Jesus & the Law – on maintaining ritual purity … (11/20/18)
Remaining ritually clean was an extremely important edict of the Law of ancient Israel (see Leviticus 11:43 & Deuteronomy 14:3), for without such cleanliness one could not partake of or participate in the Jewish religion’s required sacrifices &/or celebrations. There were many ways to become tamei (unclean), and acquiring such a spiritual taint required a subsequent spiritual removal thereof (most often by immersing oneself in the purifying waters of a mikvah bath – see Leviticus 15:6 & Numbers 19:19-22 et al) – before one could in effect re-enter the Jewish spiritual community. Again unsurprisingly, Jesus had a radically different take on this matter as well. Consider …
*Whereas the Law made “unclean” (and thus essentially untouchable) all women who were “lying in” after having given birth (see Leviticus 12:2-5), all women suffering from any form of vaginal discharge (see Leviticus 15:25-27), and all women who happened to be menstruating (see Leviticus 15:19-24), Jesus took no issue whatsoever with being publicly touched by a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years (see Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, & Luke 8:43-48).
*Whereas the Law made “unclean” (and thus essentially untouchable) all lepers (see Leviticus 13:2-49 & Numbers 5:1-4) and even the residences thereof (see Leviticus 14:34-46), Jesus had no qualms about gently caressing those who were suffering from the same (see Matthew 8:1-4, Mark 1:40-45, & Luke 5:12-16 et al).
*Whereas the Law made “unclean” anyone who touched the corpse of any sentient being (see Leviticus 11:39, Numbers 19:11-16, & Deuteronomy 18:11 et al), Jesus regularly interacted with those who were considered to be dead1 or those believed to be on the verge thereof (see Matthew 9:18-25, Mark 5:35-43, Luke 7:11-16, Luke 8:49-56, & John 11:17-44).
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1 Even though it is true that Jesus repeatedly proclaimed that said individuals were not dead at all (doing so more often than not by publicly rebuking their premature mourners and stating that the relevant individuals were “merely sleeping” – see Matthew 9:24, Mark 5:39, & Luke 8:52, as well as John 11:4), it was clear to all that his actions expressed the clear appearance of violating the Law nonetheless.
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