What God is willing

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While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him. - Luke 5:12-13


I was just wondering about this passage yesterday. God is willing to make us clean, but how is it that He sets down rules in the OT that seems to discriminate the unclean?

This is an example of the requirements for sin offerings in the OT:

The LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron and his sons: 'These are the regulations for the sin offering: The sin offering is to be slaughtered before the LORD in the place the burnt offering is slaughtered; it is most holy. The priest who offers it shall eat it; it is to be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting. Whatever touches any of the flesh will become holy, and if any of the blood is spattered on a garment, you must wash it in a holy place. The clay pot the meat is cooked in must be broken; but if it is cooked in a bronze pot, the pot is to be scoured and rinsed with water. Any male in a priest's family may eat it; t is most holy. But any sin offering whose blood is brought into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place must not be eaten; it must be burned. - Lev 6:24-30


This is an example of how the uncleans will be treated:

As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp - Lev 13:46


But yet, God provided the Israelites the means to cleanse themselves from uncleanliness. What does this mean? A lot of time, when we read the OT and the NT, we think that God is different in the OT and the NT. The law given from Exodus all the way to Leviticus seems to be so legalistic and ritualistic compared to the NT times. How do we reconcile that? I think, first step is to know that God is willing to make us clean. And from there, I realise that that's why He left Moses and gang the regulation to cleanse the unclean. You see, God could jolly well not give any guidelines to cleanse us from sins or uncleanliness. But Jesus said, He is willing. He is indeed willing to make us clean. The small fact from the law says it all. He provided a way out for the people. This cannot be further away from the truth. And it makes sense for a God who is wanting to have a personal relationship with the sinners and yet is holy such that sinners have no chance of getting close Him except that they are cleansed. It all makes sense.

What God is really willing, is to make us clean again. Therefore, Jesus, and therefore the cross.

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