Dirty Hands

I still can't get this thought out of my head.  This is my article for the Beecher Paper.  If you aren't familiar with central Illinois, Beecher is a town of about 400,000 and the paper is circulated around the world.  It is frequently on Huffington Post.  (None of this is true - Beecher may be smaller than Cowden).

Have you ever thought about the hands of Jesus?  What did they look like?  Were they smooth or rough?  Were they large or small?  Were they clean or dirty?  I’ll bet they were very, very dirty.  In Luke chapter 8 it is recorded that Jesus had encounters with two very unclean women.  They were unclean for very different reasons, but they were unclean nonetheless.  In both cases these women needed healing.  They needed the healing that could only come as a supernatural miracle.  Jesus of Nazareth offered that hope.  One woman reached out and touched Jesus as he walked by.  One woman was already dead and Jesus touched her.

In touching these women Jesus risked much.  He was breaking very important cleanliness rules.  He would be scorned, looked down upon, and hated by the established religious and governmental leaders of his day.  The miracle?  HE STILL DID IT!  He knew full well that his hands would be dirty and he would be cast out of the group.  His focus was on healing those who needed to be healed.  He didn’t care about getting his hands dirty.

Do you need healing in your life?  Do you have a broken heart?  Are you a victim of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse?  Jesus is ready to get his hands dirty in your life.  Are you sick?  Are you lonely?  Do you not even know why you have to get up out of bed each morning?  Are you lost in this world?  Have you been chewed up and spit out?  Are you too dirty to ever be loved?  Jesus is ready to get his hands dirty in your life.

In his commentary on Luke chapter 8 N.T. Wright writes, “In whatever problem or suffering we face, the presence of Jesus, getting his hands dirty with the problems of this world, is what we need, and what in the gospels we are promised.”

Are you a follower of Jesus Christ?  Do you claim him as your Lord and Savior?  Then what do your hands look like?  Are they clean?  Do you avoid getting them dirty?  If you wish to really obey Christ and be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven your hands will be very dirty as well.  The business of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ’s healing and life will get under your fingernails.  You hands will get dirty dealing with the sin and darkness in this world.  It’s dirty business.

Would Jesus be allowed to walk on the carpet in your church or your home?  Or would you be embarrassed to have a Savior with dirty hands?  I thank God that Jesus’ hands were bloodied for my sins and your sins.