The Hyssop and the Sacrifice

The Hyssop and the Sacrifice

Read The Daily:
The Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7

David, after all he’d done, didn’t just ask for things to be forgotten. He asked for a deep clean. He mentioned ‘hyssop,’ which was this little branch used in ancient rituals. They’d dip it in blood – the sacrifice – and then sprinkle it. It was messy, it was intense, but it was the prescribed way to get forgiveness.

And honestly, when I hear that, part of me thinks, ‘That’s kind of gross, but okay.’ But then it hits you – that ritual wasn’t about perfection. It was about acknowledging the mess and needing something more, something outside of yourself, to make things right. You can’t just white-out your past.

I wish I could have that one moment back.

We tell ourselves we just need a do-over, a mulligan. But maybe what we really need isn’t a rewind, but a transformation that starts from the inside out.

You weren’t built for perfection… you were built for redemption.

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Read The New Testament In A Year

So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it–and live a blessed life. “I’m not including all of you in this. I know precisely whom I’ve selected, so as not to interfere with the fulfillment of this Scripture: The one who ate bread at my table Turned on his heel against me. “I’m telling you all this ahead of time so that when it happens you will believe that I am who I say I am. Make sure you get this right: Receiving someone I send is the same as receiving me, just as receiving me is the same as receiving the One who sent me.” After he said these things, Jesus became visibly upset, and then he told them why. “One of you is going to betray me.” The disciples looked around at one another, wondering who on earth he was talking about. One of the disciples, the one Jesus loved dearly, was reclining against him, his head on his shoulder. Peter motioned to him to ask who Jesus might be talking about. So, being the closest, he said, “Master, who?” Jesus said, “The one to whom I give this crust of bread after I’ve dipped it.” Then he dipped the crust and gave it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. John 13:14-26

You’ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s master stroke, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did–Jesus crucified. I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate–I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it– and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God’s Spirit and God’s power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God’s power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else. We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it’s not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don’t find it lying around on the surface. It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest–what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene. The experts of our day haven’t a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn’t have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross. 1 Corinthians 2:1-8

The Hyssop and the Sacrifice

Prayer for the Day

Read The New Testament In A Year