>> Muireadhach: On a mission, on a quest. On a search or discovering the truth? Join us on our journey to discovering a savior. >> Chris: All right. Welcome to your church, friends. I'm Chris. >> Muireadhach: I'm, uh, Muireadhach >> Chris: Jumping a little bit backwards, looking at the guy with leprosy. Cause you talked about it like he approached Jesus. Like, that was illegal. >> Muireadhach: Right?
>> Chris: You know, when you look at the laws of everything, that was the one thing. Cause, uh, the one for me, what stood out was the covered in leprosy. That's what I looked into. Some translations are full of leprosy. That's why I knew this was the Hansen disease and maybe not the eczema one, where, like, this is the big thing. This is an advanced case. You know, Luke being a doctor, saying, fool of, this is an advanced case. But him approaching Jesus is illegal. Uh, in numbers.
It said, uh, the Lord said to Moses, command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who's, uh, who has a defiling skin disease or discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body. Send away male and female, like. And send them outside the camp so they will not defile the camp where I am dwelling. So the Israelites did so, and they sent them outside the camp just as the. The Lord instructed Moses.
So this became a law. Like, this was a thing that, like, if you're unclean, you're outside the camp, you're not allowed in the city, you're not allowed in normal israeli society. That was illegal. Uh, but then when you look at this guy and we're talking about what leprosy was like, yeah, what did he have to lose? So this is illegal that I'm in the city and I'm going to Jesus. >> Muireadhach: You'Re gonna do kill me, right? >> Chris: I'm already going back to.
>> Muireadhach: If. If he's going through the same mental stuff that we know from modern stuff, he'd be like, yeah, what does he have to lose? >> Chris: Yeah, you can do it. You're gonna kill me. Uh, so, like, you know, again he goes, the Lord, if you're willing to make me clean. And again, yeah, you're talking about, like, restoration. You're talking about restoring this person, like, healing what he has. But there was no previous example of Jesus doing
that up to this point. You know, we're looking at, like, Jesus healing a leper. It was people with diseases. Um, but did it say leper in some of the previous stuff or. >> Muireadhach: No, I was going to say Elijah healed a leper. Right. >> Chris: Yeah. So that's. I was going there, there is precedent. >> Muireadhach: For prophets healing lepers. >> Chris: Healing lepers. But like Jesus doing this, there was none of that. Him coming to him was such a step of bold faith, which is one.
>> Muireadhach: But based off of the precedent of like well, the prophet way back when he did it. Here's a prophet coming through. Like maybe this guy can do it too. Like I can see how precedent would, would help in that. Uh, yeah, I mean we see other people in Jesus life that come forward and ask him to do stuff that they probably never heard of. But. >> Chris: Yeah, so the crazy thing was there's only two people in the Bible with leprosy getting healed. And it's uh, the
Elijah one. Mhm. >> Muireadhach: Naaman. >> Chris: Uh, Naaman. Hm. >> Muireadhach: Naaman. >> Chris: Naamanta. Uh, and then Miriam. Name him, name him, name him. And then Miriam, who God struck with leprosy, uh, because she was speaking out against Moses. >> Muireadhach: Sorry, his name is Naaman. >> Chris: Yes. >> Muireadhach: I was making a joke. >> Chris: M. I was going with you just. >> Muireadhach: The way that you said it. I was like, oh, it sounded like.
>> Chris: You thought that's what I was going with you. >> Muireadhach: Um. >> Chris: So uh, Miriam got it. God struck her as a punishment because she was talking about Moses. And then Moses prayed for her healing. And then seven days of isolation. Uh, she was back in uh. And then the other one was like seven times in the Jordan, right? Like dip in the Jordan seven times. So the great lawgiver and the great prophet, you know, there's, there is precedent to it for him to
come to Jesus. He had to think like this guy is better than at least on par with the lawgiver and the prophet, if not more capable to do it again, you know, in this situation, what does he have to lose? Like, it's a huge thing. Um, the other thing I want to touch on was the touch part aspect of it because we saw in the other things it was just the word. The demons. >> Muireadhach: Mhm. >> Chris: Just by his word gone. Sickness gone just by speaking. Uh, but this one was touched.
