Finally, the third group, those who had become defiled because of a corpse. (Numbers 5:2). In Mark 5:35-41 (also Matthew 9:23-36 and Luke 8:49-55) we read about a young girl who was dead that Jesus brought back to like. Mark 5:35-41—35 While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?" 36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe." 37 And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. 38 Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly. 39 When He came in, He said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping." 40 And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying. 41 Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise." 42 Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement.
She was dead and Jesus touched her. He touched a corpse, which should have made Him unclean, right? Think back to 1st Kings 17 when Elijah takes a dead boy in his arms and brings him back to life. 1st Kings 17:18-22—18 So she said to Elijah, "What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?" 19 And he said to her, "Give me your son." So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20 Then he cried out to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?" 21 And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, I pray, let this child's soul come back to him." 22 Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. Elijah touched a corpse, making him unclean, no? Then we have 2nd Kings 4, when Elisha revives a boy who had died. What did he do? 2nd Kings 4:32-35—32 When Elisha came into the house, there was the child, lying dead on his bed. 33 He went in therefore, shut the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the LORD. 34 And he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands; and he stretched himself out on the child, and the flesh of the child became warm. 35 He returned and walked back and forth in the house, and again went up and stretched himself out on him; then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. Here we see prophets touching a dead body and not becoming defiled. But why? The Law says that anyone touching a dead body becomes defiled. So according to the Law, these must have remained isolated until sundown. But they didn’t. And here is why:
Elijah, Elisha and Jesus were prophets. They had the Spirit of God upon them to do the work of God. They were not touching these bodies to bury them, which would have been the natural thing to do. They were bringing these bodies back to life to show the power of God and to prove themselves to be prophets. This is why when Paul raised Eutychus in Acts 20:9 he does not become unclean, first because the Law had been done away with, second because he was doing the work of God, showing signs and wonders that God was working in the Gentiles and that they too would be among the people of God.
Another person we need to consider from the Gospels is Joseph of Arimathea. Matthew 27:57-60—57 Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. 59 When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. Of all the commentaries I have read about this passage, none of them talks about How Joseph of Arimathea would have been defiled by handling a corpse. Numbers 19:11—He who touches the dead body of anyone shall be unclean seven days. He had to have known this. Mark 15:43 calls him a prominent member of the Council. The Sanhedrin. So he would have known that touching Jesus’ dead body would have caused him to be unclean for seven days.
So why would he do it? Very simple, really. Because he knew that Jesus was setting him free from the Law he had so devoutly followed all his life. It says in Luke 23:51 that he was waiting for the Kingdom of God. He knew that this was no ordinary man, that this was the Son of God, that, as Jesus said, He would rise again the third day, that it was not the Law that brought life, but faith in Jesus. And He had to be buried, as His last act of obedience, before sundown, so He would not defile the Passover.
Deuteronomy 21:23—His body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. Do we ever think about Jesus being accursed by God? But He was. The ever obedient Son of God was cursed by God. There are so many Scriptures that tell us this. So many texts in the Bible tell us that He became a curse for us. Isaiah 53:4-5, 10—4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed…Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him. Galatians 3:13—Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"). Then of course 2nd Corinthians 5:21—For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Now Joseph of Arimathaea did not have these last two verses in his Bible, having only what we call the Old Testament. Yet he took this curse down from the tree, wrapped it up and laid it in his tomb. And was therefore defiled, having touched a corpse.
Yet he was not defiled after Christ rose on the third day. In talking about one who had been defiled by a corpse, listen to what it says in Numbers 19:12—He shall purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. When did Christ rise from that tomb? The third day. So Joseph would not have had to purify himself anymore, as Christ cleansed him on that third day. By His stripes we are healed.
