“And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.”
See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them — two instructions: silence about Jesus (tell no one) and obedience to the Torah (show yourself to the priest). The silence instruction is another Messianic Secret command — the healing must not become the basis for premature public proclamation about Jesus. The instruction to show himself to the priest is not merely Torah compliance but testimony: the priest's official declaration of cleansing will be evidence that cannot be denied. The system that excluded the leper must officially certify his restoration — as a testimony to them.
Church Fathers on Mark 1:44
After that the serpent-tongue of the devils was shut up, and the woman, who was first seduced, cured of a fever, in the third place, the man, who listened to the evil counsels of the woman, is cleansed from his leprosy, that the order of restoration in the Lord might be the same as was the order of the fall in our first parents.
Mark puts together circumstances, from which one may infer that he is the same as that one whom Matthew relates to have been cleansed, when the Lord came down from the mount, after the sermon. [Matt 8:2]
For he said not, If thou wilt, pray unto God, but, 'If Thou wilt,' as thinking Him very God.
Read all 17 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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