And I like what nt Wright put out here. Uh. Cause to me it's just like, it seemed more like out of compassion, you know, because if you're a leper, what have you not had in a long time? And if you have an advanced case, you haven't, you know, no one's touched you. But uh. Nt Wright put. Nobody had touched this man. Uh, we may suppose for years. His body was now riddled with the disease. It had clearly been quite literally eating away at him for a long time. And now
Jesus reaches out and touched him. We can only imagine the sense of awe and joy that that brought to the mandev. Just like that alone, that, you know, the touch happened and then the healing happened. Um, and I thought that was pretty cool. Uh, even looking at like, how pharisees, again, going back to how they would treat people, uh, anyone with skin, uh, diseases, you know, they were like, they're sinners, right? Cause that's what their thought is.
You've got this, you're a sinner, you're an outcast. I mean, the way they treated, even Samaritans and tax collectors were pretty, you know, not great. It was very elitist type stuff. But to touch a leper. And then I heard this and it just like, sparked some other things in my head as looking at this. But like, the Samaritan, the good Samaritan story where, uh, the Levi and the. >> Muireadhach: Rabbit, but they wouldn't touch him. Cause they thought he was dead and.
>> Chris: It would make them unclean. >> Muireadhach: Yeah, yeah. >> Chris: But the Samaritan was willing to take that risk. And I was like, man, that's a huge. Why is no one teaching that? That's a huge part of, like, that story. >> Muireadhach: Yeah, that's like the main reason why they were just like, oh, yeah, I gotta keep to my thing. Which is even weirder because it's not like if you touch a corpse, you're disqualified.
It's just like, well, you gotta spend like seven days and you gotta go through this ritual. >> Chris: Mhm. >> Muireadhach: So it's even like, I don't know. As I've heard, it taught in different ways. And again, you kind of read into a bit, but it's just like, if I go deal with this, it's gonna be annoying. It's almost like when you hear from, like, I don't want to deal with the paperwork. >> Chris: Yes. Yeah. That's really what it comes down
to. Uh, so, you know, the fact that Jesus touched him, he's reached out and touched someone who was unlovable and untouchable. Um, and then you, like, yeah, I was wanting to get to that too. The. He touched him and Jesus didn't become unclean, it reversed. >> Muireadhach: Mhm. >> Chris: It was the reverse uno cardinal. Boom, here it is. Now you're clean. Um, and he touches him and he becomes clean. And it just, all of it works
differently. And I think that's where for me, you start seeing the bigger picture of kind of this conversation. What's the difference between unclean and what's the difference between sin? Right. Um, because once Jesus touches us, that we're clean, you know, once he comes into our lives, we're clean of that state. And then, you know, because of our flesh, there's still those struggles in there. But we're clean. We can go before him. We can. We're
allowed to go into his presence. Um, there isn't that like seven day outside the camp thing? You know, forgiveness is there, forgiveness is quicker. And uh, you know, you kind of see that picture here getting presented with Jesus being able not just to, because that's the big thing. The guy now he has to go do the levitical thing, right? Go, go, um, present yourself to the priest. So the priest has to look him over, make sure he's clean, make sure there's no more disease on
him. And then the guy now gets to go back to his family, gets to go back to his village, gets to go back to his community. He's a fully accepted member now. As if he had no leprosy. >> Muireadhach: Mhm. >> Chris: And now he's a back part of that. So now not only is this guy, in the eyes of the Pharisees, morally clean, but now he's ceremonially clean and he's back in the community. And Jesus does that for us.
>> Muireadhach: So I'm gonna jump back a bit and then try and run up to catch up with you in the conversation is when you're saying on the touching side of things. I went back, I think we touched on an earlier conversation. I think it was like when Simon's, uh, mother in law and kind of we're talking about that. And then there's the demons, which may have been part of the next episode, maybe part of that episode. But it says that Jesus laid his hands
and healed people. So he was laying his hands as part of the healing. Just I don't think it's part of the demon stuff. I don't think that that's part of like exorcism practice. Could be wrong. There might be other sections that has it. But as far as the touching, it's. There was our already him touching and healing people and doing that. But even with that, I'm not saying that to take away from the part that you and, uh, Mister Tom Wright came up with. As far as dude hasn't had a hug in a while.
