The Untouchables

When Was It Written
This article was written during the SixtyDays in the Dust journey that Trace Crossing went through from January 3, 2007 until March 4, 2007.  It was a 60-day celebration working together for Christ on a new building and walking together with Christ as a new body. 

Why Was It Written
The daily reading for January 8, 2007 was Matthew 8:1-9:13. Inside that passage is the story of Jesus healing a leper by touching his sores.  It is a moving picture of the way Jesus fearlessly and compassionately met the needs of people. 

Who Wrote It
Kevin Wood, pastor


1When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." 3Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. 4Then Jesus said to him, "See that you don't tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  Matthew 8:1-4



The Untouchables
Matthew chapter 8 is Jesus at his best. In the span of 32 verses, Jesus heals a man with leprosy, a Roman centurion's servant, Peter's mother-in-law, untold numbers of people "in the crowd" including the demon-possessed, and still had enough energy to squeeze in a sermon about "the Son of Man having no where to lay his head".

But to me, it's that opening scene that makes me appreciate Jesus the most. The text says the crowds were following him, and up runs a man with leprosy. Now I can't prove it because we don't have any video footage, but I have to think the crowd began to shrink back as the man with leprosy approached. Lepers were outcasts in Jesus' day. Their disease was viewed with disgust, and they were pushed out of the normal world. Typically, lepers lived in separate colonies - little groups of lepers set apart from the rest of the world. They were literally untouchable. You couldn't touch a leper, because to do so would make you unclean and unfit for religious life in Israel.

And that's what makes this passage powerful. The crowd sees the leper coming, and steps back to avoid the disease he carries. But Jesus doesn't flinch. He doesn't pull back. He lets the man come and make his plea - "If you are willing you can make me clean."

Then Jesus does the unthinkable - the unbelievable in his day - he touches the leper. He touches the untouchable. Now Jesus didn't have to touch the man. Just a few verses after this one, Jesus will speak the words to heal a servant from a long distance. Jesus could have said to the leper, "You're healed", and let his words do the work. But he didn't. He did the work with his hands. He touched the man.

Now why is this significant? Why does this matter for us? Because Jesus is sending a tremendous message in touching this man. Think about this man's life. For years he has not had the affectionate touch of a single person. Strangers avoid him like a plague, not wanting to even brush his shoulder by accident. Friends abandon him, not able to even pat him on the back. His wife and family allow him to stay away, because they know the disease and its deadliness. So for months, maybe years, this man has felt no one touch him - no handshakes, no hugs, no kisses, no accidental bumping in the market - nothing. Just sheer loneliness.

Until Christ. Christ stretches out his hand, and brings him back into the world of human touch. Sure the touch of Christ healed his body from leprosy, but Christ's touch also healed his heart from loneliness.

So here's the question for you, as you desire to walk in his dust: Who will you touch today? What person locked up in loneliness will you encounter today - and offer a kind word, a loving word, to help them out of their darkness? Determine today to touch the untouchables - your waitress at the restaurant, your co-worker at the office or the plant, your son or daughter that you've lost touch with, the one person in your life right now that you are most angry at.

And remember, when Jesus was approached by the leper, he did not pull back. No, love stood strong. Stand strong today. Touch the untouchable. Change their world. Love the lost.

-Kevin, 01/08/2007



Want to Let the Writer Know What You Think of this Article?
Email Kevin at kwood@tracecrossing.org and let him know what you think about this article.