becomes unclean by touching a leper or a dead body, etc,
but one does not become unclean by touching someone who has touched a
leper or a dead body. So the fact that Jesus must stay outside the city
must have another explanation - probably related to Jesus fame as a
healer making it more politically expedient for him to avoid cities
(like Sepphoris and Tiberias) where his message of the Kingdom (Empire)
of God would have put him at odds with the Herodians and other who were
complicit with the Roman elite.

This seems to me the best explanation, although Mark is rather cryptic
about it.

K