>> Chris: That means a lot, dude. >> Muireadhach: It does. I think that I've ready even like, I would be making up statistics, but feel free for anybody to look up. Like, how long your average american male goes without touch. It's pretty crazy that like, men don't get affectionate touch. >> Chris: Yeah. >> Muireadhach: And just like all the psychological studies that have been done on that. And just like men who are part of society, look at what happens from not getting touch. This one's like
far outside of that. Yeah, um, just. There's that. But, um, looking at the thing of uncleanness, I know that we've really talked on it, on unclean doesn't equal sinfulness. M there is some sin that could equal uncleanness, sexual morality and idolatry to mainly highlight those two. But. So Leviticus is just like, hey, no, this is just like
ritually, ceremonially unclean. When you get into like the prophets Isaiah and otherwise, they are very heavily drawing on the correlation and using those examples that like, hey, your sin is making you unclear. Like, the language does start to get used. Um, which I think just part of our conversation to touch on that, of just like scripture itself draws those connections of just like, yeah, you know what that is. And sin is doing that within you as an individual and within you as a people.
But then you brought it to the point and why that was on my mind and why I want to touch on is because you were talking about Jesus and what his restoration does. M and to link back to why I was saying earlier with Leviticus of like, you have eleven through 15 just kind of put in here about what being clean is, and then you get 16 is talking about the day of atonement. >> Chris: Right. >> Muireadhach: And the big thing that we look at as far as Jesus being a messiah is like, we look at
him offering atonement. Mhm. And if we look at atonement really being on like this purifying side of things, a lot of times I think that as modern christians, we think like, oh, yeah, forgiveness, forgiveness of sins.
But atonement for the camp, atonement for Israel, uh, it was really part of this thing of like, on this day, we're going to confess all the sins, but what's going to happen is this power of chaos and darkness and death that through all of our actions has been like encroaching on the camp. This day of atonement is going to be like a force of life, pushing it all out and cleansing everything again. That like, where we are is like God's land, it's holy land and it's clean and
it's pure from all these things. And so when we see Jesus coming through and he's healing leprosy and he's healing the woman with the issue of blood, and he's like raising the dead back to life, all of these things that are like ritually unclean but he's also going and forgiving sin. Like, I think that the bigger picture there, because as we're saying, if you're ceremonially unclean, you can't come into God's presence. Mhm. Has nothing to do with, well, you're a sinful person.
You can't come into God's presence. There's a thing of, like, uncleanness. And when Jesus is offering purity and cleanness in that sense, but also forgiveness, like, what's the end result of that? Like, you can come into God's presence and it's not a thing that I know I'm jumping ahead or backwards. I don't even know how or if we'd cover it. But it's like, really the end goal. What Jesus is coming to do isn't to allow us to go to the temple that's in
Jerusalem. It's that we are the temple and God's spirit comes into us. >> Chris: Uh, right. >> Muireadhach: So that's where being made clean really matters. Because if you're looking at like, oh, I had a nocturnal mission, I can't go to the temple for like, seven days or whatever it is. Like, I can't go into God's presence, and I'm cut off from all of that. To the spirit of God is living inside of you. >> Chris: Right.
>> Muireadhach: Like, what Jesus is bringing, it's just so far beyond anything that's even, like, of what could possibly be on the radar of, like, the conversations of just like, well, yeah. What's. What's the proper thing for leprosy? >> Chris: Right. >> Muireadhach: You know what I mean? Which why I'm bringing that in is like, we're tracking with Jesus on a journey, and I'm kind of looking towards, because I kind of already know some of the destination that
we're heading towards. And just like, right ahead. Yeah. Been hearing about it for a long time. Spoiler alerts it's like we're watching the chosen. It's just like, is it called a spoiler if, uh, kind of been written down for 2000 years? >> Chris: It's a horrible show. You create a show and your main character dies at the end. >> Muireadhach: Gave it away. Yeah, but in that,
that's where I'm looking at these things and like, cool. So we're on this journey, we're discovering a savior, and it's like, okay. He's dealing with leprosy, he's dealing with uncleanness, he's dealing with sinfulness. But looking towards, like, is that all, you know, like, oh, cool. Not that, oh, that's all, like, this guy with leprosy got to go to his family and everything that you just said, it's like that's a completely changed life.
>> Chris: Mhm. >> Muireadhach: But Jesus offers even so much more than that. >> Chris: Yeah. >> Muireadhach: Which I think is amazing. >> Chris: The term restoration really does encompass more than just what this restoration presents. Right. >> Muireadhach: There's a huge image of it and. >> Chris: It was making me think too. Again, maybe skipping ahead, maybe not, but like, there are moments when Jesus heals someone and then tells them, go and sin no more. >> Muireadhach: Mhm.
