141 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 2 This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: he shall be brought unto the priest, 3 and the priest shall go out of the camp; and when the priest looketh, and behold, the sore of leprosy is healed in the leper, 4 then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two clean living birds, and cedar-wood, and scarlet, and hyssop. 5 And the priest shall command that one bird be killed in an earthen vessel over running water: 6 as to the living bird—he shall take it, and the cedar-wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water; 7 and he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field. 8 And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his garments, and shave all his hair, and bathe in water, and he shall be clean; and afterwards shall he come into the camp, and shall abide outside his tent seven days. 9 And it shall come to pass on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair, his head, and his beard, and his eyebrows, even all his hair shall he shave, and he shall wash his garments, and shall bathe his flesh in water, and he is clean.
10 And on the eighth day he shall take two he-lambs without blemish, and one yearling ewe-lamb without blemish, and three tenth parts of fine flour mingled with oil, for an oblation, and one log of oil. 11 And the priest that cleanseth [him] shall present the man that is to be cleansed and those things before Jehovah, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 12 And the priest shall take one he-lamb, and present it for a trespass-offering, and the log of oil, and wave them as a wave-offering before Jehovah. 13 And he shall slaughter the he-lamb at the place where the sin-offering and the burnt-offering are slaughtered, in a holy place; for as the sin-offering, so the trespass-offering is the priest's: it is most holy. 14 And the priest shall take of the blood of the trespass-offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot. 15 And the priest shall take of the log of oil, and pour it into his, the priest's, left hand; 16 and the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before Jehovah. 17 And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put on the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass-offering. 18 And the remainder of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make atonement for him before Jehovah. 19 And the priest shall offer the sin-offering, and make atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterwards shall he slaughter the burnt-offering. 20 And the priest shall offer the burnt-offering and the oblation upon the altar; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
21 But if he be poor, and his hand be not able to get it, then he shall take one lamb for a trespass-offering, for a wave-offering, to make atonement for him; and one tenth part of fine flour mingled with oil for an oblation; and a log of oil, 22 and two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, as his hand may be able to get: the one shall be a sin-offering, and the other a burnt-offering. 23 And he shall bring them on the eighth day of his cleansing unto the priest, unto the entrance of the tent of meeting, before Jehovah. 24 And the priest shall take the he-lamb of the trespass-offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them as a wave-offering before Jehovah. 25 And he shall slaughter the he-lamb of the trespass-offering; and the priest shall take of the blood of the trespass-offering, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot. 26 And the priest shall pour of the oil into [his], the priest's, left hand, 27 and the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before Jehovah. 28 And the priest shall put of the oil that is in his hand upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot, upon the place of the blood of the trespass-offering. 29 And the remainder of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before Jehovah. 30 And he shall offer one of the turtle-doves, or of the young pigeons, of what his hand was able to get; 31 of what his hand was able to get shall the one be a sin-offering, and the other a burnt-offering, with the oblation; and the priest shall make atonement for him that is to be cleansed before Jehovah. 32 This is the law for him in whom is the sore of leprosy, whose hand cannot get what is [regularly prescribed] in his cleansing.
33 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 34 When ye come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put a leprous plague in a house of the land of your possession, 35 then he whose house it is shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me like a plague in the house; 36 and the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean; and afterwards the priest shall go in to see the house. 37 And when he looketh on the plague, and behold, the plague is in the walls of the house, greenish or reddish hollows, and their look is deeper than the surface of the wall, 38 then the priest shall go out of the house to the entrance of the house, and shut up the house seven days. 39 And the priest shall come again the seventh day, and when he looketh, and behold, the plague hath spread in the walls of the house, 40 then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is, and they shall cast them out of the city, in an unclean place. 41 And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the mortar that they have scraped off, out of the city in an unclean place. 42 And they shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and they shall take other mortar, and shall plaster the house. 43 And if the plague come again, and break out in the house, after he hath taken away the stones, and after he hath scraped the house, and after it is plastered, 44 then the priest shall come, and when he looketh, and behold, the plague hath spread in the house, it is a corroding leprosy in the house: it is unclean. 45 And they shall break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the mortar of the house, and shall carry them forth out of the city to an unclean place. 46 And he that goeth into the house as long as it is shut up shall be unclean until the even. 47 And he that sleepeth in the house shall wash his garments, and he that eateth in the house shall wash his garments. 48 But if the priest shall come in and look, and behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house hath been plastered, the priest shall pronounce the house clean; for the plague is healed. 49 And he shall take, to purge the house from the defilement, two birds, and cedar-wood, and scarlet, and hyssop; 50 and he shall kill one bird in an earthen vessel over running water; 51 and he shall take the cedar-wood and the hyssop and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times; 52 and he shall purge the house from the defilement with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar-wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet; 53 and he shall let the living bird loose out of the city into the open field; and he shall make atonement for the house, and it is clean.
54 This is the law for every sore of leprosy, and for the scall, 55 and for the leprosy of garments, and of houses, 56 and for the rising, and for the scab, and for the bright spot, 57 to teach when there is uncleanness, and when it is purified: this is the law of leprosy.
