Compassion is More Than Skin Deep

April 12, 2024April 11, 2024Todd R 2 Comments

Many miraculous healings are highlighted in the four gospel records of Jesus’ ministry, and many point to a greater miracle: that God, in His mercy and compassion, heals us of the sin that divides us from Him and each other. Today’s post will focus on a miracle recorded in Mark 1:40-42, where Jesus heals a leper:

“And a leper came to [Jesus], imploring him, and kneeling said to him, ‘If you will, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, ‘I will; be clean.’ And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.”

There is more to this story that Mark didn’t write. What’s missing? Jesus pointing out that this leper is breaking Old Testament law.

In Leviticus 13:45-46, Moses wrote that: “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.”

Because the kind of leprosy referred to in Leviticus and Mark was highly contagious and possibly deadly, this weird ritual was required to prevent accidental transmission of disease, but this particular leper couldn’t stay away from Jesus, and because Jesus was surrounded by crowds, the leper was potentially putting others in danger. Mark doesn’t write that Jesus was concerned about this.

But the leper wasn’t entirely at ease, doubting whether Jesus would condemn him as an outcast and lawbreaker, or heal him. What he did not doubt was that Jesus was capable of healing him, as he said to Jesus: “If you will, you can make me clean.” To this leper, it was a question of whether this religious leader would be willing to help him. He probably spent a lot of time being told to go away because of his disease; to follow the Levitical law. Perhaps even now, in modern times, some might be curious about God’s power, but see religious people as uncaring and unwilling to help someone who is so obviously diseased and sinful. Perhaps they are uncaring because other people are so obviously diseased and sinful.

In Leviticus chapter 13 there are also rules about how to identify a leper, and it’s usually when the symptoms are “deeper than the skin.” (See Leviticus 13:3, 20, 25, and 30). From this phrase, Warren Wiersbe notes in his commentary on Mark chapter 1 how leprosy is an apt metaphor for sin: “Like sin, leprosy is deeper than the skin (Lev. 13:3); it spreads (Lev. 13:5–8); it defiles and isolates (Lev. 13:44–46) …Anyone who has never trusted the Savior is spiritually in worse shape than this man was physically.”[1]

Not only can diseases be more than skin deep, but inner sin can be more dangerous and contagious. As Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, murder is an outward manifestation of inner anger[2], and adultery is an outward manifestation of inner lust[3]. Sins “deeper than the skin” may be the most important sins because they are the root of the visible external sins.

^{Photo by Marco Bianchetti on Unsplash}

Fortunately, like inner sin and like leprosy, God’s compassion is also more than skin deep. In Mark 1:41, the phrase “moved with pity” is a translation of a Greek word that suggests not just a passing feeling or sentiment, but something you literally feel in your guts. The Greek word appears only 12 times in the New Testament, and always referring to Jesus or God the Father. You might say that Jesus’ compassion for the leper was so powerful that He felt the leper’s pain in his own gut and was compelled to help him.

Unconcerned about whether His actions would condone the leper’s disregard for the law, the compassion of Jesus compelled Him to heal not just the leper’s bodily disease but also his spiritual disease of sin. As written in Luke 15:10 – “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Jesus had His priorities right.

May we be likewise “moved with pity” for the sick and lost!

[1] Wiersbe, Warren. Be Diligent (Mark) (1987). P. 28.
[2] Matthew 5:21-22
[3] Matthew 5:27-30

God is Not a Chemistry Experiment

April 10, 2024April 9, 2024Todd R 1 Comment

There are some Old Testament stories that seem frightening, or even repulsive. We might read these and ask, is that the same God that we worship today? One of these is a brief story of Aaron’s sons, found in Leviticus 10:1-2.

“Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.”

These sons of Aaron were priests, with detailed instructions for worshipping God, like those found in Leviticus 16:12 (“And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil”) and Exodus 30:9 (“You shall not offer unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it.”). There are many theories on what they did wrong, including that they took the coals from somewhere other than from the altar, but I think all the theories imply that they were treating worship like a chemistry experiment.

What do I mean by that? Nadab and Abihu knew what God wanted but probably were curious to see what would happen if they offered something different. As someone with a chemistry set knows what happens when they mix chemical A and chemical B, they might try to learn something new by mixing chemicals A, B, and C. Like Adam and Eve in the beginning, and everyone else since then, they thought “what’s the worst that could happen if we try to do this our own way?” Nadab and Abihu might have been trying to learn something, and they tragically did, because God is not a laboratory where we explore our curiosity.

Living Sacrifices
In the New Testament book of Romans, Paul wrote:

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”[1]

Paul is teaching a similar lesson to that of Aaron’s sons, that God alone gets to determine what worship is acceptable to Him, and we should offer it. According to Paul, the proper offering to God in worship is our own lives. This is not just a New Testament idea. The Old Testament prophet Micah said:

“With what shall I come before the LORD,
         and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
         with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
         with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
         the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O man, what is good;
         and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
         and to walk humbly with your God?”[2]

God did provide laws for making sacrifices to Him, but the real purpose of those sacrifices was to point toward a future where Christ would be sacrificed so we could “do justice,” “love kindness,” and be humble before God. Religious people in all places in times have tried to offer the right mix of ritual, the right recipe of doctrine, or the right form of rigid behaviors, but none of it can replace what God has offered for us – His own Son. None of those other attempts at worship give us a future of being reconciled to our God and to each other.

