Leviticus 13:1-17 [NLTse]

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!’”

Kyra and Karly have just beaten me in Wii baseball. Different kids are putting on skits as the rest of us watch and laugh. All the other Youth Leaders are asleep. It’s 4:22 Saturday morning during the Youth Group Lock-In and I’m writing my sermon…

[Acting this out. Cover my mouth and cry out] “Unclean! Unclean!” [Get one arm out of my jacket, letting it hang askew] “Unclean! Unclean!” [Begin walking down the Chancel steps, but then speaking to those sitting in the first rows] “Stay back! See, I am unclean! Stay back!”

Can you imagine? I don’t think any of us can imagine what it would be like to be permanently unclean in Israelite society. That’s an awkward way of saying that, of course, because if you were unclean in Israelite society you weren’t part of Israelite society! Leper colonies were established in ancient Israel because those who’d been declared unclean because of a chronic skin disease were not allowed to live within the towns and cities of Israel and Judah in Old Testament times, nor within the towns and cities of Judea and The Galilee in New Testament times. Lepers (the skin diseases included more than just leprosy – what is called “Hansen’s Disease” today – but they have come to be lumped together under the umbrella-term “leprosy”) lepers lived in isolation, separated from those not so afflicted. It didn’t matter if you were rich or poor, married or single, had a family or not: If you were declared to have a chronic skin disease, you were cut off from your money, your spouse, your children (or parents) and moved out of town to join the leper camp.

“Unclean! Unclean!” You always had to wear torn clothing. It’s not that lepers became poor and so could only afford ratty clothing. No, lepers had to wear torn clothing so it would be clear to any and all who saw them even from a distance that they were unclean. If you were a leper and you were out in the countryside (because it was forbidden for you to enter the towns or cities) if you were out in the countryside and came across another traveler, you had to announce yourself, “Unclean! Unclean!” covering your mouth even as you cried out.

The only other people you touched were other lepers. The only other people who touched you were other lepers. I can’t imagine, I don’t think any of us can imagine, what it would be like to be so isolated, so alone, and with no hope of being a part of your family, your marriage, your business and lands, your old life again…

And that’s what the Lord Jesus has saved us from.

There are some 613 different laws recorded across the pages of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And almost half of them here in Leviticus. Laws that if kept declared a person “righteous”, and if not kept that declared a person “a sinner”! Laws that if kept declared a person “clean” and free to participate in society and to draw near to the Lord in His Temple, and if not kept that declared a person “unclean” and cut-off from society and cut-off from the Lord and His holy presence in His holy Temple.

The Law could tell you you were righteous and clean, or the Law could tell you you were a sinner and unclean. But that’s all the Law could do, that’s all the Law could ever do. And then the Lord Jesus came, and He forgave sinners their sin, and He made lepers clean, restoring them to their husbands and wives and parents and children and friends and position and community… and to God.

And the truth is that ultimately we were all lepers, cut-off from each other, cut off from God, until the Lord Jesus came and saved us. Everyone is a leper – everyone who’s not in Christ. Everyone is separated from those around them, and spouses and family members and co-workers… and God. Some people are aware of their isolation. Others don’t seem to care but have turned their circumstances into ways to live off of others or shirk responsibilities. But everyone is cut-off without Jesus’ touch, without Jesus’ words of forgiveness, without Jesus’ cleansing, and making us whole.

The Good News According to Mark tells us:

40 “A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. ‘If you are willing, You can heal me and make me clean,’ he said.

41 “Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. ‘I am willing,’ He said. ‘Be healed!’ 42 Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed. 43 Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: 44 ‘Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.’”

When was the last time you came and knelt in front of Jesus begging to be healed and cleansed? The Lord Jesus has authority, compassion, and the will to heal you and make you clean…