>> Chris: You don't see this here. You don't see that what you see is go present. Don't. First don't tell anyone. Right. Because being known that you're the messiah is going to get you killed. So that time has not yet come. So it's don't tell anyone. But it's then go present yourself to the priest, make the sacrifice. When the time comes that you need to make the sacrifice to the temple, that's
when you go and you make the sacrifice of the temple. Whatever wealth you have, whether it's the two doves or the bigger thing, but you go make the sacrifices that are required, present yourself to the priest and then that's it. But it isn't followed with it, uh, and go and sin no more. So this is a good comparison to like, well, what was different between him and the other
people. Um, because clearly if he's telling someone, go and sin no more, there must have been something inside that Washington, you know, like the sinfully wise, morally. Um, but yeah, there's a huge difference. But either way, what does he do? He restores it all. You know, the work on the cross did do that. It was a restoration, not just to make us ceremonially clean, but also now we can be morally clean as well.
>> Muireadhach: And that's having part of this conversation and camping out a little bit in Leviticus or even touching on like, I just don't think that uh, for modern people who are largely been in a christian world where so much of this has been like taken care of for 2000 years, that like we even care or appreciate being made clean. Mhm. You know what I mean? It's just like Leviticus. That's boring. Why would I ever read that? It doesn't make sense. Also,
it doesn't really apply. Right. Also, and you know, it's just like to not realize that big part of Jesus's life and ministry and death and resurrection, what has been accomplished, like, you know, it's just like, I, um, don't know, unappreciative of it, because you don't even know what it is. >> Chris: Yeah. A lot of times when you look at even, I mean, the old testament enlarged, there's, like, I think sections that are more. People are more happy with m. You know, you got your psalms.
People love psalms and proverbs and stuff like that. Um, sorry, just. >> Muireadhach: People love psalms. It's just like, have you read them all? God? Kill them. >> Chris: Yeah, kill them big, kill them hard, knock out their teeth. Um, but, like. And, like, Genesis gets its genesis, and half of exodus gets its fame. But everything else after that and in between, like, no one wants to read. No one wants to read about the Israelites having to wipe out a nation. No one wants. Or groups of people.
No one wants to read numbers. Cause it's just list of people and stuff like that. Deuteronomy is a repetitive thing of what you've already readde. >> Muireadhach: Um, chronicles. >> Chris: Chronicles are gonna put you to sleep for the most part. And I'm saying a lot of this sarcastically. Uh, Leviticus is like, that's just the rules. One, that's the one that tells me I can't have two different fabrics on, touching each other and stitched in.
That's the one where. Wait, do we follow this now? Do we make sacrifices? Do we not make sacrifices? Why don't we make sacrifices anymore? Yes. Pork ribs. Uh, the good ribs. >> Muireadhach: The other ones don't count as ribs. >> Chris: The mcRib. Can I have the McRib? When it sees Nolan out? Um, you know, that's what it gets looked at. That's what it's viewed as. Um. But you are missing when you don't read Leviticus. A good chunk of understanding. >> Muireadhach: Sorry.
A couple off topic things, and I'll bring it back in. But the kids summer thing was today, and they were doing. They had the leaders go up and they were doing, like, sword drills. So it's like, cool. We're gonna tell you a Bible verse. You need to, like, put your Bible on your head, pull it down. Whoever finds it first, right? And they're doing, like, a knockout challenge. And one of the verses was in Amos. And I heard someone next to me, like, Amos, like, where is that?
And I was like, yeah, we have an episode on that if you want to go listen to, uh, our forgotten books of the Bible series. Like, there's Amos. There's a few episodes on that. >> Chris: He does more than just cookies. >> Muireadhach: And then one of them was Philemon. And then someone's like, how did you pronounce that? Like, what is that? And I was like, we have an episode on that you can get.
