Jesus Gets You Where You Can’t Go

Today’s passage is Leviticus 13:1-17. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage.  Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?  After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 13:1-17 (NLT2)
¹  The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
²  “If anyone has a swelling or a rash or discolored skin that might develop into a serious skin disease, that person must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons.
³  The priest will examine the affected area of the skin. If the hair in the affected area has turned white and the problem appears to be more than skin-deep, it is a serious skin disease, and the priest who examines it must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean.
⁴  “But if the affected area of the skin is only a white discoloration and does not appear to be more than skin-deep, and if the hair on the spot has not turned white, the priest will quarantine the person for seven days.
⁵  On the seventh day the priest will make another examination. If he finds the affected area has not changed and the problem has not spread on the skin, the priest will quarantine the person for seven more days.
⁶  On the seventh day the priest will make another examination. If he finds the affected area has faded and has not spread, the priest will pronounce the person ceremonially clean. It was only a rash. The person’s clothing must be washed, and the person will be ceremonially clean.
⁷  But if the rash continues to spread after the person has been examined by the priest and has been pronounced clean, the infected person must return to be examined again.
⁸  If the priest finds that the rash has spread, he must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean, for it is indeed a skin disease.
⁹  “Anyone who develops a serious skin disease must go to the priest for an examination.
¹⁰  If the priest finds a white swelling on the skin, and some hair on the spot has turned white, and there is an open sore in the affected area,
¹¹  it is a chronic skin disease, and the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean. In such cases the person need not be quarantined, for it is obvious that the skin is defiled by the disease.
¹²  “Now suppose the disease has spread all over the person’s skin, covering the body from head to foot.
¹³  When the priest examines the infected person and finds that the disease covers the entire body, he will pronounce the person ceremonially clean. Since the skin has turned completely white, the person is clean.
¹⁴  But if any open sores appear, the infected person will be pronounced ceremonially unclean.
¹⁵  The priest must make this pronouncement as soon as he sees an open sore, since open sores indicate the presence of a skin disease.
¹⁶  However, if the open sores heal and turn white like the rest of the skin, the person must return to the priest
¹⁷  for another examination. If the affected areas have indeed turned white, the priest will then pronounce the person ceremonially clean by declaring, ‘You are clean!’

On verses 1-17:  What does it mean to be ceremonially unclean in Leviticus?  When someone is ceremonially unclean, it means that he or she, from a ceremonial worship standpoint, is unable to participate in the community worship activities of the Israelites for as long as he or she is “unclean”.  When the period of being “unclean” is over, that’s when he or she can then join the rest of the community in its community worship services.

Now when you see the words “unclean” and “clean” used in Leviticus, don’t think that “unclean” necessarily means “sinful” and “clean” means “without sin”.  Being ceremonially unclean is not the same thing as having a sin issue.  In certain circumstances, you can be ceremonially unclean without it having anything to do with sin at all (e.g. when a woman has her period or gives birth, when a man ejects semen, if a person has a skin disease, when a person eats certain foods).

So what is the point of making this distinction between “clean” and “unclean” if it isn’t necessarily sin-related?  One reason was to distinguish the Jewish people from all other nations, many of whom thought that eating and sexual activity stirred their gods to action.

But another more important reason was to show that getting into God’s presence is not an easy thing for us human beings.  If things as natural as eating certain foods, getting your period, or having sexual relations with your spouse can lead to being unclean, it goes to show that God’s presence is not something we can easily or naturally access.  None of us deserves to be in God’s pure and holy presence.

Yet praise God.  Because He loved us, He sent His Son Jesus Christ to get rid of everything that would otherwise keep us out of God’s presence.  In the Gospels, while he lived Jesus showed that the Jewish clean and unclean distinctions we find in Leviticus no longer apply (For example, see Mark 7:18-19).  And when he died on the cross, Jesus dealt with all our sins which once kept us out of God’s presence, paying for them in our place.

Before it was impossible for us to get in God’s presence or stay there.  Now because of Jesus, nothing can separate us from God’s love!

Thank You, Father, for making a way for us to live in Your holy, perfect presence all the time.  We’re so blessed because of Jesus, Your perfect Son and our perfect Saviour.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!