Matthew 8:4

“And Jesus saith unto him, see thou tell no man, etc.] 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…”

“And Jesus--"straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away" (Mar 1:43), and saith unto him, See thou tell no man--A hard condition this would seem to a grateful heart, whose natural language, in such a case, is "Come, hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul" (Psa 66:16). We shall presently see the reason for it. but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded-- (Lev. 14:1-57). for a testimony unto them--a palpable witness that the Great Healer had indeed come, and that "God had visited His people." What the sequel was, our Evangelist Matthew does not say; but Mark thus gives it (Mar 1:45): "But he went out, and began…”

“See thou tell no man - This command is to be understood as extending only to the time until he had made the proper representation to the priest. It was his duty to hasten to him immediately Leviticus 14:2; not to delay by talking about it, but, as the first thing, to obey the laws of God, and make proper acknowledgments to him by an offering. The place where this cure was performed was in Galilee, a distance of 40 or 50 miles from Jerusalem; and it was his duty to make haste to the residence of the priest, and obtain his sanction to the reality of the cure. Perhaps, also, Christ was apprehensive that the report would go “before” the man if he delayed, and the priest, through opposition to…”

“See thou tell no man - Perhaps our Lord only meant here, Not till thou hast showed thyself to the priest - who was appointed to inquire into the case of leprosy. But many others he commanded, absolutely, to tell none of tho miracles he had wrought upon them. And this he seems to have done, chiefly for one or more of these reasons: To prevent the multitude from thronging him, in the manner related Mar 1:45. To fulfil the prophecy, Isa 42:1, that he would not be vain or ostentatious. This reason St. Matthew assigns, Mat 12:17, &c. To avoid the being taken by force and made a king, Joh 6:15. And, That he might not enrage the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees, who were the most bitter…”

“8:4 The leper’s healing would be a public testimony—either that the religious leaders were wrong not to trust in the Messiah (10:18) or that Jesus was not against the law of Moses (5:17).”

“See: Mat 6:1, Mat 9:30, Mat 12:16-19, Mat 16:20, Mat 17:9; Mar 1:43, Mar 1:44, Mar 5:43, Mar 7:36; Luk 5:14; Joh 5:41, Joh 7:18, Joh 8:50 show: Mat 3:15, Mat 5:17; Lev. 13:2-46, 14:2-32; Isa 42:21; Luk 17:14 for: Mat 10:18; Kg2 5:7, Kg2 5:8; Mar 1:44, Mar 6:11, Mar 13:9; Luk 5:14, Luk 21:13; Joh 10:37, Joh 10:38 Matthew 8:5”