John Calvin Commentary Leviticus 21:17

"Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed throughout their generations that hath a blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God." — Leviticus 21:17 (ASV)

Speak to Aaron, saying. Priests in whom there was any notable bodily defect are here forbidden from approaching the altar. I will not inquire meticulously into the defects which Moses enumerates, since the same rule is laid down here, which is afterwards applied to the sacrifices, of which none but perfect ones were to be offered. For God rejected whatever was defective or mutilated, so that the Israelites might know that no victim would suffice for the expiation of sin, except one that possessed complete perfection. This is justly required in a priest, who cannot be a mediator between God and men unless he is free from every spot.

But the analogy must be kept in view between the external figures and the spiritual perfection that existed only in Christ. God could bear no defect in the priests; it follows, then, that a man of angelic purity was to be expected, who should reconcile God to the world. The bodily imperfections, then, which were enumerated here, must be transferred to the soul.

The offering of bread comprehends by synecdoche the other offerings, and the whole legal service, which the priests were accustomed to perform in their course. This the words of Moses immediately afterwards confirm, in which he mentions all the offerings made by fire, besides the bread.

We have seen elsewhere that any of the people wounded in the testicles were prohibited from entering the sanctuary; they were not even to set foot in the court. But there was a special reason for this as regarded the priests, so that they would not pollute the sanctuary by their defects.

Hence it appears how necessary for us is the intercession of Christ; for, if his perfect cleanness did not wash away our impurity, no oblation could proceed from us except what would be foul and unsavory.

Moreover, it is worthy of observation that the sanctuary of God is polluted by any defect or imperfection; and consequently, that whatever men impose upon God that is merely their own is condemned as profane, so far are they from winning God’s favor by any merit.