Being made clean...

So, this week has been Leviticus week in my trek through the Bible and I am through chapter 15.  

I have read through this book before, and actually really like to read through all the laws and ways in which God calls his people to be holy, this morning I had my eyes open to a really awesome parallel in the New Testament that I had never seen before.

In chapter 15, we get the laws concerning bodily discharge - which is as fun to blog about as it is to read, but nonetheless all of God's word is profitable...

So, as I am reading about bodily discharge and what happens to a woman who has a continual flow of blood, I was reminded of the miraculous healing of the woman who had bled for 12 years.  In Mark 5:25-34, while Jesus is on his way to heal someone else, a woman who has bled for 12 years, and been in a constant state of uncleanliness, reaches out and grabs Jesus garment.  Don't miss the significance of what is happening.  By touching him, she would be making him unclean as well.  She would be causing Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior of the world, to now be ceremonially unclean and unable to enter the temple, or the courts of God.  She is not thinking about the law any more though, she has tried everything, seen the priest, and the blood will not stop.  That which keeps her from being able to be in the temple, be in the presence of her friends, feel human contact, has not ceased for over a decade!  She is desperate to be made well.  So desperate she is willing to risk making Jesus unclean, for a chance at healing.  She believes that Jesus will not be infected, or affected with her disease, but rather that his righteousness and holiness will make her well.  Her faith is not in Jesus as a miracle worker, her faith is in Jesus as a Savior and Redeemer.  She believes that Jesus will save her from the daily Hell that she is living in, and redeem her life and make it worth something and livable again.

As you read Leviticus 15:25-30, you get the understanding that purification and atonement for sin cannot be made until the discharge has ceased.  With her healing, Jesus sets her free in many ways.  She is free from disease, but also now able to go and have her sins paid for, and be made right before God again.  Everything this woman has touched, sat on, slept on, or even worn for 12 years has become unclean.  Jesus has given her a new life, he has restored her, he has healed her, he has offered her a chance to live life not as an unclean, socially outcast, rejected and demeaned woman - but a life as a free, righteous, woman of God able to worship and testify to the healing power of Jesus!

What an awesome picture we get of the desperate need we have for Jesus.  The lengths to which a person will go to receive the saving power of Jesus, and the power that simply a touch of the Savior can bring in a person's life.  Jesus was fully aware of what was happening, he knew that woman from the beginning of her creation, he was aware of her need, her hurt, her pain, and he cared for her enough, to pass by her, and to allow his healing power to bring her freedom.

Have you allowed the healing power of Jesus to set you free?  We are all unclean and separated from God, we all have sin that keeps us from God, and we need to experience His healing and power in our life.  Have you stretched your hand out to Him, because He will set you free...