Cleansing (Part 2)

// Check out part 1 before continuing.

Last time we were left with a challenge: to discover the clause of the Levitical Law explaining why Jesus could come into contact with the unclean and remain clean. We noted that it probably wouldn't relate to Jesus' identity as High Priest, as the laws concerning High Priests are very sensitive regarding ritual purity.

Let's try another angle. Besides High Priest, Jesus is also our shepherd. Perhaps there is some law saying when shepherds are out attending their flock they don't have to worry about touching unclean things (lepers, pigs, and the like). Sounds promising -- but I haven't found such a law in Leviticus.

There are some other identities of Jesus we might try, but to what avail? The entire point of the Levitical law seems to be to indicate how contagious this "unclean" condition is. Being unclean is serious, so dealing with it is serious; definitely not something to be ignored!

And so it ought be. We discussed before that the Levitical laws are practical (like hospital procedures today) to prevent disease from spreading. But they are also typical, that is symbolic. More than dealing with common diseases and teaching us to avoid unhealthy foods, the unclean laws display the total wretchedness of the human condition. We are sinful; we are unclean. And fixing this problem, Leviticus indicates, is going to take a lot. It's going to require the Sacrifice -- one so significant that Leviticus tries to unpack it through several sacrifices and rituals.

So it makes sense that we're not finding an easy out -- one that lets priests or shepherds avoid the reality of the problem of uncleanliness. If we did, perhaps we could just go herd sheep and avoid the need for the Savior.

A portion of Leviticus that really drives home this point -- the spread and depth of uncleanliness -- is in Leviticus 11. The immediate context is regarding unclean animal flesh.

32 Anything on which any of them falls, when they are dead shall be unclean, whether it is any item of wood or clothing or skin or sack, whatever item it is, in which any work is done, it must be put in water. And it shall be unclean until evening; then it shall be clean.33 Any earthen vessel into which any of them falls you shall break; and whatever is in it shall be unclean:34 in such a vessel, any edible food upon which water falls becomes unclean, and any drink that may be drunk from it becomes unclean.35 And everything on which a part of any such carcass falls shall be unclean; whether it is an oven or cooking stove, it shall be broken down; for they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you.

If uncleanness touches your clay pots, smash them! Perhaps this is partly practical as clay is porous and we'd expect the uncleanness to get into the clay beyond washing, while a piece of cloth can be washed clean. But there is also the spiritual dimension -- uncleanness is deep, it is a core issue, a light scrubbing won't fix it. The Talmud (ancient Jewish commentary) actually records an interesting debate about unclean ovens. The question: if someone smashes an oven that has become unclean, then cements the pieces back together, is it still unclean? (read it here)

However, check out how our passage continues:

36 Nevertheless a spring or a cistern, in which there is plenty of water, shall be clean...

An exception! Springs abounding in water remain clean. Again, this makes sense. About a week ago I was visiting one of the springs here in Florida. This one is a bit of an attraction: people take inner tubes to the head of the spring and float them on down. The current flowing out is surprisingly powerful -- I tried swimming against it and stayed stationary. Stick something unclean in that spring and all the uncleanliness will just get washed away.

So could this be it? Is there some sense in which Jesus is a spring, or a "fountain" as the KJV translates, full of plenty of water? I'd like to suggest so*. Can you think of some Scriptures that support this idea? There are plenty, and in the next post we'll explore a few of them.


*The suggestion of this fountain clause applying to Christ and His contact to the unclean is not original; I first came across it in the commentary of the Andrews Study Bible.

// Continue to part 3.