I find it interesting that the first healing by Jesus in the book of Luke is found in chapter 5. He heals a leper of all people! He heals a person that society has written off. Starting in verse 12 we read, "While he was in one of the cities, there was a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, 'Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.' And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, 'I will; be clean.' And immediately the leprosy left him" (ESV).
To give some context, leprosy was a very terrible and destructive disease in the ancient world. Being full of leprosy, this guy had no hope! So, when he saw Jesus, he fell at the feet of Jesus with no hope and was full of need and desperation!
According to the theologian Barclay, "In Palestine there were two kinds of leprosy. There was one which was rather like a very bad skin disease, and it was the less serious of the two. There was the one in which the disease, starting from a spot, ate away the flesh until the wretched sufferer was left with only the stump of a hand or a leg. It was literally a living death." Based on what we read in the passage, the second one was more than likely what this man had. He was hopeless and desperate.
According to Jewish law and customs, this mad had to stay away from society. He had to be at least 6 feet away from other people, 150 feet away if the wind was blowing. If a person came into contact with a person with leprosy, they would be considered unclean. The only thing worse than touching a person with leprosy, was touching a dead body! Could you imagine living like this? This person was an outcast! Can you relate to this? Do you feel like an outcast? Or someone that many look down upon?
This man was isolated from society. Society and religious people scorned lepers. Matter of fact, Rabbis despised them and saw lepers as those that were under the judgement of God, deserving no pity or mercy. He wasn't able to be in contact with any of his family. That means if he was married and had kids, he couldn't be around them due to infecting them and making them unclean.
This man, the leper, knew how terrible his problem was. He knew how hopeless his condition was. Yet, the leper came to Jesus by himself to seek to be cleaned. He knew the ramifications of his actions. He knew that Rabbis wouldn't talk to him or be around him. Yet, with this knowledge, he still approached Jesus. What faith this guy had! He had no previous knowledge of Jesus healing another person much less a leper. He knew Jesus was considered a Rabbi. Some how he had the faith that Jesus could cleanse him if Jesus wanted to.
Notice, that the leper said that he waned Jesus to cleanse him. He didn't say healing. This man wanted more than just a healing from leprosy. He wanted to be cleansed of all the debilitating effects on his life and soul. Imagine living like this. It is probably safe to say that this had a profound effect on his mind and soul. Imagine not being able to be around people, especially the ones that you love or even talking to them. That alone has to be tough on the mind and spirit. This man wanted to be cleansed of ALL effects of his condition.
Jesus touches the leper and he is cleansed. Jesus didn't have to touch him. He could have easily healed him without physical touch. Remember, Rabbis despised lepers. Any other Rabi wouldn't have been caught around this guy, much less caught touching him. However, Jesus did. Jesus went against what the law and customs said about touching a leper. Jesus had compassion on this man. He had compassion on a man thought to be untouchable. See, Jesus loves us despite if we are unclean! Jesus looks past our junk and sees the masterpiece that God created us to be.
How many of us, believe that our past makes us unclean to come to Jesus? We have been told that we have to clean our act up before we can enter the presence of God. Yet, here we have a man full of what many thought at the time to be one of the most uncleanliness conditions that one can be in.
However, Jesus stated in Mark 2:17, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
Throughout the Gospels, the authors give us examples where Jesus went against the law and customs to reach people that society deemed unclean. Jesus still does that today. Jesus reaches out to who society, even unfortunately what some churches deem unclean or the undesirables. If you think that what you did in your past or what perhaps what you are involved in now is keeping you from entering a relationship with Jesus, I want you to know that Jesus loves you! He is waiting for you to cry out to him and fall into his arms! Don't let the religious stop you from a relationship with Jesus. Find a church and allow Jesus to meet you where you are at!
Monday, August 5, 2019
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
We are called to love!
1 John 4:7-8 states, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." (ESV).
As I have been dwelling on this passage, I'm reminded that we are to love one another. Who are we called to love? As Christians, we cannot choose who to love and who not to love. We are called to love one another. Jesus even calls us to love our enemies. He gave us a great example of this type of love. The night that he was going to be betrayed, he washed the feet of the disciples. He could have easily waited until Judas left to betray him. However, he didn't wait. Matter of fact, he washed the feet of Judas. Even then, Jesus was showing love toward Judas.
