Abstract:
This article examines the reason behind the charge to secrecy imposed by Jesus on the leper in
Mark 1:40–45, in the context of African experience, the implications of the meaning conveyed
and the challenges posed on the church and the gospel enterprise in Africa. The ministry of
Jesus could have been a platform for conflicts, self-glorification, hero worship and exploitation.
Jesus resisted the temptation in those directions. The charge to silence in African context
reveals the virtue of silence which is subsumed in integrity, modesty and character (trust and
accountability). It calls the attention of the followers of Jesus to the worthiness of emulating
such a lifestyle as a pattern for service to God and humanity. The textual and historical
exegetical methodology is adopted in this research.
Description:
This research is part of the
research project
‘Hermeneutics and Exegesis’
directed by Prof. Dr Ernest
van Eck, Department of New
Testament and Related
Literature, Faculty of
Theology and Religion,
University of Pretoria.
