out with the old, in with the new
Just a random thought...
I think we still tend to live under old covenant rules..don't touch, don't eat, don't associate... The old covenant stuff taught that if I touched something dirty I became dirty. I'd have to cermonially become clean before I could come into the presence of God. Jesus continually flew in the face of that, he continually touched things that were "unclean" and made them "clean". Any Jew knew that if you touched a leper you'd be "unclean" yourself, you'd have to go through all this hassle and stuff to become clean again. Jesus knew that if he touched the leper, the opposite would happen. Jesus would not become unclean...the leper would become clean.
I think (because we don't fully understand our identity in Christ or don't fully believe it) we still sort of (on some level) think that "unclean" people will make us dirty. I wonder if that's why we're so quick to judge...cause if I associate with someone "unclean", I'll become unclean? Or if Jesus associates with the "unclean" he'll become unclean, or if the church associates with the "unclean" it will become unclean?? We have to protect our reputations, the reputation of the church, the reputation of Jesus himself, after all. We wouldn't want it said of us that we "eat with tax collectors and sinners!" What if someone actually mistook us for a "drunkard and a glutton". What if someone thought I was "unclean" based on the crowd I hung out with, the clothes I wear, the food I eat? The world couldn't go on!!
When Jesus wrote the new covenant it was in with the new, out with the old. Out with cerimonial "cleanliness" and in with the touch, the life, the Spirit of Jesus. Out with ritual, in with relationships. Out with dirty, in with clean. Out with man looking at the outward appearance, and in with God looking at the heart! Out with guilty by association and in with "Go into all the world!!"
If we believed that we have the life of Christ in us and that what we "touch" becomes clean we'd "touch" as many people as possible. Christ in me brings LIFE to all that I/he comes into contact with....
We're not under old covenant anymore...but we still hang on to it sometimes, to our loss, and the world's.
I think we still tend to live under old covenant rules..don't touch, don't eat, don't associate... The old covenant stuff taught that if I touched something dirty I became dirty. I'd have to cermonially become clean before I could come into the presence of God. Jesus continually flew in the face of that, he continually touched things that were "unclean" and made them "clean". Any Jew knew that if you touched a leper you'd be "unclean" yourself, you'd have to go through all this hassle and stuff to become clean again. Jesus knew that if he touched the leper, the opposite would happen. Jesus would not become unclean...the leper would become clean.
I think (because we don't fully understand our identity in Christ or don't fully believe it) we still sort of (on some level) think that "unclean" people will make us dirty. I wonder if that's why we're so quick to judge...cause if I associate with someone "unclean", I'll become unclean? Or if Jesus associates with the "unclean" he'll become unclean, or if the church associates with the "unclean" it will become unclean?? We have to protect our reputations, the reputation of the church, the reputation of Jesus himself, after all. We wouldn't want it said of us that we "eat with tax collectors and sinners!" What if someone actually mistook us for a "drunkard and a glutton". What if someone thought I was "unclean" based on the crowd I hung out with, the clothes I wear, the food I eat? The world couldn't go on!!
When Jesus wrote the new covenant it was in with the new, out with the old. Out with cerimonial "cleanliness" and in with the touch, the life, the Spirit of Jesus. Out with ritual, in with relationships. Out with dirty, in with clean. Out with man looking at the outward appearance, and in with God looking at the heart! Out with guilty by association and in with "Go into all the world!!"
If we believed that we have the life of Christ in us and that what we "touch" becomes clean we'd "touch" as many people as possible. Christ in me brings LIFE to all that I/he comes into contact with....
We're not under old covenant anymore...but we still hang on to it sometimes, to our loss, and the world's.
posted by toomanywhatifs at
9:10 AM
1 Comments:
Hmmmm.... good thoughts! I like it. I love discovering again and again that Jesus did nearly everything backwards from the way we do. I makes me really like him!
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Anonymous, at 2:29 PM
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