Leviticus on Holiness

Leviticus 19:1-18

Various Laws

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.

Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.

When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day; anything left over until the third day must be burned up. If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is impure and will not be accepted. Whoever eats it will be held responsible because he has desecrated what is holy to the Lord; that person must be cut off from his people.

When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.

Do not steal.
Do not lie.
Do not deceive one another.
Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
Do not defraud your neighbour or rob him.
Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.
Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.
Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favouritism to the great, but judge your neighbour fairly.
Do not go about spreading slander among your people.
Do not do anything that endangers your neighbour’s life. I am the Lord.
Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbour frankly so you will not share in his guilt.
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord.

Matthew 22:34–40

The Greatest Commandment

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

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We reflect God's character to the world around us, simply because of Jesus Christ

Today we conclude our series of sermons from the Book of Leviticus. And I'm conscious, as we wind it up, that several people have asked me why on earth we are studying this ancient, quirky and baffling book from the beginning of our old testaments. What relevance does it have to our Christian faith in 2026?

To help answer that question, and as we consider today's passage and how it rounds up everything we've considered over the past 4 weeks, I want to ask you another question: have you read Harry Potter? I'm not talking about the films - I mean the books. Have you read the books?

I confess to having read the whole series - all 7 of them. When the first book was released way back in 1997, my children were at primary school and everyone was talking about it. They were both at a great local school that really encouraged children to enjoy reading, so we bowed to the pressure and queued for Book 1, and then for each subsequent book as they were published every few months.

And at the time I recall it causing a bit of a stir in our church - we had Christian friends who were very suspicious of a book about Wizards and witches, feeling that surely it bordered on the occult or even the Satanic. One friend said we wouldn't let his children anywhere near Harry Potter and that the books should be burned. But it was clear our kids loved book 1 so I decided I must read it also.

And what a book. It was one of the best things I had read in a while. And it seems most people agreed. Over the course of the next couple of decades the series sold well over 600 million copies - and it became the most-sold book series in history, worldwide.

Why are these stories so good? Because primarily they're not about witchcraft and spells: rather, they are about relationships. They are about friendship, love, camaraderie, respect, bravery, heroism, right and wrong. They are about the triumph of good over evil, love over hate, loyalty over treachery. That's why they speak so loudly to our hearts.

And maybe that's the secret of all really good-quality literature – that whatever the context, whatever the backdrop to the story, it's the relationships between its characters that carry the story and keep us engaged.

And indeed, far from Harry Potter being a challenge to the Christian Faith, commentators have written books about how these stories even reflect and resonate with our faith.

And just as Harry Potter is first and foremost a brilliant story about relationships, so is the book of Leviticus.

And that's why it's worth studying - because at its core is a relationship between God and his people. Now Leviticus charts that relationship as it unfolded a long time in the past - 3,500 years ago, while the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt; but it has value for us in our day too, because it charts the unchanging character of God and how he relates to his people, both then and now. It's all about relationship. And perhaps no more so than in this final study, from Leviticus Ch 19.

So, as we spend time in this final section, let's think what that means for us.

1. The heart of the relationship

The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. Leviticus 19:1-2

Holiness runs through this book of Leviticus. Because that is the character of God: a holy being who binds himself to his people. Notice how he refers to himself: he uses his name, The LORD - in block capitals because it's the way our scriptures choose to present the Holy name of God - Yahweh, I am who I am. God revealed that name to Moses when he asked God for his name. It was the name by which his people were to know him. He revealed his name, and therefore his character, to his people Israel.

But not only do they know God's name, but they hear his reassurance - I, the LORD your God. He's not some random distant deity, but God who uniquely belongs to his people Israel as they wander their way through the desert.

But he has a charge for them: they are to be like him. Why? Because this nation is meant to be a beacon to the world of what God's community, God's kingdom, is like. Thus, they have no human King - for God himself is their King. Their leader is God's prophet Moses; their spiritual mediator is the High Priest Aaron.

And this nation, as they make their way to the land God has promised them, is to stand out from the world as different - distinctive, a people where the God of the Universe dwells in their midst and deals directly with them.

That's why there are so many strange laws in this book - strange to our minds anyway - because God wants there to be no doubt that he is achieving something new and important in this people. They must be distinctive in their lifestyle and behaviour - and at its heart, they must be holy. They must reflect the very character of the God who called them, if they are to exhibit his character to the watching world of their time. So, what does that look like?

