#26 — Parshat Tazria-Metzora
Leviticus 12:1-15:33
Overview
In the previous parsha we read that one of the tasks of the priests was to distinguish between “holy and common, clean and unclean” (Leviticus 10:10). The latter is not about hygiene but about the ritual purity that was needed to enter into the sanctuary. Israel first had to abstain from eating animals designated as unclean and avoid being contaminated by their carcasses (Leviticus 11).
In addition to this, Parshat Tazria-Metzora is full of instructions about other things that render people or objects unclean: uncleanness after childbirth; in case of leprosy (tsara’at, a visible skin disease or even a “disease” on garments articles of skin or a wall); and in case of discharge of bodily fluids (long term discharges of the reproductive organs, emission of seed, or menstruation).
For serious cases of uncleanness (e.g., after childbirth, long-term bodily discharges, and leprosy) sacrifices were needed to return to a state of cleanness again. In other cases immersing one’s body in water is sufficient.
“Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst” (Leviticus 15:31).
The laws of this part of Leviticus gave Israel instruction about special measures they had to take as a people because the L-RD dwelt in their midst. They functioned as special object lessons which continually reminded Israel of the holiness of G-d.
Leprosy and the Messiah
Decay and separation from G-d’s presence
One case of uncleanness gets special attention in Parshat Tazria-Metzora. It is the case of leprous disease or tsara’at. In Numbers 12:12, when Miryam is punished with this disease, Moses prays: “O God let her not be as one who is dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.” This describes the disease as visible decay.
Those with that skin disease had to live outside the camp. They are outcasts, removed as far as possible from the sanctuary.
The fact that someone who was healed from leprosy had to undergo a special cleansing ritual reminds us of the ordination of the priest. This demonstrates that this removal from the camp is more than normal quarantine.
The removal of leprosy out of the camp gave Israel a visible picture of the opposite of life in G-d’s holy presence. Leprosy gave Israel a vivid picture of decay while separated from G-d’s presence.
Messiah a Leper?
In the Talmud we read something very interesting in a discussion about the names of the Messiah: “And the rabbis say the white one of the house of rabbi is his name, as it is stated ‘Indeed our illnesses he did bear and our pains he endured; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted’” (Isaiah 53:4) – b. Sanhedrin 98b.
In his commentary on the Talmud Rashi says that “the white one” means “the leper” (compare e.g., Leviticus 13:3, Numbers 12:10.) This interpretation of the verse from Isaiah 53 probably also sees the Hebrew word for “stricken” (נגוע) as a reference to leprosy (compare Leviticus 13:9).
We don’t think Isaiah 53 is directly saying that the Messiah would be a leper. But we do believe that this Talmudic interpretation of Isaiah 53 comes very close to an important truth about the Messiah.
A miracle of Cleansing
So what is the connection between Messiah and leprosy? Normally, touching a leper would make one unclean, but we see one who touched lepers and they became clean.
And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said, “I will: be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him and he was made clean (Mark 1:40-42).
This one was Yeshua (Jesus), who is the prophesied Messiah. Although he was the “Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24), Yeshua did not keep a distance from the leper. Rather it looks like Yeshua is absorbing the leper’s uncleanness.
This beautifully illustrates what Yeshua the Messiah also wants to do for us. He takes us away from decay and brings us back into G-d’s presence by carrying away our uncleanness and sin.
Messiah’s Asham
The prophecy quoted in the Talmud (Isaiah 53) describes the suffering and death of the Messiah for our sins. Interestingly, it describes His sacrificial death as a guilt offering or asham.
When his soul gives itself as a guilt offering (asham) he will see seed (Isaiah 53:10). That is, many people are made righteous by him.
Asham is also exactly the name of the sacrifice of the lamb which was indispensable for the leper’s cleansing. Its blood had to be put on a healed leper. It was especially this sacrifice which cleansed and reinstated a former leper as a member of the community who could enter the sanctuary of G-d’s presence (Leviticus 14:14, 25).
A Leper for Us
Just as the lepers were removed from the camp, Yeshua was cast out of the city and hung on a cruel Roman cross. There he cried out, “My God, my God why have You forsaken me?”
We can rightly say, “He became a leper for us to make us clean.”
By letting himself be cast out and sacrificed in this way, Yeshua was giving himself as the asham which completely restores us to the presence of G-d. He indeed completely absorbed all our uncleanness. This way, through his suffering, he “indeed bore our sicknesses.”
In the same way that Jesus touched the leper, if we place our trust in him and his sacrifice, his touch will make us completely clean and righteous in G-d’s eyes. We will come home to the Jerusalem in which “no inhabitant will say, ‘I am sick’; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity” (Isaiah 33:24).
We’d love to talk more about this with you. Don’t hesitate to chat.