Why is it hard for Christians to love others? We're good at showing love to people that look like us, act like us, and believe like us. It is hard for us to love others that don't look like us, act like us, or believe like us. All one has to do is scroll through their Facebook feed or Twitter feed and see the hate toward people on the other political side than us or people who have different worldviews. Or seeing posts that are dealing with illegal immigration or the LGBTQ community. Each side has their opinions and are very loud about it. This is just not coming from non-believers but from people who identify as Christian. Honestly, it is many non-believers that are calling out the Christians for their perceived hatred!
God has called us to love not hate! Remember John 3:16 tells us that For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. Jesus died for us, that includes people who we don't agree with, so that we can be reconciled to God.
As Christians, we need to show the love of God. We need to show people that they matter to God and that He loves them! We need to let the Holy Spirit transform the lives of people and allow the Holy Spirit to meet them where they are.
While on Earth, Jesus didn't wait for people to clean themselves up before he allowed them to come to him. Matter of fact, he met them in their unclean sin filled lives. It wasn't until after their encounters with Jesus that their lives were transformed.
Another interesting thing about Jesus was that he drew large crowds of people. People flocked to him. Jesus didn't waiver from His beliefs. He knew what was sin and what wasn't sin. When he had the encounter with the woman caught in adultery, he told her that she was forgiven and to stop with her sinful ways. So, Jesus didn't compromise his beliefs. Yet, people still flocked to him. Why? Because People could see that he genuinely loved them and cared for them. I remember that one of my previous pastors taught on this. He taught that one must put relationship before rules. We need to build relationships with people first. We must show them that God loves them and we do too. We must show them that they matter to God and therefore us. After we build relationships and they know we care then we can pour into their lives and allow the Holy Spirit to transform their lives. We have to stop telling people, even the ones committing sins we do not like, that they have to get cleaned up first before they can come to church! If church is for perfect people then why are you there? Why am I there? None of us are perfect. If we were, there wouldn't be any need for a savior. We must show them love! God loves them and sent Jesus to die on a cross for them! Let's go out and love the world as Jesus. Let's look at people with the eyes of Jesus and not our own! Let's love, even the ones that are not like us!
As I have been dwelling on this passage, I'm reminded that we are to love one another. Who are we called to love? As Christians, we cannot choose who to love and who not to love. We are called to love one another. Jesus even calls us to love our enemies. He gave us a great example of this type of love. The night that he was going to be betrayed, he washed the feet of the disciples. He could have easily waited until Judas left to betray him. However, he didn't wait. Matter of fact, he washed the feet of Judas. Even then, Jesus was showing love toward Judas.
Why is it hard for Christians to love others? We're good at showing love to people that look like us, act like us, and believe like us. It is hard for us to love others that don't look like us, act like us, or believe like us. All one has to do is scroll through their Facebook feed or Twitter feed and see the hate toward people on the other political side than us or people who have different worldviews. Or seeing posts that are dealing with illegal immigration or the LGBTQ community. Each side has their opinions and are very loud about it. This is just not coming from non-believers but from people who identify as Christian. Honestly, it is many non-believers that are calling out the Christians for their perceived hatred!
God has called us to love not hate! Remember John 3:16 tells us that For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. Jesus died for us, that includes people who we don't agree with, so that we can be reconciled to God.
As Christians, we need to show the love of God. We need to show people that they matter to God and that He loves them! We need to let the Holy Spirit transform the lives of people and allow the Holy Spirit to meet them where they are.
While on Earth, Jesus didn't wait for people to clean themselves up before he allowed them to come to him. Matter of fact, he met them in their unclean sin filled lives. It wasn't until after their encounters with Jesus that their lives were transformed.
Another interesting thing about Jesus was that he drew large crowds of people. People flocked to him. Jesus didn't waiver from His beliefs. He knew what was sin and what wasn't sin. When he had the encounter with the woman caught in adultery, he told her that she was forgiven and to stop with her sinful ways. So, Jesus didn't compromise his beliefs. Yet, people still flocked to him. Why? Because People could see that he genuinely loved them and cared for them. I remember that one of my previous pastors taught on this. He taught that one must put relationship before rules. We need to build relationships with people first. We must show them that God loves them and we do too. We must show them that they matter to God and therefore us. After we build relationships and they know we care then we can pour into their lives and allow the Holy Spirit to transform their lives. We have to stop telling people, even the ones committing sins we do not like, that they have to get cleaned up first before they can come to church! If church is for perfect people then why are you there? Why am I there? None of us are perfect. If we were, there wouldn't be any need for a savior. We must show them love! God loves them and sent Jesus to die on a cross for them! Let's go out and love the world as Jesus. Let's look at people with the eyes of Jesus and not our own! Let's love, even the ones that are not like us!
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