2. The expression of that relationship

Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God. "'Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19:3-4

The long section that follows, some of which we heard read, effectively restates the 10 commandments and amplifies some more specific instructions. Those two verses I've just quoted are merely the beginning, examples of where God is going with this.

And actually, if we were to read on we would find the commands fall broadly into three categories that we find often in the scriptures. We heard Jesus' own summary of those categories as our Gospel reading: the two most important commandments being to Love God, and to love our neighbour as ourselves.

The prophet Micah also summarizes it neatly with one of my favourite verses in the whole of the bible.

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

That's a verse that many of our world leaders would do well to emulate. And some of our politicians and leaders here at home, too: To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly

And that's another great summary of the Law.

To quote a few examples from today's Leviticus reading, the Israelites are to act justly with their fellows and the aliens among them in their courts and in their trading; they are to be merciful to the poor by leaving the borders of fields unharvested, and not gathering fallen crops, so that the poor can find food to eat; and they are to remain humble before God - not turning to idols, maintaining the proper respect for the Sabbath and sacrifices and offerings, and to revere and respect their parents and elders.

The regulations run on for another three chapters, laying down how this people should live in order to reflect the holiness of God.

But here's the important thing: this is not about earning God's favour. God brought them out of Egypt and parted the Red Sea for them to cross long before any of these regulations had been given through Moses. There was no Law when they left Egypt: simply a people who had been rescued by a God who cared for them.

God told them his name, Yahweh because he loved them and had decided to bind their life as a nation to him. He calls himself 'their God' not because they earned that right of belonging, but because he chose them, way back in the time of Abraham.

So the holiness he requires of them is not the cause of that relationship, but the expression of that relationship.

When I was a young man I wanted to make my parents proud of me. We weren't a wealthy family but they lavished on me love, encouragement, time, and a sense of ambition. I didn't want to make them proud in order that they might love me; I wanted to make them proud because they loved me.

And it was the same for the Israelites: they were to be holy because of their relationship with God. Because he loved them. And to bring all this up to date, it's the same for us as Christians.

3. The Christian in relationship

The Apostle Peter picks up our theme from Leviticus in his first letter:

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:13-16

You see, even after 3,500 years, God has not changed. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. And just as the Israelite community was to reflect his character to the world around it, so we too as Christians reflect his character to the world around us.

Not to earn God's love, but because we have God's love.

But our motivation is greater than that of the Israelites. We know they didn't do well; they often messed up and God spent an awful lot of time trying to discipline them to get their relationship with him on the right footing. Because he loved them.

But Peter reminds us how much we have moved on as a people in our relationship with God:

...it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." ... live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 1:16-21

The Israelites biggest stumbling-block in their relationship with God was their sin and rebellion. And God gave them a programme of animal sacrifices to demonstrate the gravity of their sin and to provide a means of cleansing.

But he always had in mind something more effective, something perfect, something enduring, which those old patterns merely prefigured. For he had always planned, since the foundation of the world, a perfect solution to sin: the death and resurrection of God himself, in the flesh of God-made-Man - Jesus Christ. And we know that in our times.

You and I have been redeemed, bought back, pardoned with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect, chosen before the creation of the world

In the face of such love, how can we not want to live for him? To live lives that are holy and honouring to him? To love the Lord our God with heart soul mind and strength, and to love our neighbour as our self? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God?

So, will we not examine our lives, study the scriptures, ask his guidance as to how our lives might be better, be holier, be more honouring to him? To yearn to live lives that might bring him glory ... and not so that he might love us, but because he already loves us. And gave his son for us.

That is the calling of every baptised Christian. And it's a noble calling. Are you up for it?

O thou who calmest from above
The fire celestial to impart
Kindle a flame of sacred love
on the mean altar of my heart
Jesus, confirm my heart's desire
To work and speak and think for thee;
still let me guard the holy fire
and still stir up the gift in me

Leviticus on Blood and Atonement

Leviticus 16:20-22, 17:10-12

“When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites-all their sins-and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert.

“‘Any Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood—I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from his people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood.”

Matthew 26:26–28

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

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Blood and atonement is our theme today, the next part of our mini-series from Leviticus. And people, and I’ve heard recently, want to question the book’s relevance to a modern-day Christianity. But as we read, the second lesson, the action of Christ at the Last Supper should shed light on those ancient rituals and customs.