So the leper, the one with a discharge, the one who is defiled by a corpse is made clean by faith in Christ. But what if one is not willing to be made clean? What if there is one in the church that wants to keep sinning? Those are the ones we put outside the church. Numbers 5:3— “you shall put them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camps in the midst of which I dwell”. What do we do with one whom we find out is committing some sin? Do we just say “Oh, you’re committing this sin, we’re going to kick you out!” Do we berate them for being so weak and fleshly? God forbid! We do not simply cast them out; we plead with them and exhort them to repent of their sin, that they may repent of their sin and ask Christ for forgiveness. Matthew 18:15-17—15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.” Do we forget to do this sometimes? We hear of a brother or sister who is sinning, and instead of going to them and pleading with them to repent, we simply shun them, or berate them, or speak to them snidely. We may gossip about them, we may ignore their phone calls or texts or emails. What good does that do? For us, the person, or the church? What does it do for God’s name? What does it show the world who does not know Christ? All it does is lend credence to the old saying, that “the church is the only army that shoots its wounded”. So we could actually say more accurately, do we neglect to do this? Because it is a hard thing to do, and can be quite messy. But it is something that needs to be done to keep the church as pure as can be.
On the contrary, we must forgive the one who sins. Because, guess what? You’re no better! Ephesians 4:32—And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Let those last five words sink in, God in Christ forgave you. Forgave you of what? Of your sins. And yes, however how highly you think of yourself, it is far, far too high. Christ calls Himself the Son of Man. And what does He say in the Psalms? Psalm 22:6—But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. If the Son of Man thought Himself a worm, how dare we think we are any better? How about it, are you better than your Savior? How dare we not forgive others? What has someone done to you that is worse than what they did to our Lord? Charles Spurgeon said this when preaching on Ephesians 4:32—
…it should make our eyes fill with tears to think how we have grieved our God, and vexed his Spirit. Some of us have had so much manifest forgiveness, so much outward sin forgiven, that for us to forgive ought to be as natural as to open our hands. After such forgiveness as the Lord has bestowed on some of us, we should be wicked servants indeed if we were to take our brother by the throat and say, “Pay me what thou owest.” We should deserve to be given over to the tormentors by our angry Master if we did not count it joy to pass by a brother’s fault.
You may say “well, what if one does not repent of the sin they are in?” We’re getting there. We don’t put someone outside because of any physical abnormalities. Being a leper or having an issue of blood does not make someone unclean. Even now, a sin does not put us outside the love of Christ. Constant, habitual sin is a different story. That must be dealt with. Why? Simple. Numbers 5:3—that they may not defile their camps, in the midst of which I dwell. It’s why Paul wrote his first letter to the Church at Corinth. Because there was so much sin going on there that he had to correct it. Why did he have to correct them? God is love, right? He doesn’t care about our sins, He just wants us to be happy. Wrong. God is love, yes, but God is also a God of Justice and a God of Wrath. He does not want—first of all—ANY sin in His church, and He will not abide having constant, habitual sin running rampant through His church. He has told us what to do with such people. 1st Corinthians 5:11-13— 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner --- not even to eat with such a person. 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person." You can have friends who are not Christian. You can go over to their house for dinner. You can have them at your house. But one who is called a brother in Christ—do not eat with them. Why? To show that this person is not walking in a way that is worthy of them being called a brother in Christ. It has to do with church discipline, something that seems to be lacking in today’s churches.
And it is for that reason that many outsiders look at the church with disdain, and even mockery. Think about Christ’s example. Yes, He ate with sinners and tax collectors and harlots. That was the knock against Him from the Pharisees. However, did He say that it was okay for them to remain that way? No. He preached repentance from sin. Those sinners and tax collectors came to Him, ate with Him, and repented of their sins. But the Corinthians, they didn’t see anything wrong with having dinner with a known sinner. And they did not beg for him to repent. That was the problem. That was what Paul was addressing here. Their acceptance of sin in the church. David Guzik says this of this passage in 1st Corinthians—
In the culture of that day (and in many cultures today), eating with someone is an expression of friendship and partnership. In some cultures, if a man eats at your table, you are bound to regard him as a friend and a partner. Paul warns the Corinthian Christians they cannot continue in Christian fellowship with a notorious sinner who calls himself a Christian.
A local body of believers is where sheep go to get fed. It is not to entertain goats. Because, like they say, “what you win them with is what you win them to.” If you win them with lasers and smoke machines and man-centered preaching, you will have to keep them by using bigger and better lasers and smoke machines and man-centered preaching. But here’s the thing: if they come back because of the lasers and smoke machines or man-centered preaching—and not because of Christ and His work of forgiveness—did they really even change? Or were they just entertained? See John 6:26. There aren’t a lot of songs out there about church discipline, because it’s not a pleasant subject. But in order to keep God’s name from becoming defiled, it must happen.
Part 3 next week