Nadab and Abihu’s lesson is not just about the wrath of an Old Testament God, but a lesson for all times that there is only one God, and that He determines what is acceptable, in sacrifices and in actions. He gives us rules and guidance because not every path is good for us, and He knows we only put ourselves in danger by not following Him. The fate of Aaron’s sons proves it.

Because we cannot live a perfect life as an acceptable living offering, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”[3] Jesus lived the perfect life to be the only acceptable sacrifice. To benefit from that sacrifice, we must accept his righteousness as our own by calling him Lord, then He will be our Savior. We must accept that His righteousness is the righteousness we want. No other sacrifice will do. God is not a chemistry experiment.

[1] Romans 12:1-2
[2] Micah 6:6-8
[3] Romans 5:8

Sacrificed for You

April 1, 2024March 30, 2024Todd R 1 Comment

The Old Testament book of Leviticus is probably the hardest book in the Bible for many to read. Much of it outlines, in detail, the duties of priests and Levites (the book’s name comes from this group) in worship, including the sacrificial system involving animals practiced in ancient times. However, there are many pictures of Christ embedded in these stories and rituals, one being the requirement that each individual lay their hands on any bull offered for their sin.

This is first described in Leviticus 1:3-5a – “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD. He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. Then he shall kill the bull before the LORD” (emphasis mine)

Why is it so important that each person lay their hand on their sacrifice? I think there are at least 3 reasons:

First, the sacrifice is for each of us specifically and individually. Atonement is not a blanket covering everyone with no distinction – it focuses on each individual. God does not have a limited attention span, where time spent with one person takes away from time spent with another. He can, and does, focus on us all. Since He desires relationship with each person, He wants us to be aware of the need for sacrifice at individual level, as well as the connection created at an individual level.

Second, the sacrifice shows us the severity of our sin. Before a just God, no sin can go unpunished, or He would commit injustice. Only blood can atone for sin, and having each person make a personal connection with their sacrifice highlights the seriousness of our own sin, discouraging us from thinking other people’s sin is more serious than our own. Even the priests, as shown in Leviticus 8:14, had to lay their hands on their own sacrifice, showing even those who might be considered, or consider themselves, more spiritual are not exempt.

Third, nobody else can worship for us since the purpose of worship is to have a personal relationship with our Lord and Maker. It is the sacrifice that restores our relationship to God, not the priest that intermediates the sacrifice, which is highlighted by the fact that Jesus became both the sacrifice and the High Priest. Just as I can’t have a real relationship with someone only by hearing about them through someone else, I can’t have a real relationship with God through someone else’s worship. The faith of people you know – parents, friends, teachers, pastors – will do you no good. Each must have his own faith because what He wants is us.

In Leviticus we find a picture of Jesus, who lived a perfect life for us, not so that we don’t have to be perfect, but so that we can become perfect. He died for each of us, specifically, and needed to die because no other sacrifice could cover the severity of our sins before a just God. Through His sacrifice, we are adopted as members of His family, to live perfectly in Paradise for eternity.

Jesus lamented of the religious people of his day in Matthew 23:37 – “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” When He offered relationship, they insisted on religion, and missed being touched by their Maker’s hands.

One More Picture
Much more recently than Leviticus was written, a similar point was made by Mel Gibson in his movie The Passion of the Christ[1]. During the scene where Jesus is being crucified, Gibson decided to film his own hands driving the spike into Christ’s hand. It is the only time Gibson appears in the film. The film’s website (since removed) said this was “symbolic of the fact that he holds himself accountable first and foremost for Christ’s death.” Gibson, in Leviticus terms, chose to “lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering.”

Yes, Jesus suffered terribly for the sin of each of us, but He willingly did it because it was needed to gather His people to Himself. “Lay your hand” on His sacrifice and thank Him that He wants to know you personally.

Amen.

[1] Gibson, Mel. The Passion of the Christ. (2004)

Only Resurrection Will Satisfy

March 30, 2024Todd R 2 Comments

Dear fellow travelers,

When the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:11-12 – “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” – he was referring to the story of Israel’s 40 years of wandering in the wilderness between Egypt and the Promised Land. In verse 5, Paul wrote “with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.” Paul assures us that “these things” help keep us from temptation and strengthen our faith in these last days.

But what are these lessons? One of them can be found in the only Psalm written by Moses – Psalm 90. A key verse in that Psalm is verse 12, which says:

“So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

And what is wisdom? One way I describe it is: the ability to choose paths that lead to life, over paths that lead to death, paths that Moses unfortunately was very, very familiar with. He may have understood the consequences of neglecting God in our daily lives better than anyone for three reasons.

