Clean Hands
Scott R. Bayles
Scripture: Various
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 3/29/2020
Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us online.
In the midst of this viral outbreak, the number one piece of advice I’ve heard more than anything else is: wash your hands. I’m sure you’ve heard this again and again over the last few weeks, too. The whole country is just crazy about washing their hands right now, which I guess is a good thing. But, apparently it isn’t enough to simply tell people to wash their hands. Oh, no. Public bathrooms, news sites, and social media have been bombarding us with visual aids, charts, and instructions on how to properly wash your hands. The thing I’ve found most entertaining is that experts recommend washing your hands for 20 seconds and there has been a whole host of recommended songs you can sing while washing your hands to help you keep track of time. Recommendations include everything from the ABCs and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to the chorus from Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees and (my personal favorite) REM’s It’s the End of the World as We Know It.
Of course, it doesn’t really matter what song you sing, as long as your hands get clean, right? This isn’t the first time we’ve been reminded to wash our hands, either. It seems like every flu season and every time there’s a viral threat, the media, health officials, and even the President go on national television to remind citizens everywhere to wash their hands. It such a simple, common sense thing to do, but it really does help stop the spread of germs and bacteria.
But, did you know the Bible also tells us to wash our hands? Given our nation’s current obsession with hand washing, I thought it might be entertaining and enlightening to see what Scripture says about washing our hands.
Now, you might be able to find more instances or examples, but as far as I can tell there are three different reasons that people washed their hands in Scripture: sanitation, separation, and sanctification. This morning, I’d like to take a look a variety of Bible verses about washing your hands and what they mean for us today.
Of course, one reason people washed their hands in Scripture was for sanitation purposes.
• SANITATION
There are actually several places in the Old Testament where God commanded his people to wash their hands. Most of the time, it was symbolic or ritualistic in nature. But there are a few times when God instructed his people to wash their hands for sanitary reason. One example is found buried in what is often regarded as the most boring book of the Bible—Leviticus.
There are several chapters dedicated to dealing with potentially infectious diseases, including skin diseases like leprosy and unusual bodily discharges. God gave the Israelites several specific instructions for preventing the spread of these potentially dangerous diseases, including hand washing. The Bible say, “Anyone the man with a discharge touches without rinsing his hands with water must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening” (Leviticus 15:11 NIV). Being ceremonially unclean, by the way, meant that the person wasn’t suppose to touch or have contact with anyone else and thus risk spreading the disease or infection.
In fact, the Bible even says, “As long as the serious disease lasts, they will be ceremonially unclean. They must live in isolation in their place outside the camp” (Leviticus 13:36 NLT). I don’t know about you, but I find this fascinating. Centuries, millennia even, before scientists discovered germs, bacteria and microbes, God was instructing his people to wash their hands and quarantine themselves. The Israelites were practicing social distancing long before that phrase even existed.
Additionally, when a person was healed or their infection cleared up, God instructed them, “he shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water and will become clean” (Leviticus 15:13 NASB). It’s interesting that God specified “running water.” Until the 1800s doctors washed their hands in a basin of still water, leaving invisible germs that resulted in countless deaths. We now know to our wash hands under running water. Perhaps this is another example of scientific foreknowledge in Scripture.
Of course, God never gave the Israelites charts, illustrations, or a song to sing while washing their hands, but it’s clear that God understood something about dealing with diseases that human beings still hadn’t figured out, yet.
The point is—if God was instructing the Israelites on hand washing and social distancing thousands of years before we understood the reasons behind it, then clearly God knows more than we do and he’s always looking out for us! At the time, the Israelites probably didn’t understand why God gave them these rules. Just like them, you and I won’t always know why God gives us certain commands and instruction. But the best thing we can do in any situation is follow the instructions God has given us in the Bible because he knows more than we do, and he’s looking out for us.
So, one reason people washed their hands in Scripture was sanitation. Another reason they washed their hands was separation.
• SEPARATION
In ancient times, washing your hands could be done symbolically to separate yourself from a situation or person. While we don’t really practice this, we still use the expression, “I wash my hands of this,” meaning you don’t want to be involved with someone or something and you are not responsible for the situation.
The most famous example of this is, of course, Pontius Pilate. In the Gospel of Matthew, the Pharisees dragged Jesus before the Roman Governor Pilate in the middle of the night, demanding his execution. Pilate interrogated Jesus, but found no reason to execute him. He believed Jesus was innocent of any wrongdoing. But the Jewish mob just continued to grow, and roared louder and louder, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate didn’t want to crucify Jesus, but he was afraid that a riot was developing. So, the Bible says, “So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!” (Matthew 27:24 NLT).
Of course, you know the rest of the story.
