More Laws

Deuteronomy 22-23

            I don’t know about you, but I’ve had about enough of laws!

            What can we say that we haven’t said? There’s concern here for Israel being a holy society, one uniquely dedicated to the Lord. Therefore, some things that we would consider ‘normal’ can make you unclean and exclude you at least temporarily from the assembly. There is a concern for wholeness. Therefore, anything that suggests that something is less than whole is excluded. There is a concern for justice. Therefore, there are regulations that are meant to protect the innocent or the falsely accused.

            The lesson from all of this is that the Church is also supposed to be holy, distinctive, and uniquely dedicated to the Lord. Therefore, the New Testament is filled with exhortations to sexual purity, to well-regulated mouths, to generosity, and to the right use of power.

            Ultimately, these laws draw us to Jesus, who alone does all things well. He is faithful and obedient to His Father, even to death. Ironically, His death—undeserved though it is—makes Him unclean; His cry of dereliction, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” demonstrates how completely cut off He was, not just from the assembly, but from God Himself. His resurrection demonstrates His restoration, His vindication; His resurrection is, at least in part, a demonstration that His was, indeed, innocent of all charges.