The Priest's Eye for Eczema Text: Leviticus 13:38-39
Introduction: The Divine Diagnosis
We live in an age that prides itself on its medical advancements, and yet it is an age that is profoundly sick. We have therapies and treatments for every conceivable malady of the body, but we are spiritually leprous, covered from head to toe in the defiling disease of sin. And our modern solution is to simply rename the disease. We call our pride "self-esteem," our greed "ambition," our rebellion "authenticity." We are like a man with a festering sore who puts a colorful bandage on it and declares himself healed. But the Word of God does not traffic in such delusions. The book of Leviticus, and this chapter in particular, forces us to confront the reality of defilement. It teaches us that God cares immensely about the difference between clean and unclean, and that this distinction is not arbitrary but is woven into the fabric of creation.
To the modern ear, these detailed laws about skin diseases sound strange, perhaps even primitive or unhygienic. But to think this way is to miss the point entirely. God is not giving a medical textbook; He is giving a theological picture book. The skin, the outer covering of a person, represents the whole person in their public manifestation. A disease on the skin was a visible, outward sign of a deeper problem, the problem of corruption and death that entered the world through sin. Leprosy, in its various forms, was the great picture of sin's contagious, defiling, and isolating nature. It rendered a man unclean, cutting him off from the covenant community and the presence of God in the tabernacle.
Therefore, the role of the priest was not primarily that of a dermatologist. He was a guardian of the holiness of God's presence. His task was to look, to examine, and to render a divine verdict based on the standards God had revealed. He was to distinguish, to separate, to declare. This is a critical function in any healthy society. When a culture loses the ability to make sharp distinctions, when it blurs the line between sickness and health, between righteousness and unrighteousness, it is a culture on the verge of collapse. It is a culture that has lost its priests. In our text today, we see a small, almost mundane example of this process. It is a test case, a pop quiz for the priest. Not every spot is leprosy. Not every blemish is a sign of excommunication. And learning to tell the difference is a mark of true wisdom.
The Text
"When a man or a woman has bright spots on the skin of the body, even white bright spots, then the priest shall look, and if the bright spots on the skin of their bodies are a faded white, it is eczema that has broken out on the skin; he is clean."
(Leviticus 13:38-39 LSB)
A Case for Examination (v. 38)
The law begins by presenting a specific case for the priest to adjudicate.
"When a man or a woman has bright spots on the skin of the body, even white bright spots," (Leviticus 13:38)
Notice the universal scope: "a man or a woman." The law of cleanness applies to everyone in the covenant community. Sin and defilement are equal opportunity afflictions. There are no special exemptions for the rich or the powerful, for men over women, or for Israelites over sojourners. The standard of holiness is the same for all because the God who dwells in their midst is the same.
The issue presented is "bright spots on the skin." The skin is the boundary of the self, what is presented to the world. And a spot, a blemish, represents a disruption to that person's integrity. It is an outward sign that something might be wrong. In a world saturated with the reality of sin and the curse, any such irregularity had to be taken seriously. It could be the first sign of the dreaded leprosy, which would mean utter separation from the life of the covenant people. The community of God was to be a holy community, and this required constant vigilance. They were not to be casual about corruption.
This is a principle we have largely forgotten. We are far too casual about the "bright spots" in our own lives and in the life of the church. We see the beginnings of bitterness, the faint discoloration of envy, the shiny patch of pride, and we ignore it. We tell ourselves it's nothing, just a minor blemish. But the law teaches us to bring every spot, every potential defilement, into the light for examination before the proper authorities whom God has appointed.
The Priestly Verdict (v. 39)
The priest's role is not to heal, but to diagnose and declare based on God's revealed word.
"then the priest shall look, and if the bright spots on the skin of their bodies are a faded white, it is eczema that has broken out on the skin; he is clean." (Leviticus 13:39)
The first action is crucial: "the priest shall look." This is not a cursory glance. Throughout this chapter, the priest is commanded to look, to examine closely, to shut the person up for seven days and look again. This is a process of careful, deliberate discernment. He is not acting on a whim or a personal feeling. He is applying a diagnostic grid given by God Himself. The criteria here are specific. Is the spot a "faded white?" The Hebrew suggests a dullness, a lack of virulence. It is not the raw, aggressive whiteness described elsewhere as a certain sign of leprosy. Based on this visual evidence, the priest makes his diagnosis: "it is eczema that has broken out on the skin." The word here refers to a harmless tetter or rash. It is a skin condition, not a defiling disease.
And on the basis of this distinction, the priest renders his authoritative verdict: "he is clean." These are glorious words. This is a declaration of absolution. The person is not defiled. They are not to be cast out. They are welcome in the assembly. They can approach the house of God. The priest, acting as God's representative, has the authority to make this declaration. His word settles the matter. This is a real authority, what the Westminster Confession calls the keys of the kingdom. The officers of the church have the power to declare, based on the Word of God, who is in and who is out.
This distinction between a harmless rash and a defiling disease is a picture of the kind of discernment the church must exercise. Not every sin is a high-handed, excommunicable offense. We must learn to distinguish between the struggles and blemishes common to all saints in this life, and the leprous, unrepentant rebellion that defiles the body of Christ. A pastor who cannot tell the difference between eczema and leprosy is a dangerous man. He will either be a tyrant, casting people out for every minor spot, or he will be a hireling, declaring everyone "clean" while the leprosy of false doctrine and flagrant sin spreads through the whole camp.
Jesus, Our High Priest
As with all the ceremonial laws, this passage finds its ultimate meaning and fulfillment in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Great High Priest, the one who does not merely diagnose, but who truly cleanses.
We are all born with a spiritual disease far worse than leprosy. We are born in sin, and the corruption goes all the way to the bone. The spots are not just on our skin; they are on our hearts, our minds, our wills. By the standards of God's holy law, every one of us is utterly unclean, deserving of being cast out of His presence forever. The law can only do what the Levitical priest did: it looks at our sin, examines our condition, and pronounces the verdict. Unclean. Unclean. It cannot heal us.
But then Jesus comes. And what does He do? He does the unthinkable. He touches the leper (Matthew 8:3). According to the law, this should have made Him unclean. But when the holy Son of God touches the unclean man, the holiness flows from Him to the leper. The disease is conquered. The uncleanness is swallowed up by His perfect cleanness. He does not just declare the leper clean; He makes him clean.
In our passage, the priest declares a man clean because he only has eczema. It is a minor issue. But on the cross, Jesus took our full-blown, terminal, excommunicating leprosy upon Himself. He became unclean for us. "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was cast "outside the camp" and suffered there, bearing our reproach (Hebrews 13:12-13).
And now, risen and ascended, He is the High Priest who looks upon all who come to Him in faith. He sees the bright spots of our remaining sin, the faded white of our daily struggles. But He does not see the fatal disease, because He has already cured it. He has washed it away in His own blood. And so He pronounces the final, authoritative, and eternal verdict over us. He looks at us, clothed not in our own righteousness but in His, and He says to the Father, "He is clean." And that declaration stands forever.