First, in recording the events of Genesis, Moses knew that ever since Adam and Eve, mankind has been facing, and mourning, the consequences of sin. The repetition of “and he died” in the genealogy of Genesis 5 and elsewhere reminded Moses of the result of missing the mark of God’s righteousness. Centuries before Paul, Moses knew that “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.”[1]

Second, Moses also saw the consequences of sin very clearly in the shortening of lifespans. In Psalm 90:10, he wrote:

“The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.”

This same Moses wrote about early patriarchs who were said to live hundreds of years[2], but by Moses’ day 80 years was considered a long life.

And also, Moses is known as author of the book of Numbers, which as the 4^th book in the Pentateuch, lines up with Psalm 90, the first Psalm in book 4 of the Psalms. Numbers tells of the consequences of Israel’s disobedience and grumbling on their journey to the Promised Land, and why it took 40 years and the entire generation that left Egypt (except Joshua and Caleb) died. Psalm 90 is almost a summary of what Moses learned from that experience:

“So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

What does this have to do with the resurrection? Psalm 90 starts with these 2 verses:

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place
            in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
            or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
            from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

Moses, who led Israel out of Egypt, through the wilderness for decades, and to the threshold of the Promised Land, says the only dwelling place of God’s people is not a specific place, but it is the Lord Himself. When we are with Him, we are home.

Moses concluded Psalm 90 with verses 16 and 17:

“Let your work be shown to your servants,
            and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
            and establish the work of our hands upon us;
            yes, establish the work of our hands!”

While Moses’ understanding of a resurrection and an afterlife was likely very minimal and vague, he was able to conclude that the best way to spend our short lives here is to do work that matters in eternity, which God has laid out for us to do[3]. We should let Him “establish the work of our hands.” All through the Pentateuch, Moses recorded the choices between life and death made by Israel, and one of his conclusions is: life is short; live for God!

However, a life truly dedicated to God only makes sense if there is a life to come. Only resurrection will satisfy because Paul wrote: “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”[4] However, since there was an Easter resurrection and there is a resurrection to come, we may look forward to our Promised Land of a new heaven and a new earth. Moses knew our only other option is a long, purposeless meandering on this earth ending in death.

Therefore, let us pray as Moses wrote in Psalm 90:14 –

“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”

May we – in wisdom – choose the paths that lead to life everlasting! Amen.

[1] Romans 5:12
[2] Genesis 5:27 and 9:29, for example
[3] Ephesians 2:10
[4] 1 Corinthians 15:19

Suffering of the Beloved

March 29, 2024March 24, 2024Todd R 2 Comments

Many Psalms contemplate the reality of evil and suffering in the world, but in most cases, those Psalms end on a note of hope. For example, Psalm 73 details the Asaph’s envy of the success and prosperity of the wicked in this world. He considered following their path, and verse 2 says “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.” But by verse 28, the last verse of the Psalm, the writer is hopeful and returning to praise for God in faith:

“But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.”

In contrast, Psalm 88 begins like this:
“O LORD, God of my salvation,
I cry out day and night before you.”

And ends like this (verse 18):
“You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
my companions have become darkness.”

This is perhaps the low point of the Psalms, or even the whole Bible, ending with neither hope or praise, but only faith expressed in desperate prayer. The Psalmist, Heman[1] the Ezrahite according to the introduction, describes himself like this: “For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol” (verse 3). And like this: “Afflicted and close to death from my youth up” (verse 15). After writing that his companions have shunned him, he says that “my eye grows dim through sorrow,” which I take to mean that his sorrow is so great it is clouding his perception of everything. Sorrow is all he can see. Heman feels he is near death, perhaps because of sickness or depression, or maybe because society has rejected him, and he feels left for dead (verse 8).

Such despair isn’t as uncommon as we might think in the face of trouble. The apostle Peter needed to encourage his first-century audience with these words in 1 Peter 4:12: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” Note that to Peter, suffering is not “strange” for a Christian, nor should we “be surprised” by it. Peter’s comment was immediately referring to persecution, but the same idea applies more broadly. Suffering is part of life in this world – for anyone.

But also notice the first word in the verse: “Beloved.”

Peter begins his statement about suffering with this so that those experiencing suffering do not think that God does not love them. Our circumstances don’t, and can never, mean that we are not loved by God. For us in modern times, we might be “surprised” by trials if we live in places friendly and welcoming to Christian culture. Those who live in places hostile to Christianity may not be as surprised at trials that come, but need reassurance that they are loved. In these places, that trials are not “strange,” but common, could bring people to a place without hope.

However, when we are feeling like Heman, God still loves us, and like Heman we can pour out all our frustration to God. He can take it. Even when we are in “the valley of the shadow of death,”[2] He remains with us and will sustain us. When it seems we have nothing else, He will be there and listen.

Consider whether the Father did not love the Son when He suffered, or whether His suffering was proof that He loves us? Therefore, Peter goes even farther in 1 Peter 4:13-14 – “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”

Good Friday was not the end of Jesus’ story, and although the day had three hours of darkness, the Son rose again and there was light! Likewise, Psalm 88 was not the end of the Psalms; the last Psalm (150), begins like this:

“Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!”

And ends like this:
“Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!”

He is risen and you are Beloved. Amen.

[1] Not He-Man, one of the fictional Masters of the Universe.
[2] Psalm 23:4

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