4-28-2016

Good Morning All!! 

       Luke 7: 14; “Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”

     One of my favorite comic strips has always been “Peanuts.”  Each character brings something to the story of life.  Charlie Brown is every man who struggles to be anything over plain old common.  Linus has a philosophical streak that sees the depth of life.  Lucy has a self-centered importance while Snoopy brings about a life celebrating aura that leads to adventure and mischief.

    One of my favorite involved Lucy and Snoopy.  Lucy is bobbing for apples at the Halloween party when she bites an apple and pulls it from the water.  On the other end, Snoopy is biting the other side.  When Lucy realizes that her lips are touching Snoopy’s lips, she goes crazy.  She runs around shouting, “Ugh!  My lips touched dog lips!!  Get the disinfectant, get the soap and water’ call the doctor, sterilize everything!! Ugh I have dog germs!!”  Snoopy just sighed.

    In the time of Jesus, if a Jewish wanted to enter the Temple, he had to remain ceremonial clean.  This involved some very fastidious washing of hands and dishes but it also involved avoiding things that were considered unclean.  This included certain kinds of meat and animals.  It included touching non-Jews and it included touching dead bodies.  A Jewish man, who wants to enter the Temple, should react to a dead body the same way Lucy reacted to kissing Snoopy.  He should run as far from the body as possible.

   Yet in our verse for today, Jesus intentionally goes to the dead young man and touched the bier or coffin or whatever the body was being carried on to the burial plot.  He should have avoided it in order to stay clean.  Jesus was a rabbi; a man known for his teaching in the Temple and the local synagogues.  By touching the body, he would deprive many from hearing his teaching for at least seven days.  He went to the dead body, on purpose, in order to bring about healing; to bring about life.

    Often, when this story is studied, we focus on the mother.  She was a widow and this was her only son.  We stress how difficult life for her would be from now on but the man was dead.  He had no future.  He had nothing to look forward to; he was dead and soon to be placed in the ground to decay.  Anybody could have helped the mother but only Jesus could help the man. You and I are like the man; only Jesus can save us.

     Jesus left his heavenly home and entered into humanity.  He entered into all the uncleanness, all the pain and suffering in order to heal you.  He entered this world, touched all of its uncleanness in order to give you life; to keep you from the decay of sin.  Jesus came to give you life and to bring you back into his holy family.  He came and touched you to give you hope and no one else could help.  Jesus came and gave his life so you would live eternally.

Gracious Father, you sent Jesus to touch my life and to change me from the dead and corrupt body of sin to your beloved child.  Keep me in your arms and in your grace.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret