"Jesus immediately sent him away and sternly ordered him, 'Mind you say nothing to anyone'" (Mark 1:43-44).
Our lectionary translation for part of this forthcoming Sunday’s Gospel uses the word "sternly" for how Jesus speaks to the leper he has just healed. But does this translation really work?
On one hand, Jesus has reason to be "stern" because of what happens next: the healed leper disobeys His instructions and, as a result, Jesus "could no longer go openly into any town".
The Jews never touched lepers because of the risk of contagion. So if they were told that Jesus had done so – and He had indeed touched the leper in order to heal him – they would not want Jesus nearby.
