Although Jesus ordered the cleansed man not to tell anyone about the healing, he went away and began to publicize the whole matter. In today’s Gospel reading, we encounter an individual who flatly refused to obey a command given him by Jesus. Instead of going to present himself to the priest as Jesus had instructed him, the man proceeded to make the whole affair known to anyone who dared to listen. He could not hide the feelings of joy and excitement that were overwhelming him. And who can blame him? From the day he was declared leprous, he had to keep away from people (or rather the rest of the society had to keep away from him and avoid him at all costs). For some time now, this man had not known what human companionship was. He had been denied the life that issues from companionship. And so when he was given the opportunity to be part of the community once again, he could not help but run headlong into the crowd. Nothing else was to stand between him and the warm embrace of his family. He could not wait for the prescribed "waiting period" so that he could be declared clean by the priest (why he was instructed to go and show himself to the priest). Something good had happened to him, and he could not keep silent about it. Jesus had gifted him with a second life, how could he not let the world know about it?
St. Francis of Assisi, in one of his writings, admonishes human beings for their refusal to sing the praises of God. He wonders why birds and other "lower" creatures know how to praise God better than human beings, yet human beings have been gifted with the capacity to do that. Unless we learn how to sing the praises of God, we cannot carry out the command given us by Jesus of making his name known throughout the world. The cleansed man shows us how to remedy this "lack." We have to share the good news by declaring on the top of our voices what the Lord has done for us. The man wanted to share the good news with those who dared to listen. And people did listen, for out of his testimony, many people came to know about Jesus. I doubt if it was a theological expose. I doubt if it was what we would call formal preaching. He just told them what the Lord had done for him. There are ears open to hear what we have to say, but only if we dare publicize it.
Like the cleansed man, may we not be afraid to make the name of Jesus known to those whom we encounter. May we tell the world of the good that Jesus has done for us.