and urged that He remain with them; but "he said
unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for
therefore am I sent."[405] And to the disciples He said: "Let us go into
the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I
forth."[406] Thence He departed, accompanied by the few whom He had
already closely associated with Himself, and ministered in many towns of
Galilee, preaching in the synagogs, healing the sick, and casting out
devils.

Among the afflicted seeking the aid that He alone could give came a
leper,[407] who knelt before Him, or bowed with his face to the ground,
and humbly professed his faith, saying: "If thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean." The petition implied in the words of this poor creature was
pathetic; the confidence he expressed is inspiring. The question in his
mind was not--Can Jesus heal me? but--Will He heal me? In compassionate
mercy Jesus laid His hand upon the sufferer, unclean though he was, both
ceremonially and physically, for leprosy is a loathsome affliction, and
we know that this man was far advanced in the disease since we are told
that he was "full of leprosy." Then the Lord said: "I will: be thou
clean." The leper was immediately healed. Jesus instructed him to show
himself to the priest, and make the offerings prescribed in the law of
Moses for such cases as his.[408]

In this instruction we see that Christ had not come to destroy the law,
but, as He affirmed at another time, to fulfil it;[409] and at this
stage of His work the fulfilment was incomplete. Moreover, had the legal
requirements been disregarded in as serious a matter as that of
restoring an outcast leper to the society of the community from which he
had been debarred, priestly opposition, already waxing strong and
threatening against Jesus, would have been augmented, and further
hindrance to the Lord's work might have resulted. There was to be no
delay in the man's compliance with the Master's instruction; Jesus
"straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away." Furthermore He
explicitly directed the man to tell nobody of the manner of his healing.
There was perhaps good reason for this injunction of silence, aside from
the very general course of our Lord in discountenancing undesirable
notoriety; for, had word of the miracle preceded the man's appearing
before the priest, obstacles might have been thrown in the way of his
Levitical recognition as one who was clean. The man, ho