LENTEN READINGS AND REFLECTIONS

DAY 36

Reading: Paul's Letter to Titus to Hebrews 7:1-13:25

There are over 600 laws in the Old Testament. Some of them are moral laws, like the Ten Commandments, that tell us how to behave toward God and toward each other. But there are also “civil laws” which God gave to his people to govern themselves in the Promised Land and ceremonial laws which regulated the types of food you could eat, clothes you could wear, and items you could touch in order to remain ceremonially pure. Ceremonial purity was a prerequisite for approaching the presence of the Lord in the tabernacle.

Now, it might strike us as odd that the God who made all things would consider anything unclean for eating or handling or in any way impure. But that is because we often forget that this world is a world in rebellion against God. Everything God created is good. But sin has marred or twisted the good things that God made.

One reason God gave the Israelites the ceremonial laws was to drive this point home, to teach them that when humanity chose to reject the Lord, the Lord respected our decision and let us go. And the world was plunged into darkness and impurity.

But the book of Hebrews teaches us that God had mercy. Out of love for us, he acted to cleanse and purify and redeem the world.

The rams, goats, and lambs of the Temple sacrifices given in the ceremonial law were provided by God as types and shadows to point us toward the real and lasting sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. By his blood God in Jesus Christ has cleansed the world.

Because of that the old covenant, with the civil and ceremonial laws and the temple sacrifices are no more. Now we have Jesus, a living Temple . We do not need to make ourselves clean in order to approach him. Rather, he cleanses us when we draw near.

He has not only restored creation by purifying what we made impure, he has cleansed our hearts. He has washed us clean from the inside out.

Of course you and I will not always feel clean. Sometimes we will roll in the mud and come up feeling quite dirty. But because Christ has cleansed us, the stain of sin, all of it, will wash off. Our sins, though they are like scarlet, will be white as wool.

But Christ cleanses not only the stain of past sins, he also cleanses hearts that are turned toward sin.

As Holy Week draws near, take time this morning to think about the ways your heart needs cleansing. Ask God to help you identify those desires and longings that lead you to impurity.

Offer them up the Lord and ask him to cleanse your heart and then commit to make the necessary changes in your relationships and habits that will better enable you to maintain a pure lifestyle.

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