Jesus is in one of the towns when he is approached by a man with leprosy. He begs for Jesus to heal him, which happens. Jesus then instructs the man not to tell anyone, but rather to present himself to the priest, who were in charge of determining skin diseases. Jesus mentions that this would be a testimony to the priests.
However, the man talked freely about Jesus. The crowds swarmed Jesus so much that he must retreat to remote places.
This story stands in contrast to the other public miracles, that Jesus was doing at this time. In fact, the very next anecdote is another high profile healing.
So, why would Jesus do this? On one hand, maybe Jesus needed some quiet and private time. The account of this story in Luke 5 mentions that Jesus had to withdraw to lonely places to pray because the crowds became so large.
On the other hand, Jesus instructs the man to talk to the priests so it would be a testimony to the priests. Jesus wanted this man to serve as an outreach of the Gospel directly to the priests, which the man did not do. The next anecdote gives us some indication of what may have been going on.
Jesus returns to Capernaum. A large crowd swarms the place where Jesus is staying. Following the new custom of bringing sick people to Jesus, paralytic is taken to Jesus. Since the man is paralyzed, the man is carried on a mat by his friends. The man cannot get to Jesus, so they remove the roof of the home and lower the man to Jesus.
Jesus says the man's sins are forgiven. No one says anything, but Jesus does a little mind reading and knows that the Pharisees and teachers of the law listening to him are thinking that this is blasphemy. Jesus then asks whether it is easier to forgive sins or heal. He then states that so in order for them to know that the Son of Man has the authority to heal and forgive, he then tells the paralytic to get up and walk. The man does and the entire crowd is astonished.
Here we have another high profile healing. These events will encourage the crowds following Jesus. Likewise, Jesus is now publicly stating the he is the Son of Man. This is a bold move, prior to this only the demons were stating Jesus' identity. Likewise, this will only further the attention that Jesus is getting.
Looking back to the prior anecdote of the leper, this may provide a clue as to why Jesus instructed the man to testify to the priests. Jesus may have been getting some resistance from priests as he got resistance from the Pharisees and teachers of the law in this anecdote.
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