Day 58: Food as Holy Offering and Receiving Holy Food

Leviticus 8, 9, 10 and Mark 6:30-56

Leviticus today talks about the ordination of Aaron and his sons while relying heavily on the topic of food. Where and when to eat holy offerings specifically. Mark talks to us about holy food in a completely different manner.

Leviticus 8

This section begins the actual carrying out of the statements God has made to Moses concerning the ordination of Aaron’s sons. I find it particularly interesting that the prophet, Moses, is so obviously held in higher authority than even the head priest, Aaron. The fact that this is noted in a priestly document is surprising food for thought. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that the leadership/priests of Jesus’ day were not so keen on him. They did not want to be under a prophet’s authority.

Of note in the account of offerings is that the most holy offerings, such as ordination, could only be eaten by a priest within the sacred sanctuary court. The priestly portions however of other sacrifices could be taken home and eaten by the family in any clean place.

By the way, did you catch our favorite number 7 once more? Seven days for ordination rites to be complete.

Leviticus 9

Now that Aaron is ordained he steps up and begins actually leading the sacrifices that Moses has done previously. The fire from the Lord that burns the offering is a sign that the Lord will be with the people in a very visible way, through fire and cloud.

Leviticus 10

Aaron’s sons offered unholy fire before the altar of the Lord. This caused the Lord to send out fire to kill them in front of the altar. I cannot begin to imagine this. And we talk about worship wars now.

Aaron is silent, he does not complain after two of his sons are killed. Unlike the people of Israel on the whole, Aaron is willing to accept good and judgement at the hands of God, apparently. Or he was afraid that the fire would consume him as well.

God speaks to Aaron directly here and talks with him about the importance of being sober when in the presence of the Lord and the tabernacle. This is still genuinely good advice for anyone leading a worship service.

Mark 6:30-56

Jesus is with his disciples and acknowledges that they need some time away after their going out into the world to perform healings and other signs and wonders. I can identify with the need for rest, for a break, for time in an isolated place.

The crowds however, find them, as they usually do. Jesus has compassion on them and teaches for a long time. It is getting to be dinner time and the disciples tell Jesus to send the people away to get food. Jesus says “You give them food.”

Initially this is a shocking statement to me. How does Jesus expect them to feed a crowd that large without a caterer or at the very least food trucks? But then I remember that these men had been out in the world performing miracles already. If you could heal leprosy, why would you not be able to figure out bread?

Jesus is exasperated by their lack of faith, and asks them to count the food present. Five Loaves and 2 Fish are brought forward. Jesus has them sit down in groups of 50 and 100, then he blesses the food and has the disciples begin handing it out.

I’ve often called this the first potluck meal. I do not for a second believe that no one in that crowd had any supplies or food stuffs. I think that in a society of scarcity there would have been very few who were willing to offer up those resources. But when they are set down in smaller groups, groups where you are faced with the reality of the hungry faces of your neighbor, I believe you are more likely to share even what little you have.

I do not believe that how the miracle occurred, because getting food insecure individuals to share is miraculous, in anyway diminishes the miracle or Jesus’ capability to perform such signs and wonders. He could have turned the dirt in front of them to an all you can eat fish and bread buffet. The point to me is that even a small amount of faith goes a very long way.

Day 56: Sacrificial Rules and the Unclean Women

Leviticus 3, 4, 5, and Mark 5:21-43

These passages tell us about rules for sacrifice and healing of a girl and a woman. The rules presented here help to highlight the rule breaking people accused Jesus of committing.

Leviticus 3

This section begins the rules for sacrifice and offerings. Chapter three talks about sacrifices made by or for an individual. Well-being offerings, which are spoken of in Chapter 17 also, are for all meat that is eaten. This prevents the idea of mass slaughter by reminding everyone that all life has meaning. This sacrifice could be male or female.

Leviticus 4

This section of rules contains that lovely number of completion, the number 7. These are specific rules for the priests to follow as they begin sacrificing in the tent of meeting. There is to be an ash heap outside of the tent that is only to contain the remainder of the now sacred sacrifice. I also found it interesting that the sin offerings were different depending on your place in the nation of Israel.

An ordained priest must sacrifice a bull for their sin offering (an offering for sin that you did not know at the time was sin, but later were convicted of its sinfulness) If the religious leaders led the whole assembly of Israelites to sin one bull was to be sacrificed. The elders laid hands on it as a way of representing the whole of Israel. If a ruler sins they could sacrifice a male goat. If a regular everyday person sins and later learns and repents, they could sacrifice a female goat.

Leviticus 5

When you became aware of sin you have guilt and must bring an offering. This awareness is important to the nature of the offering. The writers also allowed a sliding scale for those in different economic ranges.

There is also the idea that the sacrifice or the equivalent must be given. This refers to when a sacred object has been made unclean or damaged. The person must give the amount to replace the item and give a sacrifice or extra silver that would equal the cost of a sacrifice and the priests would do a sacrifice for them.

Mark 5: 21-43

This portion of Mark contains the story of Jarius’ daughter and the hemorrhaging woman. Mark loves to tell stories by splitting one in half and inserting another story. These stories are called intercalations. I had a New Testament professor who called them sandwich stories. These two events relate to and help interpret one another.

There are many similarities in these accounts. We do not know either females names. These unnamed women both have illnesses. The woman has been hemorrhaging for 12 years while the girl is 12 years old. The woman touches Jesus’ clothing to be healed. Jesus touches the girl and heals her. The woman has been “unclean” for 12 years, exiled from community because of her illness. The girl is thought to be dead and will now be put out from the community. Her death would make her unclean.

What do you think Jesus might be saying about the designations of clean and unclean?