The Implications Of This Are Huge!

“You must keep all my decrees and regulations by putting them into practice; otherwise the land to which I am bringing you as your new home will vomit you out. Do not live according to the customs of the people I am driving out before you. It is because they do these shameful things that I detest them. But I have promised you, ‘You will possess their land because I will give it to you as your possession—a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from all other people. “You must therefore make a distinction between ceremonially clean and unclean animals, and between clean and unclean birds. You must not defile yourselves by eating any unclean animal or bird or creature that scurries along the ground. I have identified them as being unclean for you. You must be holy because I, the LORD, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own. [Leviticus 20.22-26] 

To understand this passage, we must fast-forward to Acts 10:

The next day as Cornelius’s messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.” “No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean.” But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven. [Acts 10.9-16]

Then, after Peter went to Cornelius' home, he told Cornelius and his family: 

“You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean. [Acts 10.28] 

The whole reason for ceremonial purity was to make a distinction between Israel and non-Israelites. Leviticus 20.26 confirms it:

You must be holy because I, the LORD, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own. [Leviticus 20.26]

As the Jewish people were slowly learning in Peter's time, Jesus' Advent, life, death, burial and resurrection changed all that. Peter's experience recorded in Acts 10 confirms it. God's inclusion of every nation in His plan for salvation is made clear in His announced removal of the ceremonial purity rules to Peter. And then, God further confirmed His plan for all the world:

Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too. For they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God. Then Peter asked, “Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days. [Acts 10.44-48]

Of all the books of the Bible, the book of Leviticus contains the most uses of the word ceremonial (73 times in the NLT). That's sixty-three percent of the word's usage in the entire Old Testament! Ceremonial cleanness or uncleanness of people and objects accounts for most (if not all) the uses of the word ceremonial in Leviticus (and the whole Bible).

Interestingly enough, the Gospel of John contains two uses of the word ceremonial. One of those is nothing short of explosive revelation surrounding Jesus' first recorded miracle!

The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.” “Dear woman, that’s not our  problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions. When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!” This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him. [John 2.1-11]

Before God ever told Peter to "break ceremony" Jesus had completely already done so! Notice the word ceremonial in the passage above. Jesus made new wine in ceremonial washing water jars. What's amazingly more is that the new wine Jesus made was in fact old wine (aged to perfection, best, and expensive)! It should not be overlooked that that first miracle recorded of the Savior of the World occurred at a wedding ceremony!

And, in even more distinct "breaking ceremony" Jesus revealed His pivotal significance to another ceremonial observance: the Sabbath:

At about that time Jesus was walking through some grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them. But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.” Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into the house of God, and he and his companions broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. And haven’t you read in the law of Moses that the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath? I tell you, there is one here who is even greater than the Temple! But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” Then Jesus went over to their synagogue, where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.) And he answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would. And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one! Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus. [Matthew 12.1-14]

There is simply not enough room to revel in the revelation of Jesus Christ here and now! Suffice it to say, in every place the word "ceremonial" is used in the Bible, we need to look for Jesus!

So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. [Colossians 2.16-17]

I realize the implications of this are huge! And so, I encourage every person reading this article to search the Scriptures for himself. You will find Jesus ...even in Leviticus!

Father, never have I been so overwhelmed with Jesus as I have today! Thank You! May I be faithful with what You have revealed to use it to do the work You have called me to do! So be it!