Large and In Charge

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
Matthew 8 (click the link)


KEY PASSAGE:
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. (Matthew 8:3, NIV)


THE BIG IDEA:
Matthew 8 details a series of encounters of what it looks like when Jesus is in charge, how his authority plays out “on the street.”


REFLECTIONS:
For the leper, he not only had a life of disease and disfigurement, but of social banishment from the community. Leprosy was highly contagious and sufferers had to stay away. Nobody approached them and certainly nobody touched them. So you can imagine the shudder of the people as Jesus reaches out and touches this poor man. Can you also imagine the warmth and thrill of life that came over the leper? Nobody had touched him for a long time, perhaps several years. Now all of a sudden he finds himself caught up in God’s renewal movement, in God’s restoration of his people.

The leper needed not only physical healing but to be reunited with his family and village. It wouldn’t be much good going home claiming to be cured without the official authorization. So Jesus tells him to go through the regular process: show yourself to the priest and make the required offering. Once complete, the leper (or I should say ‘former’ leper) could go home.

Jesus restores the man’s body as well has his place in his family and community. This is a beautiful picture of the gospel, the restoration of people and loving community. This is the effect of the kingdom of God that Jesus inaugurated while on earth, continues through his church today by his Spirit, and will culminate at his second coming.

As a young teenager, what I found most compelling about the gospel was the community that it created. I discovered lifelong friendships in the youth group, and several men who made time to “father” me (come to my sporting events, explain to me the “facts of life,” take me on trips, tell me to get my act together, and patiently bear with me through the angst that is being a teenager). I could not have described it at the time, but I was “caught up” in restoration, I was being renewed in deep ways more than I realized.

As a troubled young man, the Body of Christ reached out and touched me, began to make me whole.  And I believe this is the primary power of the Gospel today, when we take the time to personally touch hurting people around us, using our time and money and energy to love them. As the church, we are the physical presence of Jesus in the world today, his hands and feet to touch a broken world needing restoration. 


POINT OF ACTION:
As a member of the church, the body of Christ, what ways can God use you to bring his healing and restoration to others? How could you go out of your way today to “touch” someone in the name of Christ? 


PRAYER:
Father, I relinquish my day to you. Lead me where you choose by your Spirit. I want to see your kingdom come today through me. I want to be your hands and feet in the lives of people around me. Give me the strength to seek first your kingdom and righteousness today. For your glory and in Christ’s name, Amen.


EXTRA CREDIT:
I like how N.T. Wright compares this chapter to a rising symphony where the music reaches its height by the end of the chapter. The chapter begins with the little story of the leper: one man, quick healing, important in its way but not particularly dramatic. Then the centurion and his servant: Jesus healing again but this time at a distance, in response to remarkable faith, and with striking consequences. Then some further stories of healing deepening the mood and texture by pointing out the cost of following Jesus. Then the strong music swells and rises again with Jesus stilling the storm on the lake. And now, just when we thought it could get no stronger, we have the climax: two demon-possessed men living among the tombs, shrieking madness and murder, ending with a herd of pigs rushing into the sea.

The point of these stories, is that the Jesus that had the authority to teach people (as he was doing in the sermon on the mount, chapters 5-7) also has authority over disease, both close at hand and at a distance; over the lives of people that want to follow him; and over the winds and waves on the lake, and over the shadowy forces of evil. That’s what we need to know as we ourselves sign on to follow him. He isn’t just somebody with good ideas. He is somebody with authority over everything that the physical world on the one hand, and the non-physical world on the other, can throw us. This is a Jesus that we can trust with every aspect of our lives. When his authority is welcomed, his kingdom comes in wonderful ways.


WHO AM I?
My name is Greg Bland and thankfully my kids got their looks from their gorgeous mother.