[i]We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. Isaiah 64: 6
Many Christians like to have a regular Bible reading plan. When, however, the daily Bible portion comes to the book of Leviticus, if you are like many of us, you may sigh, even scan the pages and hope for some nugget of wisdom to bless your day. Leviticus is difficult. My current regime is a three-year plan, meaning a slow trek through the Bible one chapter at a time. I am surprised to find, if I study the footnotes in my Study Bible, and look up the customs of the day on the Internet, I learn a few things I never considered before. Case in point: Leviticus 15: 25-30 addresses a ticklish subject and ends up in the life of Jesus one day. The section refers to the ceremonial impurity of the woman’s cycles under the Levitical Law.
… Whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. Leviticus 15: 22
Jesus shows up in this impure situation on His way to heal a ruler’s little girl:
And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. Matthew 9: 20-22
Didn’t the unclean woman know if she touched even his garments, He would then be ceremonially unclean for the remainder of the day? Anyone who came in contact with an unclean person remained unclean until they had bathed and the day was over. Did she think if she sneaked in incognito so the rabbis wouldn’t catch her, no one would know? I can envision her huddled in her robe, face covered so no one would recognize her. Then as Jesus passed by, she lowered herself to the ground, reached in between one of the disciple’s feet, and touched the fringes of the tallit—His prayer shawl— the most sacred garment a Jewish man could wear.
Perhaps the crowd, then recognizing her, were shocked. “How dare she be so bold as to contaminate this holy Man!”
How might have Jesus reacted when He felt His power to heal her leave Him, as the other passages in Mark and Luke tell us? Would he have chastised her, as an unclean woman, for touching his tallit? Would he have gasped and shrunk away?
He only asked, “Who touched me?”
The disciples didn’t have a clue. “Raboni, it is a crowd, how can you ask who touched you?” (Mark 5: 31).
But Jesus said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.”
The woman had lived in desperation. She had gone from one doctor to another, over a period of twelve years, as found in the companion passages in Mark 5 and Luke 8. Was Jesus the last straw? Jesus had referred to her faith in Him as the means for her healing, yielding to His mercy and grace, instead of suffering through the inadequate human treatments. Just as this woman placed her faith in Christ to heal her physical ailment, Christ is also the only remedy to heal our spiritual brokenness.
People will often have a tendency to try other means to get spiritual healing. Although they may have been told Jesus’ death and resurrection is the sole means for our salvation, they look for every other means of good works, and worldly philosophies, but reject God’s plan. Thank God, this woman ended up with the right Healer, the very Creator of all things.
Just two verses, but it is a profound image of what Christ has done for you and me! The Law declared someone unclean if they touched the uncleanness of another. The woman’s touch made Jesus ceremonially sullied according to the Levitical Law, while she received a thorough healing from her suffering in an instant. In truth, Jesus was pure and sinless, the only means for both her physical and spiritual cleansing and ours, as well.
The scripture at the top tells us no matter what good we do, how diligent we are as we try to keep the Commandments, how much we give to others, or any manner of right living we attempt, we are like a “polluted garment,” or as older texts say: “filthy rags.[ii]” Our goodness is on a par with the cast-offs we throw into the garbage pail. When the woman touched the fringes on His tallit, the filth, not only of her body but also her soul, transferred to Him. She put her trust in Him as the God who heals, not simply our diseases, but even better, our sinful selves. No, He didn’t become sinful, but He bore her sins, and yours and mine on the Cross.
As our Savior poured out Himself on the Cross, He died the deaths we deserved. He paid the debt we owed by dying in our place. How could He do this? He is our substitute because He is the sinless God of Creation, in human flesh like you and me. Just as He wore the uncleanness of this unnamed woman in these two verses we might overlook when reading the Bible, He bore the polluted garments of our sinful hearts at Calvary. I’m glad the woman is not named, because she is me; she is all of us.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5: 21
Yes. Jesus wore our dirty clothes, so we would stand before God in purity.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes hands … Revelation 7: 9
Challenge:
You know the shirt in your closet with the stain across the front—your old favorite shirt? Pitch the garment into the garbage as an object lesson for your complete dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation. Perhaps you have never put your trust in Him. He took your sins upon Himself so you would be seen as pure. Repent of your self-help/self-righteousness and believe the only Righteous One.
Prayer:
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for taking my place, for bearing the punishment for my sins. Help me to relinquish any lingering sins keeping me from full fellowship with You. Because of Your Name. Amen.
Promise:
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Romans 10: 9-10
[i] This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY
[ii] Isaiah 64: 6 KJV – But we are all as an unclean thing, and – Bible Gateway
