Moses Makes Way For Jesus
For the past couple of days I've been reading through Matthew, and one of Jesus' specific accounts of His healing again, connected with the old testament law, but in a new and fresh way, something only Jesus could establish.
The verses in question are in Chapter 8 of Matthew's Gospel:
Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached Him and knelt before Him. 'Lord,' the man said, 'if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.'
Jesus reached out and touched him, 'I am willing,' He said. 'Be healed!' And instantly the leprosy disappeared. Then Jesus said to him, '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.'
Matthew Chapter 8, Verses 1 - 4 (New Living Translation)
Having dipped into Leviticus recently, I thought I would try and find the part of Moses' law Jesus was referring to. I found it quite quickly, with more luck than judgement, and began to read the incredible ins and outs that a person healed of a skin disease must go through as an offering for their healing and to be cleansed out right. I then looked back at the Matthew passage, and found that my translation had given me a footnote to see Leviticus 14: 2 -32. I needn't have searched!
Here's a little except from the passage in Leviticus:
...he (The Priest) will perform a purification ceremony, using two live birds that are ceremonially clean, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop branch. The priest will order that one bird be slaughtered over a clay pot filled with fresh water.
Leviticus Chapter 14, Verses 4 - 5 (NLT)
I find it interesting that Jesus performs this miracle after coming down off the mountain that He has just taught the Sermon on the Mount on. Altogether, it confirms that Jesus is indeed setting a new standard with which to live by, and also a new standard in which to be healed by, symbolised in the coming down off the mountain, as a second, and greater, Moses.
The Law in itself is not the thing that actually heals (it never really was) only God has that power, and now Jesus has come to make a new covenant, the Law now must be relegated to a form of public testimony, witnessing to the One who has really done the healing.
Yet again, Jesus, is not backward in responding to the plea of the person crying out to Him. Without a second thought He reaches out and touches the man, something that would be unthinkable back then, but even in our day and age, not something people would leap forward to do.
Jesus is in the business of reaching out, and runs towards us before we even begin to tell Him how sorry we are, or how much we are indebted to Him. His love for us passes human understanding, and it requires a wisdom that only God Himself can bring, the wisdom Solomon asked for. It's so mind blowing and out of the ordinary, it requires a new way of thinking and understanding.
Lord Jesus,
We thank You for the message of Your miraculous deeds in the gospel of Matthew. Thank You that You never shy away from our cries and our suffering, even if sometimes it feels like You're far away. That's not Your fault Lord, it's ours.
So I pray that in our crying, in our praising, in our sorrow and in our joy, we can feel Your presence always, and acknowledge that You are the Lord of all, and have overcome and fulfilled the Law of Moses, and can heal in an instant. And much greater than that, You have set us free from our sinful nature, so we can come to You in confidence, and worship at Your feet.
In Your holy name we pray,
Amen.
The verses in question are in Chapter 8 of Matthew's Gospel:
Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached Him and knelt before Him. 'Lord,' the man said, 'if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.'
Jesus reached out and touched him, 'I am willing,' He said. 'Be healed!' And instantly the leprosy disappeared. Then Jesus said to him, '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.'
Matthew Chapter 8, Verses 1 - 4 (New Living Translation)
Having dipped into Leviticus recently, I thought I would try and find the part of Moses' law Jesus was referring to. I found it quite quickly, with more luck than judgement, and began to read the incredible ins and outs that a person healed of a skin disease must go through as an offering for their healing and to be cleansed out right. I then looked back at the Matthew passage, and found that my translation had given me a footnote to see Leviticus 14: 2 -32. I needn't have searched!
Here's a little except from the passage in Leviticus:
...he (The Priest) will perform a purification ceremony, using two live birds that are ceremonially clean, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop branch. The priest will order that one bird be slaughtered over a clay pot filled with fresh water.
Leviticus Chapter 14, Verses 4 - 5 (NLT)
I find it interesting that Jesus performs this miracle after coming down off the mountain that He has just taught the Sermon on the Mount on. Altogether, it confirms that Jesus is indeed setting a new standard with which to live by, and also a new standard in which to be healed by, symbolised in the coming down off the mountain, as a second, and greater, Moses.
The Law in itself is not the thing that actually heals (it never really was) only God has that power, and now Jesus has come to make a new covenant, the Law now must be relegated to a form of public testimony, witnessing to the One who has really done the healing.
Yet again, Jesus, is not backward in responding to the plea of the person crying out to Him. Without a second thought He reaches out and touches the man, something that would be unthinkable back then, but even in our day and age, not something people would leap forward to do.
Jesus is in the business of reaching out, and runs towards us before we even begin to tell Him how sorry we are, or how much we are indebted to Him. His love for us passes human understanding, and it requires a wisdom that only God Himself can bring, the wisdom Solomon asked for. It's so mind blowing and out of the ordinary, it requires a new way of thinking and understanding.
Lord Jesus,
We thank You for the message of Your miraculous deeds in the gospel of Matthew. Thank You that You never shy away from our cries and our suffering, even if sometimes it feels like You're far away. That's not Your fault Lord, it's ours.
So I pray that in our crying, in our praising, in our sorrow and in our joy, we can feel Your presence always, and acknowledge that You are the Lord of all, and have overcome and fulfilled the Law of Moses, and can heal in an instant. And much greater than that, You have set us free from our sinful nature, so we can come to You in confidence, and worship at Your feet.
In Your holy name we pray,
Amen.
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