Yesterday morning I was doing my daily Lectio Divina when I came across the passage in Matthew 8 where Jesus heals a man of leprosy then tells him “go show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed.”
I had no clue what Moses had prescribed but was curious, so I looked in the margin where it said, See Leviticus 14. Being a new Bible-reading Catholic, I had to look up the table of contents to see where Leviticus was located and felt a little stupid that it’s the 3rd book in the Bible.
There, I found this passage:
“If the priest finds that the sore of leprosy has healed in the leper, he shall order the man who is to be purified, to get two live, clean birds, as well as some cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop. The priest shall then order him to slay one of the birds over an earthen vessel with spring water in it. Taking the living bird with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, the priest shall dip them all in the blood of the bird that was slain over the spring water, and then sprinkle seven times the man to be purified from his leprosy. When he has thus purified him, he shall let the living bird fly away over the countryside.”
What struck me was the second bird who is is freed only by the blood of the sacrificed one. Sound familiar?
I always thought Leviticus was just a list of random rituals and all the dos and don’ts that got replaced by the New Covenant. But maybe there is more to Leviticus than I thought!
And to end this blog…a little Lynyrd Skynyrd just for fun.
I once tried to read the Bible cover to cover (found out in Bible study you’re kinda not supposed to read it that way), and sure enough, guess where I got stuck and confused? Leviticus. Great passages, had no idea where they fit in with my whole reading the Bible cover to cover thing. I am a fairly new Bible-reading on my own Catholic as well, and it’s a good and necessary addition to my medical reading.
Good reflection. Good song. Happy Easter!