Holiness, sacrifice, ritual cleansing, atonement. These are the themes running through these ancient laws. And in them all, often we have the repeated verse: “The Lord God spoke to Moses.” The author, the authority, was God himself.

Leviticus, the instruction book for the sons of Levi, that is the priestly tribe, was not just a record of laws. It was a set of examples for everyday living, of worship, for how to live in a wandering community. It dealt not only with holiness and sacrifice, it dealt with illness, with marital harmony and disharmony, and strife in personal relationships. Everything is accounted for. It is not a channel of life of restriction, but it was one of unity with God, with him at the centre, leading his chosen ones into a promised land.

Today’s Old Testament reading centres on the covering of sin, the ransom required for forgiveness and the removal of guilt. In the previous verses, two goats had been presented. One was sacrificed as a sin offering in the sanctuary of the tabernacle to purify the tabernacle and the priests who performed. The second goat was possibly more fortunate in that its life was spared, but it would bear the sins of the whole community.

In verse 21 we read that Aaron is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness of the Israelites, all their sins. The two hands placed on top of the head of the goat was a symbolic act of transference. It was all the people’s sins. An escort would lead the animal through the camp for all the people to see and witness the animal bearing their sins, and it would be left as far away from the camp as the escort was able to find in the wilderness. Thus, the sins of the people would trouble them no longer. The sin removed from the camp went into the wilderness where it truly belonged.

In ancient times the wilderness and the desert was a place of evil. It was a place where the evil ones dwelt. And it seems in this simple ritual, what is being said is: you can have back your sins. Here are your sins, you evil ones. You can have them back as far from the sanctuary as is possible. A visual reminder to the people of the drama of sin and its consequences.

I was reading the commentator Philip Jensen last week, and he saw this visual act in a state of five concentric zones. He had zone one in the middle of the sanctuary, the most holy place, and then five concentric circles leading away from the sanctuary out to the last zone, to the desert region, far beyond.

I was sitting on the tube that day and thinking about these zones, and I looked up and I saw the fare zone map of the underground. And of course, I was coming from St Paul’s, wasn’t I? I was coming from the centre, from the sanctuary, Zone 1. And I sat there and watched these zones go past on my underground journey until we got to Zone 6. And I thought, yes, I am covered by my travel card. I am safe. But woe betide me if I tried to go beyond Zone 6 without the appropriate fare cover; I would be doomed.

Anyway, that was just a side effect, but I was thinking about these zones and how it was true that the zone for the Israelites, the centre of it all, was a sanctuary. And then beyond the Zone 6, as we might say, is where the sin would be left behind.

So, beyond that, and beyond my whimsy shall we say, there is so much shedding of blood through sacrifice it was no surprise that there were prohibitions about the use of the blood itself. In verse 11 we read: the life of a creature is in the blood, and this is repeated again in verse 14.

Now we know the connection between life and blood is obvious. Major loss of blood can lead to loss of life. So, blood must carry the very essence of life. But only by the shedding of this precious element, for the people, God said, could atonement be made. And for no other purpose could it be used, especially for human consumption.

The tribes around in ancient times used blood a lot as food, even though to the Israelites it had to appear as sacred. All meat to them had to be drained of blood. So, sorry everybody, no rare steaks, no black puddings. The blood was special, was precious, because the life of a creature was in the blood.

God allowed the sacrificial goat of a creature to make atonement for the sins of the people. Thus, the atonement was being made by a victim that took the place of a sinner and shed its own blood in the sinner’s place.

Paul reminds us in Romans: “we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The only hope is if there is a ransom offered on our behalf, a life given up so a life could be saved. So, here is where the Old Testament and the New Testament meet, come together, almost collide. We read in our second lesson: “this is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Without the recognition and understanding of the ritual laws of the Old Testament, the idea of the shedding of blood to release us from the burden of sin would seem abhorrent, would seem strange, would seem savage.

The new covenant of which Christ speaks is no less a covenant of blood, but this time the victim is not a nameless goat. The victim this time is someone that we begin to love and trust as we read the Gospels, just as those disciples did who followed him and who wept in despair and disbelief as he was led like a lamb to the slaughter.

But it was meant to be, for “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.” So wrote the writer of the Hebrews letter. Just as we are destined to die once and after that to face judgement, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sin of many. He was sacrificed once, if you remember, and so no longer the endless shedding of blood with animal sacrifice. The people could be freed from that burden.