Just when you talk about all these things, they're like, oh, yeah, the Old Testament, outside of, like, the popular stuff, tends not to get. >> Chris: I mean, that's the Bible in general. Right? Like, outside of the popular stuff. Philemon. I mean, most people would just understand it as Philemon. >> Muireadhach: Yeah, it's a weird Pokemon. >> Chris: Yeah. Gotta catch them all. >> Muireadhach: Um, yeah. In tracking and all right, so leviticus has
a rulebook. I think that's an important thing to bring to Jesus as well. Mhm. Is that Jesus? Yes. He's touching someone with leprosy, which unclean. Right. But he does it because look at what the result. Like, I don't know. Did he touch a person with leprosy? Because it seems like that person doesn't have leprosy. Like, you know, it's kind of a thing of just like, well, what's, you know, where's the fault there? But then also the mercy, how you said, like, it's
illegal. That person shouldn't have come up. But we see time and time again that Jesus is just like, no. Like, mercy is important in the law. >> Chris: Mhm. >> Muireadhach: And that's what he comes against. The Pharisees. Like, you guys are all concerned about tides. You're forgetting about mercy and righteousness. Like, uh, you're not getting. The important thing is important. So even there of seeing, like, it's not that he's ignoring the law, he's very much keeping it.
Even when it comes to cool. You've been healed. Go do the proper thing, right? Go to the priest, do the proper sacrifice, and do it. Like, Jesus very much keeps to all of this Old Testament stuff. Like, for Jesus, Leviticus is super important, which is a thing that I get into conversations a lot with people who, like, disagree with a lot of the Old Testament, but they love Jesus. I'm like, jesus had every opportunity to point out anything wrong with the
Old Testament. You know, if it got, like, distorted or there was something going on or any of that stuff going on, like, jesus had every opportunity to point that out. He didn't attack the Old Testament in the way that modern scholars want to attack the Old Testament. He's attacking, how are they applying it? >> Chris: Right. >> Muireadhach: He was like, hey, what they're saying to do is good, but just don't live it how they're living it. But like, the words are legit.
>> Chris: Yeah. >> Muireadhach: You know what I mean? >> Chris: Yeah. Like the tithing and all the stuff in the extra minute. Like, none of that was wrong, but it was like, what was inside like, uh, the heart of it all. That's what made them unclean. Yeah. Yeah. I really do think it's a big chunk of understanding. Even this, like this story in the Bible, this moment that Luke hits of knowing the levitical laws because it doesn't pop out of all the things that are happening,
covered in leprosy. This guy is like advanced state, incurable even in today's probably society where we at least could stop some of it, right. He's just walking dead. Mhm. Breaks, um, the law because he comes to Jesus and then Jesus touches him. And now he's clean. Like all this. What's clean, what's unclean thing. And I really like how you put it together, like the two sons of Aaron story. Then all of a sudden, here's what makes you unclean and clean and what allows you to
come into the presence of God and what doesn't. And how you can get back into the presence of God. >> Muireadhach: Mhm. >> Chris: And then it picks up like, okay, the day of atonement. And a lot of things like, I don't think you even mentioned it, but when the day of atonement, uh, the priest put his hand on the sheep, right? That went out. The sheep that carries the sins went out to Azazel. >> Muireadhach: The goat. Right? >> Chris: The goat, yeah. He touches him and it goes out.
>> Muireadhach: It's like goat or a sheep. It's a goat, right? >> Chris: Uh, it's one or the other. But he puts his hand on it. >> Muireadhach: Must be a goat, those things. >> Chris: Look, I think it's a goat because they send the goat back to the goat God and escape goat demon thing. Uh, escape goat. >> Muireadhach: Yeah, that's what it is. >> Chris: Uh, but the touch, you know, to me is what there's this parallels of like the touch is what the sin went out and then, uh, the other one is
sacrificed. But again, understanding sacrifice, and this I just learned really, myself, is like understanding sacrifice wasn't just that we killed an animal and burned it on an altar, it was that they ate and consumed it. And the idea is that they're eating and consuming it with God. So then Jesus being that, right, that new thing for us, that cleanses us, that makes us clean, is when we take communion, when we do something like that, we are participating and a, ah, cleansing in a sense.
