聖書注解書

Matthew 8:3. And Jesus put forth his hand, &c.— Dr. Doddridge supposes that our Saviour took this leper aside from the multitude, without which he thinks there could have been no room for the charge of secresy which Jesus gave. This circumstance certainly happened in another cure. See Mark 8:23. Christ had taught with authority, ch. Mat 7:29 which he immediately confirms by wonderful actions. The priest, after a long trial, pronounced whether a man was cured of his leprosy or not; but Christ healed him with a word. St.Matthew could not have related the matter in more proper terms. This is that sublimity which Longinus so much admires in Moses. See his treatise on the Sublime, sect. 9.

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And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

And Jesus put forth his hand, … — The law forbade contactum contagionis, non sanationis. The high priest might enter a leprous house, … "We have not an high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities," Hebrews 4:15 . Better might he say, than St Cyprian, Cum singulis pectus meum copulo, moeroris et funeris pondera luctuosa participo, cum plangentibus plango, cum deflentibus defleo, … Than St Paul, "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is afflicted, and I burn not?" 2 Corinthians 11:29 . It was held a great condescension in King Alphonsus to use his skill for the recovery of one of his sick subjects: what was it here in Christ the King of kings and Lord of lords?

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4. And Jesus——「厳しく戒めて、すぐに彼を去らせた」（

Mr 1:43

）そして、saith unto him, See thou tell no man——感謝する心には厳しい条件のように思えたであろう。そのような場合、自然な言葉は「来たれ、神を恐れる者たちよ、すべて聞け。主がわたしの魂のためにされたことをわたしは語ろう」（

Ps 66:16

）であるから。その理由は後で分かるであろう。but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded——（

Le 14:1-57

）。for a testimony unto them——偉大な癒し主が確かに来られ、「神がその民を顧みられた」ことの明証。その後のなりゆきを、伝道者マタイは語らないが、マルコは次のように記す（

Mr 1:45

）。「しかし彼は出て行って、この事を余すところなく告げ広め始めたので、イエスはもはや公然と町には入れず、外の荒れた所におられたが、人々が四方から主のところに集まって来た」と。このように、事を静かにしておせという命じを、行き過ぎた熱心をもって——きわめて自然であり大きな非難は受けないにせよ——破ることによって、主のご行動はある程度妨げられた。主の生涯全体が荘厳にも音なく進んだ（

Mt 12:19

）ように、われわれは事が時ならず危機に至らないよう主が繰り返し措置を取られるのを見る（しかし

Mr 5:19, 20

参照）。「そしてイエスは」とルカは加える（

Lu 5:16

）、「荒れた所に退いて祈っておられた」。主は大衆の興奮から退いて、いと高き方の隠れ場に入り、刈り取った草の上の露、地を潤す夕立のようにして出て来られた（

Ps 72:6

）。これこそすべての時代のキリストのしもべたちと従う者たちの、力と優しさの秘密である。

「だれにも告げてはいけない」――この命令は、彼が祭司にしかるべき届け出を済ませるまでの期間に限られると理解すべきである。彼の義務は、直ちに祭司のところへ急ぐことであった（Leviticus 14:2）。このことを話して回って遅れるのではなく、何よりもまず神の律法に従い、供え物によって神にしかるべき感謝を捧げることであった。この癒しが行われた場所はガリラヤであって、エルサレムから40～50マイル離れていた。彼の義務は、祭司の住まいへ急ぎ、癒しが実際に行われたことの確認を得ることであった。おそらくまた、キリストは、彼が遅れるならば報告が先に伝わり、イエスへの反対から祭司がそれを偽りと宣告するのではないかと案じられたのかもしれない。

「モーセが命じた供え物を捧げなさい」――らい病の者が癒されたときにモーセが捧げるように定めた供え物のことである。その供え物は、「生きた清い二羽の鳥、杉の木、緋色の糸、ヒソップ」から成っていた（Leviticus 14:4）。