So, in a curious reversal, almost a contradiction, although we read that the Israelites were forbidden to consume blood, the people of Christ are symbolically commanded to do so. Jesus said: “drink this, all of you; this is my blood.”

The exchange has taken place. For not only had Jesus laid down his life as a ransom for many, but we are to absorb his lifeblood. It is a mystery indeed. We are to be part of him and to remember his death until he returns. The life of the creature is in the blood. It is sacred. Paul warns us that if we partake of this holy supper in an unworthy manner, we are guilty of abusing this sacred rite.

But from the Old and the New Testament passages, we see the wonder of God’s grace. The blood to be shed, to be required, to release us from our sins, is not blood that he extracts from us. It is not a blood vendetta: you’ve done me wrong, so now I reap my revenge. He is the God of grace. He provides the blood sacrifice himself.

Do you remember the story of faithful Abraham and the sacrifice? Isaac, about to be sacrificed, said to his father: “the fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” And Abraham replied: “God himself will provide the lamb, my son.”

God does not require from us what he knows we cannot give, but has graciously provided an alternative sacrifice in our place. God has provided for us; but have we embraced him and his provision, his Son?

Leviticus seems like a book of prohibition, doesn’t it? “Thou shalt not.” But God is a caring God, and he guarded his people against external temptation. So what for us? Some have rejected these ancient texts, but we wish to preserve this scripture, for it is the scripture that Jesus himself knew. He debated with the lawyers as a young child in the temple. He knew the scriptures from his youth, and he upbraided the scribes when they hijacked the scriptures for their own use.

As we have seen, the rituals and laws in Leviticus point directly to Christ. Much Christian history and teaching have found a basis in the writings of Moses. The writing of the Hebrew scribes did not disappear from Christian thought, but changed in the light of the Gospels, in the light of Jesus and his teaching.

Jesus’ preaching and his references are so often from the law and the prophets; so we should not ignore them. They contain allusions to our own faith. Our brief studies have opened up this ancient scripture: the scripture of a God of grace and of forgiveness, his plan for his people in ancient times and his plan for us now, and the plan for his Son, whom God sent for our atonement.

As the beautiful hymn goes:

It’s your blood that cleanses me.
It’s your blood that gives me life.
It’s your blood that took my place
in redeeming sacrifice.
My Jesus, God’s precious sacrifice.

Leviticus on Clean and Unclean

Leviticus 13:1-7, 15:31

Regulations About Infectious Skin Deseases

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When anyone has a swelling or a rash or a bright spot on his skin that may become an infectious skin disease, he must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest. The priest is to examine the sore on his skin, and if the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is an infectious skin disease. When the priest examines him, he shall pronounce him ceremonially unclean. If the spot on his skin is white but does not appear to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest is to put the infected person in isolation for seven days. On the seventh day the priest is to examine him, and if he sees that the sore is unchanged and has not spread in the skin, he is to keep him in isolation another seven days. On the seventh day the priest is to examine him again, and if the sore has faded and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a rash. The man must wash his clothes, and he will be clean. But if the rash does spread in his skin after he has shown himself to the priest to be pronounced clean, he must appear before the priest again.

“‘You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.’”

Mark 1:40–45

A Man With Leprosy

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

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Clean and unclean

When I was a child, I lived in dread of catching leprosy. Each morning I would wake and look anxiously at my hands to see whether the tell-tale white spots of the disease had appeared. This continued for quite some time. The cause of this fear, I now realise, was our history lessons at school. We were studying the Victorians; the explorers and the missionaries who journeyed to Africa to establish leper colonies. Our teachers gave us rather graphic accounts of this terrible disease, and so, each morning, I trembled lest I should have contracted it. There is, I think, a lesson here: we must be careful what we place in the minds of young children.

In the Bible, however, the word translated as “leprosy” describes a variety of skin conditions. The symptoms mentioned in Scripture are not always consistent with the disease we now identify as leprosy. Indeed, it was not properly diagnosed until relatively recently. The afflicted person in those biblical accounts may have suffered from rashes, boils, or other skin infections. What mattered to the ancients was not medical diagnosis but ritual purity. To them, such symptoms signified uncleanness. The Hebrew word employed conveys the idea of being “stricken”, and, by implication, stricken by God, requiring cleansing.

The book of Leviticus is essentially a manual for the priests — the Levites — whose instructions came from God.