>> Muireadhach: And even so much of, I know that we're going on all kinds of stuff, but devotonement, uh, right. The one that is sacrificed, it's not like, oh, killing was a punishment that needed to happen. Like the death was a means to an end for the blood. Like, the blood is where the life is, right? And like, that's how you get the blood. Like, you know what I mean? Which is where one of the things in the Old Testament and in the New Testament is like,
you don't eat or drink blood. That's a no no. That's demonic, right. There may or may not be plenty of groups within America and globally that, uh, do weird stuff with blood. Yeah, still, like big time. It's not conspiracy. It happens. Christians don't do that. Like, there is power within the blood which comes with like, jesus on the cross. Why we sing all those old hymns and the new songs and everything else. It's like the blood having the
importance for the cleansing. Like we read in the book of Hebrews that he goes and he puts the blood, like, in the real temple, in the holy, like, you know, in the heavenly temple. And that's what makes things clean forever, that we're not repeating all of these m offerings. So now that's going off topic. >> Chris: And that's the thing about the death of Jesus. It's the blood, right? >> Muireadhach: Mhm. >> Chris: The one goat doesn't, it's not killed. The sin goat isn't killed.
>> Muireadhach: I mean, it dies. >> Chris: It dies, yeah. Out in the desert, in the wilderness with the sin demon. But it's not like sacrifice. >> Muireadhach: Mhm. >> Chris: So when we look at what Jesus is doing, this is always hard for me because it's such a thing that our church grows up, the protestant churches. Jesus took on our sin and died for our sin. And that's atonement. But it's getting with like what the eastern orthodox look at it like. No, that's not what
was being presented there. Like, what they're talking about is that Jesus blood, his cleansing ness, is what washes us and makes us clean. He's not taking on our sin in a sense, as much as he's, uh. This image touched us and made us clean. Because he's clean. >> Muireadhach: Yeah. >> Chris: And it's, it's a hard thing because I wrestle with what I've had grown up knowing and hearing this new thought. >> Muireadhach: It's the cross and the gospel is. I always think of a multi, I use
the word multifaceted a lot. Which. Multifaceted. It's like you look like at a diamond. It's got all the faces and like, as you turn it, there's different faces to it and you can see the different beauty and the gleaming and everything through that and the clarity through it. And like scripture talks about, like he was, who was without sin being made sin, which I know that looking at eastern orthodoxy, they'll send to say that Paul, uh, was using shorthand for
him being made. Sin was shorthand for he was being made into the sin offering. >> Chris: Mhm. >> Muireadhach: Rather than, you know, protestant and otherwise, like understanding of like. No, no, he was actually taking on the sin. Because when you're looking at, well, can it all be, can everything about the cross be summed up in a direct parallel to the day of atonement? It's like, I don't think so. Like other stuff was going, like, that's an image of it and he was
making atonement. But I do think that there's other stuff within the conversation that it's hard because just like, well, it's this or it's this or it's this, or just like, well, yeah, it's, those are all images of what's happening that if it's kind of like anything where, um, it's like when you try and hear people talk about the Trinity and they use like little examples of stuff and it's like eventually all of it breaks the
water ice. Like, yeah. Or, you know, it's just like eventually analogies break and images break. And when you, when I look at like atonement, Jesus that did create, like, he did achieve atonement, that might not be the fully correct theological word, but, you know, atonement happened through Jesus to say it. Um, but many things happen through that, right? Like day of atonement, I don't think achieved resurrection for anybody yet. Jesus achieved resurrection through the cross. You know what I
mean? Like there's, there's a lot of other stuff. >> Chris: There's a lot of layers to it. >> Muireadhach: Yeah, yeah. >> Chris: Onions to wrap all this up. >> Muireadhach: Wait, I have one more thing. >> Chris: Oh, uh, do you. >> Muireadhach: I didn't get to it and it's gonna be a side note. And then you can wrap it up in, in the way that it should be, uh. Uh, going back to some of those things of being unclean, like the, the food and the not touching corpses and uh, the sexual stuff going on.
Mhm. Is an added layer to God saying that those things were unclean and not welcome into the full presence of the temple or the tabernacle when it was a tabernacle, is that those things couldn't get misused and appropriated towards the worship of goddesse. What you see is, um, in pagan cultures is that they've got like temple prostitutes in various ways. >> Chris: Oh, yeah, yeah. >> Muireadhach: So there's like, no, like, mhm. Sex isn't part of the
thing. You've got, um, like, ancestor worship and various things happening on that. It's like, no dead bodies. Like, that's not part of what's going on. And, um, just blood, things related to blood. It's just like, nope. That's like, it was just the layers of preventative of, like, this isn't how you're going to approach me. You're not going to use these things that the pagan nations are using. Like, you're coming to me in the way that I'm prescribing.
