Set Free

Leviticus 14

Have you ever had Chicken Pox? I had it when I was little, my mom in way wanted me to catch it and get it out of my system before I got any older. I know that it can be highly contagious, unless you have had it. My mom had Chicken Pox when she was a little girl. She was able to be around me and not become sick because she already had it.

Yesterday we looked at how hard it was for someone with leprosy. They were considered an outcast for society and it was hard for them. Today we will see about the requirements that they needed to do in order for them to be considered clean. If you had leprosy and it left you, you would then need to present yourself to the priest. If the priest found that it has left you then you would have to spend some time with a ceremonial cleansing. You would need to first need to find two live birds, some cederwood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop. The person with leprosy would need to sprinkled 7 times with the blood of one of the birds that was killed. Then he would release the alive bird to be free in the wilderness. After this symbolic act of being clean, the ex-leper would need to bathe, shave all his hair, and wash his clothes. He would wait 7 days and on the 8th day do it again. He would then wait another 7 days and on the 8th day, he would be considered clean and would need to offer a guilt offering. There were even specific instruction on how to clean the house of a leper or if leprosy or disease was in the house. This was not just a ceremonial act but also sanitary because the disease was so contagious.

The Life of the bird

It is interesting that a bird would have to die to show that one was clean of leprosy and another bird would be released. It shows that even though we may not have physical leprosy, sin in a sense is like it. Sin makes it so we cannot have fellowship with God. Leprosy deadens the nerves, sin deadens our hearts. Jesus laid down his life so that we may be set free. The bird that was released was released back into the wild. The bird was able to go back and do bird stuff. It would fly, build a nest, and whatever else birds do. The leper would be considered clean and be able to go back to his/her family, they would be able to get a job, they would be able to be part of society, most importantly they would be able to offer sacrifices again. Jesus restores us to a right place with God. Jesus saves us. Jesus heals us.

Jesus was confronted by a leper in Matthew 8:24. The leper said, “Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out his hand and said, “I am willing.” Jesus is willing to save us as he died on the cross with his hands stretched out being nailed to the wood. We need to ask, Jesus is willing.