Filed under: Bible, Missional Living | Tags: Bible Study, Christianity, incarnation, Jesus, Love
In our discussions this past weekend we looked at the beginning of Luke 5. In it, there is a very interesting exchange between Jesus and a man suffering from leprosy. It’s only 4 sentences, but to me it speaks volumes about not only about the character and heart of God, but also His desire for His followers.
While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw
Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me
clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And
immediately the leprosy left him.
“I am willing.”
Think about that. The mystery of the incarnation of Jesus is the fact that the all-powerful, all-present, all-everything good God humbles himself and takes on the form of one of His creations, a human. And here, in a dirty, no-named village, this transcendent and holy God reaches into the human condition at its most rejected and connects with it. In Jewish culture, leprosy was a disease which rendered its victims unclean and ostracized from all of society. Lepers were separated from the “clean” and forced to live outside of the community. If a Jew came in contact with a leper and unfortunately touched him/her then he was rendered unclean and would have to go through purification rituals to re-enter Jewish society. Therefore Jews did everything in their power to avoid contact with lepers.
And then there is Jesus. The incarnation of the grace, love, and power of God who not only is willing to interact with the leper, but actually reaches out and touches him! Jesus becomes unclean. God touches a leper. God loves.
“I am willing”
We still have lepers today. They might be made unclean by their race, their economic status, their sexual preference, their political persuasion, or even the way they look, but each of us are faced with “types” of people we really do not want to have any meaningful contact with. It may be because of our ignorance, our fears, or even our past experiences, but we all carry prejudices that cause us to avoid contact with our own unique “lepers”. Who are your lepers? It’s a natural human response. What types of people do you avoid?
And yet Jesus response remains the same.
“I am willing.”
Jesus reaches into to the hurt, the pain, the mess, and the judgmental attitudes of others, and offers healing and love to all people. As His followers are we called to anything different? Am I willing to reach out and touch the un-loveables in my life? Am I ready to trust the way of Jesus and love others in spite of what others may think?
Am I willing? Are you willing? Are we willing?
What would the world be like if we were?
Filed under: Bible, Missional Living | Tags: actions, Bible Study, Christianity, Forgiveness, Grace, Jesus, John 8, Love, loving others, non-verbal, posture
Lately, I’ve been thinking through the the concept of posture. By definition posture means “The attitude of the body.” It’s essentially the non-verbals we give off in any situation. As a follower of Jesus, my posture is many times (if not always) more important then what I say. I was reminded of the story in John 8 of the woman caught in adultery:
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court,
they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.”
“Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?”
They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.
But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court.
Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?”
She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either Go From now on sin no more.”
Picture the scene, the woman having just been caught in a very compromising position is brought into the temple courts, most likely with her clothes thrown about her, racked with tears because she knows the penalty for her actions is stoning. She’s thrown to the ground at Jesus’ feet, sobbing, unable to look up from the ground at her accusers, waiting for the stones to fall.
A few things stand out to me. First, obviously, where is the guy? We could jump into that one, but I think it’s enough to say that he is unfairly let off the hook.
Second, is Jesus’ response. Not only does He end up defending her, but it seems so much deeper then that. Look at the posture Jesus takes. He kneels down into the dirt next to the woman. Could he actually be sheltering and protecting her? His very body is made into a covering for her guilt and shame.
I was always hung up on what Jesus wrote in the dirt, seems like an odd time to be doodling or making lists. But from this perspective it makes more sense. What if Jesus was writing a message to the woman who’s eyes were locked on the ground? Could it have said something as simple as “I’m here for you” or “Trust me, I’ll take care of this?”
Jesus takes the position as an advocate for that woman. He’s not so much worried about what she has done and how wrong she is, as He is concerned with her as a person; protecting her, pleading for her, and offering freedom to her.
Wow! Obviously, this has huge ramifications for how followers of Jesus should treat others. Jesus wasn’t condoning her behavior. Nowhere in Scripture does He say “Sleep around, have fun, no big deal,” but He is esteeming her as a person who is loved by God regardless of her mistakes or bad decisions. That is the essence of grace. And that is what Jesus-followers are called to offer the world. Our posture must be one of love and of advocacy. We must be willing to side with the condemned, the voiceless, the “sinners”. Not because we agree with what they have done, but because we know what God has done for them.
