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THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – OH, BY THE WAY…

Bible Study, ,

OH, BY THE WAY…

“One day in one of the villages there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus he fell down before Him in prayer and said, ‘If you want to, you can cleanse me.’ Jesus put out His hand, touched him and said, ‘I want to. Be clean.’ There and then his skin was smooth, the leprosy gone.

“Jesus instructed him, ‘Don’t talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed self to the priest, along with the offering ordered by Moses. Your cleansed and obedient life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done.’

“But the man couldn’t keep it to himself, and the word got out. Soon a large crowd of people had gathered to listen and be healed of their ailments. As often as possible, Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer.” Luke 5:12-16.

Luke had many stories of healings and miracles to draw from. Why did he choose this one? Of course I don’t know! But there are little hints here and there of Luke’s reason. The scholars tell us that Luke’s theme was “Jesus, the Son of Man.” He adds many touches to his story that illustrate Jesus’ humanity; His dependence on the Holy Spirit; the many references to His prayer life; little snippets like His being asleep on the boat; eating fish after His resurrection, for example, things that humans do.

In this story Jesus met a man covered with “leprosy”. He could have had any skin disease, but whatever it was, he was disfigured and, worst of all, unclean. That meant that he was not allowed human contact. Isolated! Ostracised! Untouchable! Unwanted! Probably walking on the outskirts of the village wailing his mournful plight, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’

Instead of moving away, Jesus walked right up to him. The unnamed man fell at His feet, entreating Him, ‘I’ve heard about you, Jesus. I know you can make this stinking, diseased body of mine clean…if you want to. Now it’s all up to you.’

What would Jesus do? What did this man need? Just a word would transform him but he needed more than a word. He needed a human touch. But how could Jesus touch him? He was a rabbi, a holy man who was not supposed to contaminate Himself with diseased or dead bodies. If He touched him, He would become unclean.

There was one thing about Jesus that was different from every other rabbi of His day. His touch worked the other way, made the unclean clean. He made the sick well, the dead live and set the demonised free. Wherever He went, speaking, touching, embracing, He left whole, well and free people in His wake. And it was what He wanted to do. No hesitation.

But, in spite of Jesus’ warning, the healed man could not keep his mouth shut. Would you? Of course everyone wanted to know what had happened. And of course he told them. Wouldn’t you? And of course that made Jesus even more popular, and everyone wanted Him to touch them too. And He did.

That created a problem for Him. He needed time out. He was human, remember. Why did He need time out? Of course He needed rest; He needed to eat; He needed to “chill” like we all do and oh, by the way, He needed to spend time with His Father and for that He needed solitude.

There was no solitude where there were the ever-present crowds but He knew how to find time and place to be alone – out in the wide-open spaces in the night hours when everyone else was asleep. Without time alone with the Father He had no engine and no rudder for His ship. It was in these times of intimacy alone with God that He drew strength, received direction and shared the Father’s love which energised Him for the gruelling times ahead.

And He said, ‘Learn from me.’

MOLLY AND ME – DIRTY PAWS

Christian Life, , ,

Molly is a very clean little dog – except for her paws!

I bath her every second week, an event which, strangely enough, she doesn’t mind. Fortunately, she doesn’t smell like a dog and she doesn’t have the habit of rolling in smelly stuff, so a fortnightly bath is sufficient to keep her sweet and clean.

However, we live in a granny flat on a property which is enclosed in high walls and secure gates. Most of the back and front yards are covered with thick grass which is riddled with earthworms. They push their casts up everywhere, creating muddy blobs all over the lawn when it rains.

Molly has the freedom to run and explore the garden to her heart’s content, sniffing out geckos and frogs to chase and digging in the lawn for crickets (which she is learning not to do). Rain is no deterrent although she is not a “water” dog. Rain or shine, she spends ages traversing the same patch of lawn and getting her little paws well and truly muddied.

Old towels at the back and front doors soak up most of the dirt but, when we go to bed, I make sure that her paws are clean!

This little ritual reminds me of the scene in the Upper Room on the eve of Jesus’ death. There was no servant to wash the disciples’ dusty feet and they were too high and mighty to do the lowly task for one another. So, they sat down on cushions on the floor to eat the Passover with their Master with their unwashed feet very much in evidence!

Jesus must have been very aware of the omission (and the smell) and waited for an opportunity to teach His disciples a very practical lesson. They were constantly arguing about their pecking order and chose to ignore Jesus’ repeated lessons on true greatness. Here was an opportunity to put into practice what He had taught them, but not one of them of them chose to use it.

So, Jesus took off His outer garment, picked up the bowl and pitcher of water and proceeded to do the task of a slave, As usual, there was no reaction from most of them except from Peter. He remonstrated with Jesus, probably feeling guilty that he had not done what Jesus was doing.

However, out of this altercation came a beautiful object lesson for every one of His followers. Peter said, “Never, Lord!” Jesus responded, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.” Characteristically, then Peter replied, “Lord, give me a bath!” Again, Jesus responded, “You are clean, Peter, except for your feet.”

What did He mean? Peter had received the “washing with water through the Word” of which Paul spoke in Eph. 5:26. His sins were forgiven through the blood Jesus would shed on the cross. He had received the gift of righteousness which God gives to those who believe in His Son. However, through his fleshly nature, he still picked up dirt from his everyday interaction with people and circumstances.  All he needed was to have feet cleansed from the defilement of his daily “walk” in the world.

Perhaps his fellow disciple, John, remembered Jesus’ words when he wrote,

If we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin….If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness, (1 John 1:7, 9 – NLT).

Yes, Jesus assures us that we are clean through His Word because we believe in Him, but we need the constant cleansing of our “feet” by His forgiveness though His blood so that our fellowship with Him will remain transparent and uninterrupted.

Have you, like Molly, muddied your “paws” today? Allow Jesus to wash your feet. Then there will be no hindrance to your intimacy with Him. You can go to bed and sleep in peace in His loving presence because His blood keeps on cleansing you from all sin.