Ezekiel 16 Part Five: Cleansed II

Mark 1:40-45 tells the story of a leper who came to Jesus, and falling on his knees before him, he searched for words to ask for a miracle from this stranger who was his only hope. His words were simple and vulnerable; he didn’t even specifically ask for what he desired. Instead, he merely whispered, crumpled at Jesus’ feet: “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Verse 41 shows Jesus’ response to this leper: “Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’ Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.”

Ezekiel 16:9 talks about God bathing His own Bride with water, and how He washed away the blood that covered her and anointed her with oil. Just as a bride prepares for her wedding, whether it’s just a body scrub at a spa, or a full year of beauty treatments like Esther (Esther 2:12), Israel also was purified before they received the covenant laws at Sinai. Exodus 19:14, records that “Moses sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.” So too believers are washed, sanctified, and justified by the name of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:11).