Luke 5:14-16 - Don't tell

5:14

“Don’t tell anyone”. This is the exact opposite of what we would do, and is apparently the opposite of what the man actually did. Jesus did not want people to misunderstand who or what He was. He knew that people would just focus on the healings when the teaching, especially about our need for forgiveness and to live completely for God, is the most important. It is not that healing is not important, and definitely not that Jesus does not want to heal, but we will focus on the wrong things, or give things the wrong priority, given half a chance.

Instead the man was to go to the priests, and to comply fully with the Mosaic Law. This would be a testimony to the priests.

5:15,16

However, despite Jesus’ instructions the new sill spread. So more and more people came to hear Him and to be healed. Note that though people were mostly coming for the wrong reasons, Jesus still healed them. While Jesus could not control why people would come to see Him, He could control His own relationship with the Father. So Jesus often withdrew to lonely places in order to pray. We need to spend time alone with God in order to develop our relationship with Him, and in order to be effective.