「人々へのあかしのために」――祭司に対してではなく、民に対するものである。自分を祭司に示し、癒しが実際に行われたことについての祭司の証言を、民に対してその癒しが本物である証拠として得よ、ということである。彼が会衆に迎えられ、人々と交わることを許されるためには、この証言が必要であった。これを得てならば、もちろん彼は社会生活および宗教生活の権利を回復し、民にとって奇跡の証拠も疑いの余地のないものとなったであろう。

Jesus saith - See thou tell no man - Had our Lord, at this early period, fully manifested himself as the Messiah, the people in all likelihood would have proclaimed him King; this, however, refused by him, must have excited the hatred of the Jewish rulers, and the jealousy of the Roman government; and, speaking after the manner of men, his farther preachings and miracles must have been impeded. This alone seems to be the reason why he said to the leper, See thou tell no man.

Show thyself to the priest - This was to conform to the law instituted in this case, Leviticus 14:1, etc.

Offer the gift - This gift was two living, clean birds, some cedar wood, with scarlet and hyssop, Leviticus 14:4, which were to be brought for his cleansing; and, when clean, two he lambs, one ewe lamb, three tenth deals of flour, and one log of oil, Leviticus 14:10; but if the person was poor, then he was to bring one lamb, one tenth deal of flour, one log of oil and two turtle doves, or young pigeons, Leviticus 14:21, Leviticus 14:22. See the notes on Leviticus 14 (note).

Now all this was to be done for a testimony to them; to prove that this leper, who was doubtless well known in the land, had been thoroughly cleansed; and thus, in this private way, to give full proof to the priesthood that Jesus was the true Messiah. The Jewish rabbins allowed that curing the lepers should be a characteristic of the Messiah; (see Bishop Chandler's Vindication); therefore the obstinacy of the priests, etc., in rejecting Christ, was utterly inexcusable.

And Jesus saith unto him, see thou tell no man, &c. Not that this fact could be concealed, if it was done publicly, before the multitude; nor was it Christ's design that it should be; only it was his counsel to this man, that whilst he was on the road to Jerusalem, and when he was come there, that he would speak of it to no man, before he came to the priest, or priests: lest out of ill will to Christ, they should refuse to pronounce him clean:

but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. The man was now in one of the cities of Galilee; from hence Christ orders him to make the best of his way, directly to Jerusalem; and present himself to one of the priests, by him to be examined, whether he was free of his leprosy; and then offer what was ordered by the law of Moses in such cases: for as yet the ceremonial law was not abolished: and therefore, as Christ was subject to it himself, so he enjoins others the observance of it. There was a two fold offering, according to the law of Moses, on account of the cleansing of the leper; Leviticus 14:1 the one was on the first day of his cleansing, when he first showed himself to the priest, and consisted of two birds, alive and clean, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop; the other, and which was properly the offering on the eighth day, was, if the man was able, two he lambs and one ewe lamb, with a meat offering; but if poor, one lamb, with a meat offering, and two turtle doves, or two young pigeons. The Jewish canons, concerning this matter, are as follow (f):

