Mark 1

Mark speaks a lot of shutting up demons. Jesus tells them to be quiet. (v.25, 34 and in other chapters)

Jesus also told the leper to say nothing (v.44). This could be a sort of reverse psychology (but probably not).

Why did Jesus tell the demons to be quiet? He did not care if they were telling he truth. I would not want evil spirits talking about me, would you? The message is somehow going to get twisted.

But why did Jesus not want the leper to speak? Was he evil too? Well, probably not. Certainly not in the same way demons are evil. There is no good in a demon. But perhaps, not being perfect the leper might distort the message too.

I think that is just what happened. The result of the leper's testimony was that Jesus was mobbed (v.45).

The leper did twist the message. He spoke of Jesus as a great healer. He missed the most important reason Jesus came. Jesus told them the kingdom of heaven was at hand. "Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"

We too must not lose sight of what is most important.