“The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting” (Leviticus 1:1, NIV)

and from Moses the instructions were passed to his brother Aaron and to the priests. There was no hierarchy beyond the priesthood. No kings, governors, or chiefs. God spoke through Moses, and all matters concerning ritual and worship passed through the priests, who guarded the sanctity of God’s dwelling.

At that stage in Israel’s history the people were wandering in the wilderness. The tabernacle — the tent of meeting — was the place where the divine presence rested. From there, ordinances and laws were communicated through the priests. The people were required to be ritually clean if they wished to draw near. Hence the many rituals and sacrifices recorded in Leviticus.

When we read these laws, the tone may appear restrictive or prohibitive. “The Lord said…” and “do not…”. Yet their purpose was that God might dwell amongst His chosen people in an ideal society. These rules reminded them how life ought to be lived. Every detail of their nomadic existence was set forth so that they might understand their relationship to God, and the goal of their journey: the promised land.

For such a task, God provided vivid imagery — almost visual aids — to teach both priests and people. And it was no small burden for the priests, who required a handbook to deal with the various situations that arose. Exodus records many murmurings; therefore the priests needed guidance to maintain order and holiness.

Who, then, was fit to approach God? The priests, certainly. And the people, provided they were not diseased or stricken. But who determined that? Not a physician, for there were no doctors in our sense of the word. Medicine was rudimentary, mixed with folklore, shamanism, and forms of magic. The first call for the stricken was the priest, guardian of God’s sanctuary. His concern was not treatment but cleansing. He certified a person either clean or unclean on the basis of visible symptoms (cf. Leviticus 13–14).

So the concern of these chapters is not cure but the spiritual and ritual welfare of the community. The family of the afflicted would bring the sufferer before the priest. To conceal the symptoms invited punishment; concealed cases, once discovered, might result in the entire family being declared unclean and placed outside the camp — a dreadful sentence of isolation, severed from relationships and routines.

The process of examination was meticulous: seven days of isolation, re-examination, perhaps a further seven days, before the sufferer might be declared clean and restored to the community (Leviticus 13:4–6). Chronic conditions were deemed unclean only whilst open and oozing; once healed, the sufferer could return. But those whose conditions were permanent and untreatable were condemned to live outside the camp, not because of their medical state but because of ritual impurity. They were required to change their appearance, wear rags, and cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” (Leviticus 13:45–46).

Thus they were barred from worship, cut off from the covenant promises. The priests offered neither cure nor hope — their duty was to preserve an ideal society, guarding against anything that threatened the nation’s holiness. Uncleanness and sin were to be expelled.

In this we can discern a parable. A small blemish of sin may grow if not treated, deepening and spreading until conscience is dulled and we are estranged from God’s presence. Yet the sufferer was not morally worse than others; any person might fall ill. The issue was ritual, not moral corruption.

But what has this to do with us? We possess medicine, science, and psychology. We think less of spiritual cleansing and more of medical cure. Yet even in Jesus’s time the link between sickness and sin persisted. When the disciples encountered a blind man, they asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus replied, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned… but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:2–3, NIV). Sickness was not a judgement.

By the time of Christ, purification laws had become burdensome, keeping the unclean perpetually from God. How could such people draw near? Jesus went beyond ritual cleansing. He touched the afflicted. He did not condemn but restored. He did not merely cleanse; He cured. A man with leprosy begged him, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him (Mark 1:40–42, NIV).

The man was restored not only in body but in family, community, and worship.

“Come near,” Jesus seems to say. “Welcome. Let me make you clean.” The cleansed might then offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving (cf. Leviticus 14:10–20), yet the greater sacrifice is that of Calvary. There Christ bore our impurities and restored us from exile, that we should no longer dwell outside the camp but be brought into God’s presence.

As the hymn declares:

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come. (Charlotte Elliott)

Leviticus on Priests

Leviticus 8:1-17

The Ordination of Aaron and His Sons

The Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron and his sons, their garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams and the basket containing bread made without yeast, and gather the entire assembly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.” Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

Moses said to the assembly, “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.” Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water. He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him. He also tied the ephod to him by its skilfully woven waistband; so it was fastened on him. He placed the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece. Then he placed the turban on Aaron’s head and set the gold plate, the sacred diadem, on the front of it, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated them. He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all its utensils and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them. He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him. Then he brought Aaron’s sons forward, put tunics on them, tied sashes around them and put headbands on them, as the Lord commanded Moses.

