Seder 83: Understanding Ritual Impurity

 The middle chapters of Leviticus, with their discussion of ritual purity and impurity, constitute one of the most obscure parts of the Bible for modern readers.  But they lie behind a number of incidents recorded in the Gospels, and understanding them can teach us more about who Jesus was and what he came to do.

In the time of Moses and in the time of Jesus, to be ritually pure meant to be allowed to participate in worship at the tabernacle or temple.  To be ritually impure meant that one was not allowed to be in contact with holy places or things, much as antimatter is not allowed to contact matter in a science fiction story.

Some things to understand about ritual impurity:

• Becoming ritual impure happened to everybody and was just a part of life.  Ritual impurity was not usually something to avoid and only became a problem if it came in contact with the holy.
• Ritual impurity usually was not a matter of sin, hygiene, or public health.
• Ritual impurity was not just a "Jewish thing."  Other cultures in the ancient Near East of Moses' time and the Mediterranean world of Jesus' time had similar restrictions on access to temples.

All of the sources of ritual impurity have some connection to death or human mortality.  So ritual impurity was a reminder of the limitations of being human and the great gulf between mortal humans and an immortal, holy God.  Appearing before God was a privilege not to be taken lightly.  (Today we approach the throne of grace boldly, but not nonchalantly.)

Dealing with a temporary ritual impurity involved two simple ingredients---water and time.  For example, if one came in contact with the carcass of a dead animal, one picked up a minor ritual impurity, which could be dealt with by washing.  After one washed, the period of ritual impurity ended that evening (Lev 11;24-28).  

One who was in the same room with a dead human body contracted a major ritual impurity.  One dealt with it in a 7-day procedure, with washings and application of the ashes of a red heifer on days 3 and 7 (Num 19).  

This is a challenging topic, as evidenced by some misconceptions and misunderstandings surrounding it.  For example, there is a widespread "urban legend" that Jewish shepherds in the time of Jesus were treated as outcasts because they were often ritually impure.  However, the minor ritual impurities that shepherds encountered were easily dealt with, and there was no need for anyone to avoid contact with them.  

A major book on ritual impurity in the Gospels has been published recently:  Jesus and the Forces of Death by Matthew Thiessen of McMaster University (Baker Academic, 2020).  Thiessen explains the concepts of ritual purity and impurity in the Bible and the ancient world and discusses how they were applied in the time of Jesus.  Thiessen shows that Jesus was a Torah observant Jew who did not ignore or oppose Jewish law on this subject.  What he did do repeatedly was to remove the sources of major ritual impurity when he encountered them.  

For example, when Jesus came in contact with corpse impurity, he brought corpses back to life (Mark 5:21-24; 35-43; Luke 7:11-17; John 11:38-44).  As the "Holy One of God" (Mark 1:24), he exerted a powerful force of holiness that erased corpse impurity.  

When Jesus died, a number of dead saints came back to life (Matt 27:51-53).  Usually when someone died, the person's body was a source of ritual impurity that spread to people nearby.  But when Jesus died, others came back to life.  A key message of the Gospels is that Jesus came to defeat death and the forces of death.