>> Chris: Yeah. This is what separates worship to me from worship to the other gods, which. >> Muireadhach: Was a huge thing in Leviticus. Like, well, what was the purpose for all this? It was just like, that you would be a holy people. Holy meaning set apart, right? You're gonna be different than all the other nations. So, like, here's some stuff that, like, outside of everything about, like, oh, well, you're not fully made whole. And,
like, blood goes out and everything. It's just like, this is gonna mark you as being different, right? Because guess what? This is real different. Like, and it even prevents you from, like, oh, all of those pagan, uh, nations, they're going and offering sacrifices to their God. A lot of times it was gonna be pig. You don't get to eat that. Like, it's a preventative measure even from you joining in with doing that. And then I love, this is just one last thing on, um, like the.
I think that some of what we, what I almost wish that there was something of this train of thought of keeping clean with some form of rule is because of this. And I found it when I was studying, is in keeping these day to day laws. Like, it wasn't the responsibility of the high priest. These laws that were in Leviticus were disseminated and told to the people. And it was, uh, the heads of the household, the heads of the patriarch, like, family
and everything that was like, they were keeping these things. And it was a willingness and a desire to stay clean and to keep yourself clean. But it's like, in the small things of, uh, oh, I'm not going to eat shellfish. It's every time you're coming to a meal, you're thinking about, how am I keeping myself holy before goddess. You know, anytime you're going through natural things in life, you're going, oh, I need to keep myself holy and
clean before God. And it's in these small, seemingly mundane things that like, yeah, every month for a woman, like, you're going to go through that process it has nothing to do with you being sinful, but it's always on the forefront of the mind that in everyday circumstances, how am I keeping myself clean to where, like, when you're so focused on like taking care of that, like, yeah, why am I gonna go out there and do that crazy sin?
Just how tightly it keeps your mind locked onto staying clean before God. I appreciate that. And I know that at times that's where I've wanted there to almost be like a rule book in the New Testament, because it's like, just tell me what I'm supposed to do. Give me a framework to lock into that. Like, I can know that I'm really putting it into
practice. So, but it is something that I think there's not a leviticus in the New Testament, but in finding practices to keep yourself clean and, um, to be seeking after him in those ways to put practices into your everyday life, to be pursuing, uh, I don't know, I just like that concept. >> Chris: Yeah, it's crazy how like the law was given and how quick, like the wheels fell off of that thing. >> Muireadhach: Oh, yeah.
>> Chris: How quickly they were like, here's how you keep yourself clean. And they're like, and then they did all of this stuff. And then the Old Testament is just littered with people not following through from judges to kings to, you know what we should do? >> Muireadhach: We should sacrifice a pig in the temple, right? >> Chris: Yeah, it's just like as quickly as they could, they did it. Uh, the wrap up I have for this is verse, uh, 16. I think I'm going to read a little bit
up front of that, though. It says, uh, yet the news about him spread all the more so the crowds of people came to hear Jesus and to be healed of their sickness. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. And I love this. Nt wright put it this way. Uh, he said that, uh, this would be his source of strength. And Luke mentioning this going off to pray in solitary places is where Jesus would draw his strength to do what he did, to draw the strength,
uh, to keep on mission. And uh, I didn't put it down in my notes, but I just remembered from reading the commentary that, uh, he even phrased it as like, where are you drawing your strength? Because there are people in your lives that needs to be touched with the loving kindness that Jesus touched this guy. And if you're not drawing your strength from God, you're not going to meet that need to touch someone
who's untouchable. Uh, and I thought that was like just a cool way he summed up his little section. I get it from, um, what is. >> Muireadhach: It like Luke ferver? >> Chris: Yeah, Luke for everyone, his everyone series. And because he just breaks it down with stories and everything. And I just sometimes really love the way he paints the picture of what's happening,
and that was a good one. Uh, but it just makes you think, you know, we're talking about what makes you clean, what makes you unclean, what makes you a, uh, sinner and what makes you not. And kind of tying it all into the idea of like, hey, jesus went out, you know, because a lot of people are like, well, if Jesus was around today, who would he hang out with? He would hang out with the x, y and z, uh, whatever sin category or group of people you want to