He then presented the bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. Moses slaughtered the bull and took some of the blood, and with his finger he put it on all the horns of the altar to purify the altar. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. So he consecrated it to make atonement for it. Moses also took all the fat around the inner parts, the covering of the liver, and both kidneys and their fat, and burned it on the altar. But the bull with its hide and its flesh and its offal he burned up outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses.

John 17:6–19

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

John 10: 1-18

The Shepherd and His Flock

“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

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Christians are a holy priesthood under Jesus

A few years ago Alison and I spent a long weekend in Rome.   It's a fabulous place - full of character and history, with ancient artefacts and modern shops, cobbled alleyways and wide piazzas. It's also full of people, with noisy streets and mad drivers. When we visited St Peter's Basilica early in the day, it was so busy that we couldn't get in - the queues snaked back through the square so we gave up and went in search of a coffee.

And as we left, we stumbled across the papal outfitters.  It's a small shop just behind the Basilica in a side-street, with a window full of priestly garments in all sorts of brocades and golds with gorgeous embroidery.   And a few statues of saints thrown in for good measure. And there, at the bottom of the display, a pair of red velvet slippers that the Pope apparently wears beneath his white cassock, perhaps when he has his feet up in front of the TV.

It all made my black & white Church of England robes look a little dull by comparison.   We just don't do that level of decoration, at least at our reformed end of the Anglican spectrum. And I think the priestly robes that we heard about in our Leviticus reading would also make mine look a little dull.

We've just started a new 5-Sunday series from the book of Leviticus, that strange and sometimes confusing OT book that's full of the rules and regulations God set for the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness. Last Sunday at HAO we heard about the blood sacrifices to purify the people from their sins; this week we have the ordination of the priests who will manage those temple sacrifices.

You'll remember that Aaron was the brother of Moses, who led the people out of Egypt; and he had four sons, who were to serve as priests alongside him. And the reason the people needed priests, as Oliver explained last week, was that a sinful people, tainted with the sin of Adam, cannot exist alongside a holy God, in the same way that darkness cannot co-exist with light; and blood sacrifices were required to remind the people of the gravity of their sin and to enable them to be cleansed.   And priests were needed to administer those sacrifices.

These priests were literally playing with fire, hence the detailed instructions from God.   This was no religious game - the priests were ministering before a frighteningly holy God - frighteningly holy but also abounding with love and compassion such that he gave the people this complex set of rules for their own preservation. Beginning with the priests.

In this Chapter 8 we see the priests being set aside, and washed and clothed for service in the sanctuary.   So let's look a little closer and see what we can learn about what they had to do - and more importantly, what that means for us now some 3500 years later.

1. Dressed for the part

Leviticus 8:6-9   Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water. He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him. He also tied the ephod to him .. He placed the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece. Then he placed the turban on Aaron's head and set the gold plate, the sacred diadem, on the front of it, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Special robes marked the priests out as having special significance, being in a special state - analagous to wearing black for mourning or white for a bride. It marked them out as serving God on behalf of the people. Exodus 28 gives us more detail on these robes. There were layers of clothing:

First, having been ceremonially washed, there was a tunic of fine woven linen, decently covering the body.  Then a sash to keep it in place, made from woven threads of expensive and colourful yarns - blue, purple and scarlet.

Next a robe - made of expensive blue material, probably a bit like a long poncho in design with a hole for the head.  The hem was embroidered with pomegranates and had golden bells stitched to the rim.

Then the Ephod - possibly a bit like a tabard, made of colourful blue, purple and scarlet threads, but this time with gold embroidery also.  Attached to the ephod were onyx stones engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel.

And then the breast piece, a pouch of expensive coloured cloth about 18" square, tied to the ephod with gold rings, containing the urim and thummim.  We're not sure what these were made from but they were articles used to cast lots at God's command.

And finally a linen turban, with a pure gold coronet tied to its front by a blue cord and engraved with the words 'Holy to the Lord'.

It must have been quite a spectacle for this nomadic tribe whose regular garments were probably in simple black or earth colours. Here were sparkling, dramatic, costly robes that must have looked astonishing - beautiful and majestic, perhaps even a bit frightening. And all of this would have conveyed an impression of royalty - priests in royal robes, in royal colours, with a royal diadem on the head.  

