The Significance of Hyssop

Not many know that I am an advocate for the therapeutic use of herbs based strictly on several biblical reasons:

GENESIS 1:29 "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."

GENESIS 9:3 "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things."

PSALM 51:7 "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

PSALM 104:14-15 "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, And herb for the service of man: That he may bring forth food out of the earth."

-IT'S RATHER OBVIOUS HERBS ARE IMPORTANT-

I was searching for a new organic tea and happened upon an offer for HYSSOP tea. I paused for a moment, then in a loud whisper spoke into the air, "Hyssop. hyssop? hyssop! Wasn't that mentioned as mixed with vinegar or something they they gave to Jesus during His crucifixion?" So I looked up the scripture. John 19:29 "Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon a hyssop branch, and put it to his mouth." Then as usual, my spirit was filled with curious! I was looking for a new tea to drink and somehow wound up writing an entire  blog. So ask yourself, "what if any, is the significance of hyssop in scripture (Exodus 12:22, Psalm 57:1, Leviticus 14:4-6) BUT ESPECIALLY THE HERB BRANCH USED TO CARRY THE VINEGAR TO JESUS' MOUTH as He was dying on a cross. Does the hyssop branch signify something deeper? Indeed it does!

 Ther is something very important in hyssop, especially mentioned in John 19:29. The Bible does not explicitly say, “hyssop represents cleansing,” When you put the passages together as I discovered after my research, there is a striking biblical pattern.

 1. The first major appearance of hyssop was at the Passover — Exodus 12:22 God told the Israelites to take hyssop, dip it into the blood of the Passover lamb, and put that blood on the doorposts. Think about what is happening:

Hyssop → blood → doorway → deliverance from death. The hyssop itself had no magical power. The power was in God's provision through the blood of the lamb.

2. At Jesus' death — John 19:29. This is where John 19 becomes extraordinarily interesting. John specifically says: “Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.” Are you curious as to why John would even bother telling us it was hyssop? I mean, He could simply have said, “They put a sponge soaked with vinegar up to Jesus' mouth.” But instead he identifies the plant! And Jesus is dying at Passover time. Jesus has already been identified in John's Gospel as: “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” So IMO you have this remarkable biblical picture:

Exodus:Passover lamb dies → its blood is applied with hyssop → God's people are spared from death. Calvary: Jesus, the Lamb of God, dies → His blood is shed → humanity is offered deliverance from sin and death. That connection is not something I would dismiss as coincidence.

 3. Hyssop also appears in cleansing rituals. Look at Leviticus 14:4–6. Hyssop is used in the ritual for cleansing someone who had been healed from leprosy. The priest uses hyssop along with blood and other elements in a ceremony declaring the person clean. Again, notice the recurring ideas: hyssop --> blood --> cleansing--> restorationThat makes the crucifixion reference even more interesting.

Jesus' blood isn't merely about His physical death. Throughout the New Testament, His blood is associated with cleansing from sin. Hebrews 9:14 says Christ's blood cleanses our conscience. 1 John 1:7 says:“the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” And then there is Psalm 51:7 I think this is actually one of the strongest connections David cries:

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.” Now notice what David is asking for. He isn't asking God to wash dirt off his body. He's asking God to cleanse him from sin. So hyssop becomes associated with the biblical imagery of cleansing. And that brings us back to Jesus. At the cross, the One who is completely innocent is being treated as the sin-bearer.

Hyssop repeatedly occurs in contexts involving purification, blood, cleansing, and ritual application. Then John deliberately mentions hyssop at the death of Jesus, the Lamb of God, during Passover.

The research was laborous but I think you can agree there is a connection between Exodus 12, Psalm 51, Psalm 69, John 19, and Hebrews that makes the whole picture of blood, cleansing, suffering, Passover, and Jesus' final words come together in a surprisingly coherent way. All this over the study of 1 herb, hyssop. I think I'll go purchase that tea now.

Until He Comes,

-Pat-