Pilate wanted to separate himself from the angry mob. He didn’t want to share in their guilt. So, he literally washed his hands in front of them, as if to say, “His blood is on your hands, not mine.” Pilate certainly isn’t a positive role model. He should have been stronger. He should have stood up for Christ. Instead, he allowed injustice to be done, and absolved himself of the responsibility.
We do find a much more positive example, however, in the Psalms. David writes, “I hate the gatherings of those who do evil, and I refuse to join in with the wicked. I wash my hands to declare my innocence. I come to your altar, O Lord” (Psalm 26:5-6 NLT). In this psalm, David is crying out against liars, hypocrites, and evildoers of all sorts. He says, “I refuse to join in with the wicked.” In other words, he wants to separate and distinguish himself from wrongdoers, and he washes his hands to signify this.
I think we’d all do well to follow David’s example. David recognized wrongdoing and wickedness and he refused to join in; he washed his hands of it. So should we. The problem is—we’re often ignorant of the immoral influences around us.
In the early 1900s, around the turn of the century, musicians noticed that all the errand boys in a certain part of London all whistled out of tune as they rode around on their bicycles making their deliveries. After a while, they discovered that the reason for their poor pitch was that the bells of Westminster were slightly out of tune. The errand boys had unconsciously copied their pitch. In the same way, we tend to copy the people with whom we associate—our worldview is constantly being shaped by the books we read, the music to which we listen, and the TV shows we watch, often without us even noticing it.
If we want to have clean hands before the Lord, then we need to be careful about the company we keep and influences we allow into our lives—we need to separate ourselves from sinful influences and situations like David did.
So, first people in the Bible washed their hands for sanitation. Furthermore, they washed their hands for separation. And finally, they washed their hands for sanctification.
• SANCTIFICATION
Sanctification is the act or process of being made holy. Often throughout Scripture, washing your hands was symbolic for purifying or sanctifying your heart and mind. This symbolism goes all the way back to the construction of the Tabernacle in the days of Moses and Aaron. God instructed Moses, saying, “Make a bronze washbasin with a bronze stand. Place it between the Tabernacle and the altar, and fill it with water. Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and feet there. They must wash with water whenever they go into the Tabernacle to appear before the Lord and when they approach the altar to burn up their special gifts to the Lord” (Exodus 30:18-20 NLT).
This ritual washing was an important step in preparing the priests’ hearts and minds for service in the Tabernacle. Washing with water symbolized spiritual cleansing, which was necessary to enter God’s holy presence.
David picks up on this in the psalms, where he writes, “Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:3-4 NIV). James uses the same imagery in the New Testament, saying, “Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts” (James 4:8 NLT).
These passages highlight our need—the need of every human being—to be made clean and holy before God. Obviously, literally washing our hands doesn’t cleanse our hearts. Nevertheless, God has given Christians a similar ritual—baptism.
The book of Acts tells about the conversion of Saul, better known as Paul. After Jesus blinded Saul on the road to Damascus, a believer named Ananias spoke to him about Jesus and said, “Now, why wait any longer? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, trusting in him to save you” (Acts 22:16 NCV).
Allowing yourself to be baptized is an act of faith and trust in Jesus that visibly dramatizes the invisible work of the Holy Spirit, who washes away our sins. In fact, the Bible says, “When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.” (Titus 5:4-7 NLT).
You see, just as our hands are covered in invisible germs and bacteria that need to be washed away, our hearts and minds are covered in sin. And there is no earthly soap or hand-sanitizer strong enough to wash our sins away. The only thing that cleanse our hearts and make us right with God is the blood of Jesus. As we humbly come to Jesus in faith and surrender ourselves to the waters of baptism, Christ lowers you into the river of his Spirit until every inch of you is covered, head to foot, with God’s mercy and grace—by which you are saved, sealed, and sanctified.
Conclusion:
So, there you have it—three reasons why the men and women of the Bible washed their hands, and three reasons why you and I still need to wash our hands today: sanitation, separation, and most importantly sanctification.
As this pandemic continues to spread, it has caused many of us to realize just how unclean our hands really are and how important it is for us to wash them. Similarly, sin is a far more serious epidemic. It invisibly spreads to every living person and it inevitably leads to death—a 100% death rate for those untreated. Thankfully, there is a cure. The blood of Jesus can wash our sins away giving us clean hands, pure hearts, and (best of all) eternal life. If you haven’t had your sins washed away yet, I want to encourage you to do that today. Put your faith in Jesus and let’s work out a time for you to be baptized.
For now, let’s pray together.
Prayer:
Lord God, we come to you with humble hearts, recognizing that apart from you—we are all unclean. I pray that each and every person hearing this will follow the examples we’ve seen today in Scripture. May we all wash out hands, and thereby help prevent the spread of this dangerous virus. May we resolve to avoid sin as best we can. But most importantly may all our sins be washed away by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. It’s in his holy name that we pray. Amen.
