A Glimmer of Hope for the Sinner
By Pastor David Kuntz

In the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Leviticus are two curious chapters about a strange disease known as leprosy.  This dreaded and deadly disease served as a living symbol of the power of sin for mankind.  In chapter 13, the Lord illustrated how leprosy began internally, spread quickly and defiled the whole body.  Once the leprosy was identified and inspected by the priest, the leper was declared unclean and banished from the camp. The leper’s existence was nothing more than a living death.  Once a man was branded a leper, he had to adopt the posture of a dead man.  The law prescribed that he tear his clothes, untidy his hair, cover his mouth and finally cry out, “Unclean!  Unclean!”  The leper would be forced to live alone outside of the camp.  It is not that everywhere outside the camp was unclean, but it was the farthest place removed from the presence of God, the place to which the sinner and unclean were banished.  It is little wonder why the man with leprosy was commanded to go in mourning.  His life as a member of God’s people experiencing God’s blessing came to an end.  Oh how sad it would have been for a leper to hear the words,  “From now on you will cry out unclean and dwell alone outside the camp.”

But in Leviticus Chapter 14 there is a glimmering ray of hope for a leper!  For the first time we are told that a leper can be healed!  There was no cure for the leprosy in the ancient world.

If a victim became well, it was solely by the gift of God’s grace.  Yet in Leviticus chapter 14:1-3, the Lord offered grace to the sinner:  “And the LORD spake unto Moses saying, This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest and the priest shall go forth out of the camp, and the priest shall look and behold if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper.” After the priest examined him and saw he was clean, the cleansing process began.   Verses 4-7 of that same chapter tell us how a leper was cleansed:  “Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.  And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water: As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood, the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.”  In order for the leper to be ceremonially cleansed the priest needed to perform this act.  Critics like to look at this as some sort of “mumbo jumbo” magic trick.  But this ceremony presents a beautiful picture of Christ.  The 1st bird was taken and killed in a clay jar.  The priest would then take the blood of the dead bird and mix it with water.  The 2nd bird was dipped in the blood of the dead bird, scarlet dye, cedar and hyssop.  The hyssop was attached to a cedar stick and used to sprinkle the leper 7x’s with the mixture and pronounced clean!  The ceremony was concluded with the release of the scarlet and blood stained bird.  The symbolism of this passage has been long debated.  The death of the 1st bird symbolized the death that the leper just escaped from.  The 2nd bird’s release pictured the removal of leprosy and his new freedom.  In Luke 5:14 Jesus healed a leper and sent him to a priest to fulfill this ceremony.  Jesus was giving him a picture of what He was going to do on the cross!  This ritual illustrates a picture of a sinner’s salvation:  Release from eternal damnation, the removal of sin and freedom in Christ.  The blood stained and scarlet dyed feathers of that bird would be a reminder to everyone in the community of the grace, forgiveness and freedom granted to that leper.  O how that cured leper must have rejoiced to see that bird from time to time.  What a picture of the forgiveness of sins, salvation from death, and freedom!  Will you in your sin come to the high priest to receive grace and forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice for your sins?