Christ Who Cleanses

I've been reading through Leviticus in the mornings and it struck me how leprosy is different from other uncleanness in that it cannot be washed away.  A person who contacted an unclean thing could wash in water and be unclean until evening, but lepers themselves were unclean.  There was no washing away the disease or the stigma of an incurable illness which required lepers to live alone outside the camp.  The Law of Moses required them to wear tattered clothing, cover their upper lip and cry out "Unclean!" to all who drew near them.

One of the more involved rituals in the Law was for the ceremonial cleansing of leprosy.  It seems a strange thing, to have an established process for lepers to be declared clean when lepers remained lepers.  The tone of the scripture implies cleansing was possible, yet there was never a suggestion as to how a leper could be healed.  Apart from Moses who was enabled by God to use leprosy as a sign and Miriam whom God miraculously healed when Moses prayed, Naaman of Syria was the only person called a leper in the Old Testament who was healed.  Jesus said in Luke 4:27, "And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."  There may have been lepers who were somehow cleansed besides Naaman, but none are mentioned by name.

When Jesus ministered in Israel, there were many occasions when He cleansed lepers.  After Jesus healed a leper Mark 1:43-44 reads, "And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, ⁴⁴ and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  Leviticus 14 goes into great detail of what was required to deem an ex-leper as clean under Mosaic Law.  Birds, scarlet, an earthen vessel, cedar wood, and running water were required for the first stage; three lambs, oil and flour were needed for the second.  A leper who was cleansed was required to shave all the hair off their body and would be anointed with blood of the sacrifice and oil.  The ambassadors David sent who were shamed when their beards were cut were allowed to dwell away from Jerusalem until their beards had grown, so great was their shame.  I imagine a leper who shaved beard and even eyebrows was glad to do so even though it made him nearly unrecognisable because of the joy of being cleansed and being joined with family and society.

The cleansing of a leper and the forgiveness of a sinner have similarities:  lepers and sinners have no ability to cleanse themselves.  The power of Jesus was required to cleanse lepers, and only those who trust in Jesus Christ as LORD and Saviour are washed in His shed blood and anointed with the Holy Spirit.  As lepers were required to live outside the city, so sinners are cut off from God by our transgressions and doomed to eternal destruction.  The freshly-shaved leper would have looked markedly different from his former self, and all who are born again by faith in Jesus are transformed and made new creations through the Gospel.  Where the comparison becomes a contrast is there is no involved ritual which requires weeks for a sinner to be born again, for when we repent and trust in Jesus God accomplishes this in an instant.

Proverbs 20:9 states, "Who can say, "I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin"?  The answer to Solomon's query is no one because there is none good, no not one.  God is the only One who can cleanse hearts and purify souls, and Jesus Christ is the Messiah who gives new hearts to those who trust in Him.  David spoke wisely when addressing God in Psalm 51:10 because He alone is able to fulfill his request:  "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."  A cleansed leper was no longer leprous could rejoice in restoration, and God supplies abundant joy for forgiven sinners.  How great is our gracious LORD who does for us by His sacrifice what we cannot earn for ourselves!