51 And behold, one of those with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and smiting the bondman of the high priest took off his ear. 52 Then saith Jesus to him, Return thy sword to its place; for all who take the sword shall perish by the sword. 53 Or thinkest thou that I cannot now call upon my Father, and he will furnish me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 How then should the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be? 55 In that hour Jesus said to the crowds, Are ye come out as against a robber with swords and sticks to take me? I sat daily [with you] teaching in the temple, and ye did not seize me. 56 But all this is come to pass that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled. Then all the disciples left him and fled.
57 Now they that had seized Jesus led [him] away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58 And Peter followed him at a distance, even to the palace of the high priest, and entering in sat with the officers to see the end. 59 And the chief priests and the elders and the whole sanhedrim sought false witness against Jesus, so that they might put him to death. 60 And they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. But at the last two false witnesses came forward 61 and said, He said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and in three days build it. 62 And the high priest standing up said to him, Answerest thou nothing? What do these witness against thee? 63 But Jesus was silent. And the high priest answering said to him, I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us if thou art the Christ the Son of God. 64 Jesus says to him, Thou hast said. Moreover, I say to you, From henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. 65 Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He has blasphemed: what need have we any more of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard the blasphemy. 66 What think ye? And they answering said, He is liable to the penalty of death. 67 Then they spit in his face, and buffeted him, and some struck him with the palms of their hand, 68 saying, Prophesy to us, Christ, Who is it who struck thee?
69 But Peter sat without in the palace-court; and a maid came to him, saying, And thou wast with Jesus the Galilaean. 70 But he denied before all, saying, I do not know what thou sayest. 71 And when he had gone out into the entrance, another [maid] saw him, and says to those there, This [man] also was with Jesus the Nazaraean. 72 And again he denied with an oath: I do not know the man. 73 And after a little, those who stood [there], coming to [him], said to Peter, Truly thou too art of them, for also thy speech makes thee manifest. 74 Then he began to curse and to swear, I know not the man. And immediately [the] cock crew. 75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, who had said [to him], Before [the] cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went forth without, and wept bitterly.
(Read Matthew 26:47-56)
No enemies are so much to be abhorred as those professed disciples that betray Christ with a kiss. God has no need of our services, much less of our sins, to bring about his purposes. Though Christ was crucified through weakness, it was voluntary weakness; he submitted to death. If he had not been willing to suffer, they could not conquer him. It was a great sin for those who had left all to follow Jesus; now to leave him for they knew not what. What folly, for fear of death to flee from Him, whom they knew and acknowledged to be the Fountain of life!
(Read Matthew 26:57-68)
Jesus was hurried into Jerusalem. It looks ill, and bodes worse, when those who are willing to be Christ's disciples, are not willing to be known to be so. Here began Peter's denying him: for to follow Christ afar off, is to begin to go back from him. It is more our concern to prepare for the end, whatever it may be, than curiously to ask what the end will be. The event is God's, but the duty is ours. Now the Scriptures were fulfilled, which said, False witnesses are risen up against me. Christ was accused, that we might not be condemned; and if at any time we suffer thus, let us remember we cannot expect to fare better than our Master. When Christ was made sin for us, he was silent, and left it to his blood to speak. Hitherto Jesus had seldom professed expressly to be the Christ, the Son of God; the tenor of his doctrine spoke it, and his miracles proved it; but now he would not omit to make an open confession of it. It would have looked like declining his sufferings. He thus confessed, as an example and encouragement to his followers, to confess him before men, whatever hazard they ran. Disdain, cruel mocking, and abhorrence, are the sure portion of the disciple as they were of the Master, from such as would buffet and deride the Lord of glory. These things were exactly foretold in the fiftieth chapter of Isaiah. Let us confess Christ's name, and bear the reproach, and he will confess us before his Father's throne.
(Read Matthew 26:69-75)
Peter's sin is truly related, for the Scriptures deal faithfully. Bad company leads to sin: those who needlessly thrust themselves into it, may expect to be tempted and insnared, as Peter. They scarcely can come out of such company without guilt or grief, or both. It is a great fault to be shy of Christ; and to dissemble our knowledge of him, when we are called to own him, is, in effect, to deny him. Peter's sin was aggravated; but he fell into the sin by surprise, not as Judas, with design. But conscience should be to us as the crowing of the cock, to put us in mind of the sins we had forgotten. Peter was thus left to fall, to abate his self-confidence, and render him more modest, humble, compassionate, and useful to others. The event has taught believers many things ever since, and if infidels, Pharisees, and hypocrites stumble at it or abuse it, it is at their peril. Little do we know how we should act in very difficult situations, if we were left to ourselves. Let him, therefore, that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall; let us all distrust our own hearts, and rely wholly on the Lord. Peter wept bitterly. Sorrow for sin must not be slight, but great and deep. Peter, who wept so bitterly for denying Christ, never denied him again, but confessed him often in the face of danger. True repentance for any sin will be shown by the contrary grace and duty; that is a sign of our sorrowing not only bitterly, but sincerely.
