Those who have ever tried reading the Bible, especially from start to finish, usually get bogged down around Leviticus. In terms of scripture that inspires Leviticus with all of its burnt offerings doesn't usually make it to the top of the list. Really it's about as fun a read as a genealogy.
But I love Leviticus and what it adds to scripture. The secret to Leviticus to understand what the passage meant to the original audience and how it applies to our lives. This is true of all scripture, Leviticus just takes a little more digging to uncover something interesting.
My friend Stephen recently showed me in Leviticus how Jesus uses the passages about healing, specifically healing of leprosy, to demonstrate who He is. Leviticus 14:2-32 explains God's process for readmitting someone who had previously been afflicted with leprosy back into the community. After being banished from the camp, and after God has healed them, the ex-leper would come to the priests and show themselves to be clean. The priests were not the agents of healing, they were not like shamans who tried to heal people, they would simply make the pronouncement of God's work of healing. God is the one who heals. Cool.
Now flash forward to 1st Century Palestine (Mt 8:1-4). Jesus is coming down from giving the Sermon on the Mount. A leprous man approaches and asks to be healed. Jesus heals him and tells him "go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded" (Mt 8:4b). In the Levitical context, in which God heals and the priest then pronounces, is not Jesus claiming to be God? By telling the man to show himself to the priest Jesus is bringing this healing into the context of Levitical law. Jesus takes on, making no apologies, the role of healer and God in this story. I find that to be cool.
Jesus is cool like that.
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