The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed and make atonement for them before the LORD. – Leviticus 14:18

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 29, 2015): Leviticus 14

As I write this, Las Vegas seems to be betting on a Green Bay Packers vs. Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl in early February 2016 – with the Packers taking the hardware home with them. Of course, with recent reports that Packers Wide Receiver Jordy Nelson might be gone for the season with a torn ACL, all of that might change. But for right now, Super Bowl odds are a moving target. The problem is that American (and Canadian) Football might be one of the hardest sports to handicap. There are just too many variables. You might have Tom Brady for a quarterback, but someone has to catch the balls that he throws (no matter how much air might be in them.) Or someone has to be able to run the balls to keep the defense honest. The offensive line has to give the quarterback time and running backs holes to run through. And then of course there is the defense. To win, all of this is needed – it is essential and it is all interconnected. One star simply won’t do it – and to be honest, with the right coaching plan, a star sometimes isn’t even needed. But all of the puzzle pieces just simply have to fit. The plan has to be a holistic one. Weaknesses in one area will inevitably have an effect on all other areas. And in that way I think that North American Football mirrors life itself.

The Mosaic Law seemed to understand this picture of life – that every area of life was interconnected. If a person was to be considered healed of leprosy, that declaration had to be reflected in all areas of the person’s life. First, the declaration itself was one that impacted the physical health of the person – they were declared to be healthy and clean. Second, the declaration impacted the social life of the person. A person who was declared to be clean was restored to the community and they were able to rejoin the family unit and the social structure that they had built before they became sick. But even though they had been declared to be healthy and restored to the society, they still had to be restored spiritually. And so they were anointed by the priest with oil.    

The reality was that because leprosy didn’t have a cure, these anointing’s were probably very rare. But when they happened they would have been very special events – remembered by all the participants and even the community at large. And it was then that the people realized that God still walked among his people.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 15