fill in there. But every time he did it was with the, the goal of making them clean, presentable, clean and sin no more. Clean and sin no more. Not just go and hang out with
them and be buddies with them. Um, and I feel like for us as christians, knowing where our source is, that putting ourselves in those places to touch someone who may not be touchable in the sense, you know, the christian realm, that if we don't have the right source, uh, then when we get there, we might become unclean ourselves, uh, it might defile us
with our thoughts and how we think. But the idea is that we go to spread the good news and the gospel to help other people come into this, to make them clean, um, and be part of it, so that they can go into God's presence, not just eternally, but here on earth where we can be in a state of like, hey, I'm in the presence of God. Like you said, those, those daily actions, what am I doing? Is this keeping me in God's presence? Can this keep me in the presence of God as far as like how I'm
acting, living and what I'm doing. Um, but yeah, that was really it. I just really liked how nt rice phrased that all up, that little small added to the story. >> Muireadhach: Yeah, there's a fun thing in looking at biblical stories. It's like a lot of times you're like, oh, align myself with a hero. >> Chris: Mhm. >> Muireadhach: Oh, well, Jesus went and did it. So if that's where Jesus is doing,
like, where are you doing it? Mhm. But also sometimes like, you should be doing that, especially when it comes to Jesus because like he's modeling for us what to do. Mhm. So he's like, can I do everything that Jesus did? Uh, evidently not. Like, uh, especially some things that only he could do, like going to the cross for us and, you know, performing the atonement. Um, achieving the atonement. Atonement coming through him. He's the only one. I
just, I don't know about the way I'm phrasing that. I just feel like someone's gonna be like, heresy. Ah. >> Chris: Um, well, if they made it this far, they've heard Enoch, so. >> Muireadhach: No, it's a new listener. Um, but I think that that's really one of those things of him drawing a way to be with the father that if Jesus, I don't know if it's more appropriate to say wanted to or had to do that. Yeah. Like, why do I think that
I can go without doing that? Because it's either if he was like, having to do that, then don't I? Mhm. Uh, or if he was just wanting to, shouldn't I? Either way that I cut that is like, I don't think that's just a. Oh, well, he was on his special mission, so he had to be with the father in order to do that. I really think that that's a modeling thing. I'm glad that you brought it back into that because he didn't say or do anything that he didn't get from the father. >> Chris: Right.
>> Muireadhach: And honestly speaking, I say and do all kinds of stuff that I know I'm not getting from the father m because I didn't even check in with him. >> Chris: Yeah. >> Muireadhach: So it's like, how am I gonna say that that's what I did if, like, really? So I'm gonna end it off on that form of confession. Yeah. >> Chris: You know, it's just the idea of, like, sometimes we're like, man, I keep struggling with this. You know, we're talking about what makes you
clean, sinful sinning. We struggle. But like, a lot of times the quickest answer is like, well, how's your prayer life? Because if you're not getting strength from the source and you're just trying to combat this on your own, you're gonna struggle. It is a struggle to combat sin all on your own. Uh, if it wasn't a struggle or if it was something we could do, we wouldn't need a savior. >> Muireadhach: Which is like, imagine there was an example of someone that could be so bold.
>> Chris: Mhm. >> Muireadhach: To like, go, what else do I have to lose? Maybe I can go to this Jesus and say, if you're willing, if you're willing, would you do this? >> Chris: Mhm. >> Muireadhach: It would be crazy if there's like an example of that, that with us in our struggles. If we could go to this same Jesus and go, if you're willing, make me clean and imagine we had an example of seeing Jesus heart. >> Chris: Yeah. >> Muireadhach: That he is willing.
>> Chris: Mhm. >> Muireadhach: So much of the time. >> Chris: All the time. Yeah. Uh, where are we headed next? >> Muireadhach: You tell me. >> Chris: What does it mean to walk in forgiveness? >> Muireadhach: Yeah, I had to ask you because I don't know. >> Chris: Yeah, yeah, that's a big one. I think it's going to be fun.
You know, again, we're pulling out these little things from these discovering uh, a savior journey through uh, you know, all the passages we're looking at, but there's these big concepts sometimes in them that are, you know, don't get really touched. And walking in forgiveness is a huge one. I think a lot of times we as christians we can somewhat forgive. But like in myself, how do I myself walk in the forgiveness God gave me? Uh, that's a little different. That sometimes is harder,
but we'll touch on that next time. So I'm Chris, I'm um, Muireadhach We are your church friends. Thanks for listening.