"when a leper is healed of his leprosy, after they have cleansed him with cedarwood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and the two birds, and have shaved all his flesh, and bathed him; after all this he enters into Jerusalem, and numbers seven days; and on the seventh day he shaves a second time, as he shaved at first, and bathes--and on the morrow, or eighth day, he bathes a second time, and after that they offer his offerings--he bathes on the eighth day in the court of the women, in the chamber of the lepers, which is there--if it is delayed, and he shaves not on the seventh day, but he shaves on the eighth, or some days after, on the day that he shaves, he bathes, and his sun sets; and on the morrow he brings his offerings, after he hath bathed a second time, as we have declared: how do they do unto him? The leper stands without the court of Israel, over against the eastern gate, in the gate of Nicanor and his face to the west: and there stand all they that want atonement; and there they give the bitter waters to the suspected women: and the priest takes the leper's trespass offering, while it is alive, and waves it with the log of oil, towards the east, according to the way of all wave offerings; and if he waves this by itself, and this by itself, it is right: after that he brings the leper's trespass offering to the door, and he brings it in both his hands into the court, and layeth them upon it; they slay it immediately, and two priests receive its blood: the one receives it in a vessel, and sprinkles it upon the top of the altar; and the other, in his right hand, and pours it into his left hand, and sprinkles with his finger the right hand; and if he repeats it, and receives it in his left hand first, it is unlawful. The priest that receives some of the blood in a vessel, carries it, and sprinkles it upon the altar first; and after that comes the priest, who receives the blood in the palm of his hand, to the leper, the priest being within, and the leper without; and the leper puts in his head, and the priest puts of the blood that is in the palm of his hand, upon the tip of his right ear; after that he puts in his right hand, and he puts of it on the thumb of his hand; and after that he putteth in his right foot, and he puts of it upon the toe of his foot, and if he puts of it upon the left, it is not right; and after that he offers his sin offering, and his burnt offering: and after that he hath put the blood upon his thumb and toe, the priest takes of the log of oil, and pours it into the left hand of his fellow priest; and if he pours it into his own hand, it will do: and he dips the finger of his right hand into the oil, which is in his hand, and sprinkles it seven times towards the most holy place: at every sprinkling there is a dipping of the finger in the oil; and if he sprinkles, and does not intend it, over against the holy place, it is right; and after that, he comes to the leper, and puts of the oil upon the place of the blood of the trespass offering, on the tip of the ear, and on the thumb of his hand, and toe of his foot; and that which is left of the oil, that is in his hand, he puts it on the head of him that is to be cleansed; and if he puts it not, atonement is not made; and the rest of the log is divided among the priests; and what remains of the log is not eaten, but in the Court, by the males of the priests, as the rest of the holy things; and it is forbidden to eat of the log of oil, until he has sprinkled it seven times, and has put of it upon the thumb and toe; and if he eats, he is to be beaten, as he that eats holy things before sprinkling.''

Now these were the things which, as the other evangelists say, this leper was ordered to offer for his cleansing, "for a testimony unto them"; meaning either to the priests; for the Syriac and Persic versions read the former clause, "show thyself to the priests", in Luke 17:14 that they being satisfied of the healing and cleansing of this man, and accordingly pronouncing him clean, and accepting his offerings, this might be either a convincing testimony to them, that Jesus was the Son of God, and true Messiah, and that he did not deny or oppose the law given by Moses; or might be a standing testimony against them, should they continue in unbelief; or else to the Jews, who saw the miracle, and heard the orders Christ gave to the man after he had healed him; or to the lepers that they were cleansed; or this law of Moses was for a testimony or statute to be always observed by them in such cases.

(f) Maimon. Hilchot Mechosre Capporah, c. 14. per totum.

Some think that our Saviour only commanded him silence until he had showed himself unto the priest, and he, according to the law, Leviticus 13:1-59, should have pronounced him clean, lest their envy upon hearing of it should have caused them to have obscured the miracle, by delaying to pronounce him clean; but it is observable that this was not the only time when Christ commanded those upon whom he had wrought miracles to say nothing of it: see Matthew 9:30 12:16 17:9. It is therefore more probable, that this precept was not to be understood with that limitation, but that Christ did it, either that he might not be thought to seek his own glory, or rather, because Christ judged it not yet time by his miracles to be publicly made known: but he sends him to the priest, both to teach him obedience to the law, and that the truth of the miracle might by a public record be confirmed. He also commands him to

offer the gift appointed by the law, Leviticus 14:1-57, thereby both acknowledging his cure to be from God, and testifying his thankfulness.

That Moses commanded; to show that he came not to oppose Moses.

For a testimony unto them; that hereafter it may be a testimony unto them, that I am more than the Son of man, John 5:36.