But not evoking an earthly sovereign - for the people had no king at this point - their king was God himself.   These priests were attendants of the heavenly King, who was dwelling in the midst of his people in a holy place, the tent or tabernacle that served as their temple while they wandered in the desert.

2. Commissioned for service

Leviticus 8:10-12   Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated them. He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all its utensils and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them. He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him.

Their ordination began with anointing with oil, just like a king; but continued, if we read on, with sacrifices being offered for Aaron and his sons to purify them of their sin, before they could minister on behalf of the people before the Lord with the daily sacrifices.

And that's the point here - these men, these priests, were representing the people before God, and representing God before the people.   They were his intermediaries - they stood between the people and their God.  There was no way the people could approach God without being consumed because of their sinful hearts; they needed priests to go for them. And the people knew this.  Back in Exodus 20 we read this:

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw Mount Sinai in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."

It was only through the priests and the sacrifices that the people could relate to God; and the role was handed down through their  descendants into the promised land and the stone temple of Solomon that would replace the temporary tabernacle. But this scheme was only ever intended to be temporary, albeit it was to last 1500 years.  For. like much of what we read in the OT, it was foreshadowing something better that was to come. Because eventually those daily sacrifices ceased to be required - and those priests also ceased to be required. How was that to be?

3. A greater Priest

Listen to this passage from Hebrews. It refers to the Lord Jesus Christ:

Hebrews 10:11-14   Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest (Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. ... by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Jesus came to fulfill all that the OT regulations and rules had pre-figured.   Rather than needing to offer animal sacrifices for sin, he offered himself in his body on the cross - the perfect sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world. Thus he became our great high priest, who removed forever the barrier separating mankind from God. Jesus takes away the need for any intermediaries. For it is Jesus himself - God himself - who now represents us to the Father, and represents God the Father to us. Through him and his completed work we have direct access to the throne room of God.   We don't need priests.

So what am I doing here in my robes? Yes, I am called a priest - but that word does not appear in our New Testaments.  The early church in the Acts of the Apostles was led by elders, not priests. 

I am an elder in the church, not a priest.  You don't need me to intervene between you and God. I am here simply as an elder to help lead and encourage you in your faith. That's why I wear simple robes, not brocades and golds and fancy stoles - because these things are no longer needed.

Because it's through the blood of Jesus, not animals that we stand before our Heavenly Father - that we may boldly approach his eternal throne. But there is more.  

4. Sharing the Priesthood

Listen to these words from the Apostle Peter, written to ordinary Christians in his first epistle:

1 Peter 2:9   you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

A chosen people, a royal priesthood. I've just said we no longer need priests since Jesus became the one perfect mediator between mankind and God.

And yet there is a sense in which you and I are all priests - not in the role of intervening between man and God, and offering sacrifices for sin - but in the role of proclamation - in Peter's words,

that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.

You and I are called to represent God to the world — as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. That's quite a calling.

Are you up for that, Christian? Being his representatives to the world around us, making him known through our lives and our words? For that is our calling.  It's the calling of every Christian.  To be, in our own way, a Priest of God Most High.

And you know we even get to wear robes - but not the glittery robes of Aaron and his sons. For our robes are metaphorical - they are the robes of salvation, the robes of righteousness.  The prophet Isaiah expressed it like this:

my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.   Isaiah 61:10

These robes, the robes that every Christian is given, cover our sin and present us to God as if we were spotless, washed clean in the blood of Jesus. These robes may not be highly coloured, embroidered, brocade garments - they do not sparkle with jewels and gold. And yet they do sparkle - with the joy that Christ brings to our hearts, bubbling over as a witness to the world of the power and love of God. Will you join in that priestly ministry to the lost world around us? For that is our challenge. Even here, even today. To be:

a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Leviticus on Offerings

Leviticus 1:1-9

The Burnt Offering

The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting. He said, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any of you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.

“‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to offer a male without defect. He must present it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord. He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. He is to slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and then Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and sprinkle it against the altar on all sides at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the burning wood that is on the altar. He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

Mark 14:3–9

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

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A Simple Act of Cleaning

I’d like you to imagine standing next to a washbasin with your own child, or with a grandchild, or just with any child. If they turn the tap on and then walk away, what would you say to them? It doesn’t count. That’s not washing your hands. Just dipping them under the water a bit and then walking away doesn’t make them clean.

