Read Leviticus 14:1-32
I wonder how many people were cured of leprosy or similar skin disease requiring this purification. It would seem God is very serious about how to clean up after such a healing. There are multiple steps very dependent upon each other. And now that we have a clearer picture of the process, there are burnt offerings after all.
What surprised you most in this reading? For me, it was the sprinkling of dead bird blood on the healed person. How unpleasant! We may also be trying to imagine how somebody who has been shunned by society because of their disease would be able to afford the items required to perfect their purification.
Interesting that there was such an elaborate procedure in place. Yet again, we see how the priests were highly regarded and given such responsibility. Priests made sure that the leprosy didn’t spread among the people by following this rituals and commands to keep such people removed from the town.
You can imagine the horror when Jesus actually touched a leper he was healing. Despite the fact they had seen Jesus do other miracles, to touch an unclean person with sores all over their body was just too much to see. Yet, the power of God could not be contained, and the leper was healed. The leper’s faith was strong, and he was restored.
My husband and I have been busy training our new puppy right from wrong. To a degree, I feel we’re even teaching him what’s clean and unclean. I share this as I have just come in from being outdoors seeing the little rascal with a big fat worm or slimy caterpillar in his mouth. Talk about unclean! You can imagine I wasn’t a huge fan of that and yet he kept wanting to revisit that creature.
Why is it that we often want to hold on things we shouldn’t? Don’t rush past that question, even though it doesn’t have much to do with cleansing from leprosy. Lepers would have given anything to be healed, rid of that horrible disease that took everything away from them. How grateful they would have been to be able to be pure before God and welcomed back into their communities.
Who are those that we alienate today? Who are those unlovable, untouchable ones that we try to avoid? Do you think they can identify with the lepers who were also unseen? All that people could see when they looked at the leper was fear and kept their distance. They stopped seeing the person, the person God also loved.
Do you want to stand pure before God? What needs to change for that to happen?
Let’s pray. Lord, sometimes I feel a bit like an outcast because of my choice to stand on the truth of Scripture and disregard what I can of humanity’s shortsightedness or tunnel vision. Help me to stand strong against the attacks of the evil one. They are real and getting stronger all the time. It’s an ongoing battle I cannot fight without you. My only hope is with you by my side. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
