Parashat Tazria / Metzora

This weeks Torah Portion is Leviticus 12:1 – 15:33

Part of being called as a royal priesthood is to clothe ourselves and minister to others with deeds of righteousness. The priests serving in the temple had specific instructions on what to wear and how to conduct themselves. Likewise we today have the Word of God to teach us on how to live our lives to bring forth life for ourselves, and the lives of those around us.

Our calling as a Royal Priesthood is to bring restoration. We are not only responsible for our own lives but also for those around us, to apply the Father’s restoring forgiveness in our lives and those of others. When we identify sin in someone’s life we are called not to judge but rather to guide them to the path of forgiveness and deliverance. Life and death is in the power of the tongue and we choose whether we bring forth life or death.

This weeks Apostolic Writings is John 6:8-13; Matthew 8:1-17

The priests (and we are priests!) have to discern between clean and unclean and in Torah we see that they also decided if a person was sick and what the person needed to do to get better again. Yeshua, who is our Highpriest, showed us that we also need to discern, but instead of excluding the sick and only allowing them back in after they have been healed, He expects of us to speak life, to comfort and to include those who are not well.

A Metzorah is a person with a physical ailment and such a person needed to be kept aside, away from the other people in the camp. This week we see that Yeshua exercises His authority to diagnose, but not to shun, and to speak healing. The person with leprosy doesn’t have to wait and see what will happen; he has immediate results! He is restored! And when he goes to show himself to the priest after meeting Yeshua, it is not with fear or questions of ‘When will I be clean? When will I be able to return to the community?’, but with a testimony.