You’d probably say to them that they have to use the soap, and make sure they use the soap in all the little cracks and corners of their hands. And that’s because soap does a special job of cleaning that water itself doesn’t do.

Now, I didn’t know why we use soap until I actually prepared this sermon and looked it up. Soap, as probably many of you know, actually tears apart the membranes of bacteria. It’s amazing. So they dissolve almost, or at least lose their grip on your hand. Soap disables the bacteria and effectively destroys them. And here we see a principle which will be a central theme as we think about Leviticus together, and that is this: cleaning is controlled destroying.

When it comes to bleach, antibiotics, or surgery, being cleansed from dirt and disease involves controlled destroying. If you washed your hands with soap every five minutes, that soap would start to break down your skin cells. No destroying means no cleansing — but controlled destroying avoids overkill.

From Physical Dirt to Moral Dirt

So the next question is this: if something like soap removes physical dirt, how does moral dirt get cleansed? You can’t break down the cell membranes of evil. But fairy tales and Hollywood have the answer. The bad guy always ends up being destroyed. Lucy and I watched Independence Day last night. What are they celebrating at the end? The alien ship is destroyed in flames. The moral tension between good and evil is resolved by the destruction of evil. That’s why there’s catharsis at the end of any good story.

There’s a reason I’m saying all this: we can’t understand Leviticus without the principle that cleaning is controlled destroying.

For the ancient Israelites, physical dirt, disease, and moral dirt were inseparable. They were all forms of uncleanness. Leviticus answers the question: how can a perfectly clean God live among an unclean people? They assumed something we often struggle with — that God is the ultimate cleansing agent. He is morally pure — holy. And like any powerful cleansing agent, when God comes into direct contact with impurity, destruction necessarily happens.

Leviticus as a Manual, Not a Manifesto

Another hurdle in reading Leviticus is that it’s a manual, not a manifesto. It tells us how cleansing happens, not always why it must happen. God is utterly clean. To approach him involves cleansing — and cleansing is controlled destroying. That brings us to the theme of our reading.

The first part of Leviticus focuses on sacrifice. Sacrifice is how cleansing happens before a holy God. When God’s moral purity meets human moral impurity, destruction results. But in animal sacrifice, God provides a way for that destruction to be redirected onto a substitute. That’s why verse 4 says the worshipper lays their hand on the animal’s head. This is the symbolic transfer of uncleanness. The animal undergoes the destruction that would otherwise fall on the person.

Verse 9 calls the sacrifice “an aroma pleasing to the Lord.” This isn’t because God enjoys the smell of roasted meat. The Hebrew word for anger is related to the word for nostril. Anger makes nostrils flare. The “pleasing aroma” means God’s nostrils are no longer filled with the stench of sin, but with the sign that cleansing destruction has already occurred.

We’re often squeamish about these sacrifices. But so were the Israelites. Animals were their wealth. The gore wasn’t there to shock for shock’s sake — it was a warning. Like graphic images on cigarette packets today, sacrifice forced people to take seriously what it means to approach a holy God. If Leviticus made you uncomfortable, that’s the point. Moral uncleanness is ugly, deadly, and serious.

When Israelites saw the animal destroyed, they were meant to think two things:

1. That should have been me.

2. This is how serious God’s presence is.

That’s why the offering had to be a male without defect — the most valuable animal. It showed how precious God was to them.

Jesus: The Final Sacrifice

So what does this mean for us? God hasn’t changed. But we no longer rely on animal sacrifice. We rely on Jesus — the unblemished Lamb. Hebrews 10 tells us that animal sacrifices were reminders of sin, not solutions. But Jesus’ sacrifice happened once for all. Only God could bear the destruction required to cleanse human sin — and he did so in Christ.

To come into God’s presence today, we must lay our hands spiritually on Jesus’ head and transfer our sin to him. We only need to do this once — but we must do it. The alternative is facing that cleansing destruction ourselves. Sacrifice also showed how precious God is. That’s why the woman in Mark poured out a year’s wages of perfume on Jesus.

Leviticus challenges us too. Do we give Jesus the leftovers — or the best of our time, energy, and wealth? That’s why prayer and Bible study matter. Not fitting God in after everything else, but giving him our best.

Why Bother Being in God’s Presence?

Why go to all this trouble? Because those who have been there will tell you: for this I was made. God is the source of peace, joy, love, and life. His presence is the original — not the photocopy. So this morning, hear the words of the first disciples who encountered Jesus: Come and see.