March 8: Leviticus 15 | Psalm 117-118 | 2 Corinthians 10-11

Reading 1 - Leviticus 15:2,7

"Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When any man has a bodily discharge, the discharge is unclean... Whoever touches the man who has a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening" (Lev 15:2,7).

"Not only a leper, but any man having a running issue out of his flesh, was to be regarded as unclean till he was cured -- unclean in himself and defiling to others. All contact with him in any way was forbidden. Everything he used or touched was to be considered as defiling, whether saddle, crockery ware, chair, or bed; and any one touching any of these, was to be considered unclean for the whole day, and compelled to wash, both himself and clothing. The advantage of such a law as a hygienic protection, is self-manifest, but it is the spiritual significance we are in search of. There are moral lepers and men whose mouths are a fountain of uncleanness -- men comparable only to running sores in the community. 'Avoid them' [Rom 16:17], says Paul: 'turn away' [2Ti 3:5] -- 'Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them' [Eph 5:11]. Their company -- their very touch -- is defiling. Men of God may be thrown into contact with them, as the Mosaic type contemplates: but they have a resort for cleansing which is also figured in the type: they bathe themselves in the water of the living word, and wait with a sense of contracted uncleanness till the next day, when sleep and prayer will bring a return of the purity that is native to the mind in which God dwells" (Robert Roberts, "Law of Moses" 260).

Reading 2 - Psa 118:22

"The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone" (Psa 118:22).

This "stone" is specifically interpreted as the Messiah in Mat 21:42-44: "Jesus saith unto them, 'Did ye never read the scriptures, "The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes"? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomso