Live.Awake

Touching the Untouchables

// June 25th, 2007 // Christian Living, Sunday Recap

We took a look this weekend at two events in the ministry of Jesus that show us how we are to treat the outcasts in our culture.

First there’s the woman with the issue of blood read from the account in Mark 5:25-34. Leviticus 15:19-28 tells us what the Law said about women who had this problem. Not only were they themselves unclean, but every thing and every person that they came into contact with was deemed unclean. Every place they sat, every thing they touched, every man they were with would be “infected”. This poor woman had spent all she had on doctors trying all manner of things to fix her. None had succeeded, and in fact scripture says that the “treatments” had only made things worse.

She had heard about Jesus and believed (at least to some degree) in His ability to cleanse her. As Jesus was on His way to heal another person the crowds had gathered and “thronged Him”. She pushed her way through this crowd, making each person she touched unclean according to the Law, and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. She was instantly healed. Jesus felt power go out from Himself, so He turned and asked who it was. Knowing that she was unclean and that she had, according to the Law, defiled Jesus by touching Him she threw herself at His feet and attempted to explain herself.

Jesus did not rebuke her (as any good Jew would have), but rather he set her free, forgave her sin and sent her on her way as a missionary into her community.

Some points to note:

1. Her uncleanliness did not defile Jesus. The opposite is what happened. Jesus’ righteousness cleansed her not just physically but spiritually as well.
2. She knew the law. She knew she was unclean and that she was not “allowed” to touch Jesus. She was so desperate to be clean she was willing to do anything.
3. Jesus did not rebuke her. Rather, He completed the healing and sent her out.

So who are some of the people that the church has deemed “unclean” today? Here are a few I thought of:

• Drug addicts and alcoholics
• Atheists
• Followers of Islam
• Alternative (punk, goth, etc)
• The wealthy and/or famous
• Homosexuals
• Single Parents
• Anti-War Liberals

What are we to do when one of these people gets saved in our churches and (horror of horrors) wants to stay around? Do we convert him/her to dress act and think like we do? Do I dress up the tatoo artist in khakis and a golf shirt? No! Please, No! We arm him with the gospel and send him back into his culture to bring redemption to it. We make him a missionary.

We also looked at the woman at the well where I made some of the same points. Jesus was breaking some rules by talking with a Samaritan woman with a reputation as a woman who slept around quite a bit. Using prophetic insight, compassion, and words that connected with her culture (using the analogy of the well and living water) He connected with her in a way that brought her to repentance. She immediately went back into her community testifying of what happened. She became a missionary.

The relationships that these people already had before they met Jesus became bridges to the gospel after they met Him. What relationships do you have right now that Jesus can use as a bridge to the gospel? Do your friends know you are a Christian, or are you living covertly?

Are there people that you can’t touch because you believe them to be too unclean?

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