Leviticus 13:38-44: a reflection

38“When a man or a woman has bright spots in the skin of the body, even white bright spots, 39then the priest shall examine them. Behold, if the bright spots on the skin of their body are a dull white, it is a harmless rash. It has broken out in the skin. He is clean. 40“If a man’s hair has fallen from his head, he is bald. He is clean. 41If his hair has fallen off from the front part of his head, his forehead is bald. He is clean. 42But if a reddish-white plague is in the bald head or the bald forehead, it is leprosy breaking out in his bald head or his bald forehead. 43Then the priest shall examine him. Behold, if the swelling of the plague is reddish-white in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprosy in the skin of the body, 44he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean. His plague is on his head.

In the laws about skin conditions, the priest is charged to examine carefully and to distinguish between what is harmless and what is serious: a dull white spot is a harmless rash, and the person is clean; but certain other signs indicate a real disease. If the bright spots are a dull white, the law says, it is a harmless rash; he is clean. The priest was not to treat every mark as serious, nor to dismiss every mark as harmless, but to examine carefully and discern the difference between the harmless and the truly serious. This careful discernment, distinguishing what is harmless from what is genuinely harmful, is instructive. Careful examination distinguished the harmless from the serious. Not every mark was serious; discernment was needed. The priest examined carefully to tell harmless from harmful. Discernment distinguished the truly serious from the harmless.

Notice the careful discernment the law required. The priest was to examine the condition closely and distinguish: some marks were merely a harmless rash, and the person was clean; other signs indicated a real and serious disease. Neither reaction was to be automatic: not every mark was to be feared as serious, nor was every mark to be dismissed as harmless. Careful examination was needed to tell the difference. This models a kind of discernment useful in our own lives. Not everything that troubles us or looks alarming is truly serious; and not everything is harmless either. In examining ourselves, our habits, our hearts, our situations, we do well to discern carefully between what is genuinely harmful and needs to be dealt with, and what is harmless and need not alarm us. Neither anxious over-alarm at every mark, nor careless dismissal of real dangers, but careful discernment. Wisdom lies in telling the truly serious from the harmless, and treating each rightly. Careful discernment distinguishes the harmful from the harmless. Neither over-alarm nor careless dismissal, but honest examination. Discern carefully between what is serious and what is harmless. Wisdom tells the genuinely harmful from the harmless.

That is worth taking to heart, for careful discernment, distinguishing the genuinely harmful from the harmless, is a wisdom worth having, as the priest examined carefully to tell a harmless rash from a real disease. We can react automatically, either alarmed at everything that looks troubling or dismissing everything as harmless; but the law required careful examination to distinguish the truly serious from the harmless. Wisdom lies in that discernment. In examining your own heart and life, discern carefully between what is genuinely harmful and needs dealing with, and what is harmless and need not alarm you. Practice careful discernment, distinguishing the genuinely harmful from the harmless rather than reacting automatically, as the priest was to examine skin conditions closely and tell a harmless rash, which left the person clean, from the signs of a real and serious disease; for we can react automatically, either anxiously alarmed at everything that looks troubling or carelessly dismissing everything as harmless, but neither over-alarm nor careless dismissal is wise, and honest examination is needed to distinguish what is genuinely harmful and must be dealt with from what is harmless and need not alarm us, so that in examining our own hearts, habits, and situations we do well to discern carefully between the truly serious and the harmless, treating each rightly, as the priest discerned between the harmless rash and the real disease.

Lord, in the laws about skin conditions, the priest is charged to examine carefully and to distinguish between what is harmless and what is serious: a dull white spot is a harmless rash, and the person is clean; but certain other signs indicate a real disease. If the bright spots are a dull white, the law says, it is a harmless rash; he is clean. The priest was not to treat every mark as serious, nor to dismiss every mark as harmless, but to examine carefully and discern the difference. This careful discernment, distinguishing what is harmless from what is genuinely harmful, is instructive. Show me the careful discernment the law required. The priest was to examine the condition closely and distinguish: some marks were merely a harmless rash; other signs indicated a real and serious disease. Neither reaction was to be automatic. Careful examination was needed to tell the difference. This models a kind of discernment useful in my own life. Not everything that troubles me or looks alarming is truly serious; and not everything is harmless either. In examining myself, my habits, my heart, my situations, I do well to discern carefully between what is genuinely harmful and needs to be dealt with, and what is harmless and need not alarm me. Neither anxious over-alarm at every mark, nor careless dismissal of real dangers, but careful discernment. Take that to my heart, for careful discernment, distinguishing the genuinely harmful from the harmless, is a wisdom worth having. Keep me from reacting automatically, either alarmed at everything that looks troubling or dismissing everything as harmless; help me practice careful discernment, Lord, in examining my own heart and life, distinguishing what is genuinely harmful and needs dealing with from what is harmless and need not alarm me, and treating each rightly.