Third Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 7:36-8:3
6/17/2007
Rev. Philip A. BouknightThere are several titles that one might attribute to this account in the gospel of Luke. We could call it “The woman and the alabaster jar.” We could also call it “The self righteous Pharisee” and what about this title; “Two lives, one savior.” All of these would be wonderful expositions of the activities that are recounted as we look at Jesus’ actions, but I want to propose yet another title; One that moves us beyond this account into the deeper ramifications of Jesus’ ministry as seen through the eyes of Luke, the gospel writer. Why don’t we call it “Touched!”
This title is drawn from the secret place of the Pharisee’s heart as he thought to himself…
"If this man were a prophet, (Referring to Jesus) he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him -- that she is a sinner." Luke 7:39
His greatest concern was that this woman was touching Jesus. Now Luke goes into great detail to show Jesus as a healer and in many of these instances, healing was administered through touch. I will only cite two of them for our purposes today.
Once, when he was in one of the cities, there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean." Then Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I do choose. Be made clean." Luke 5:12-13
Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. Then Jesus asked, "Who touched me?" When all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.” But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me." When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. Luke 8:43-47
I chose to lift up these two accounts, because of their similarity to the woman and the alabaster jar. The Leper bowed his face to the ground and proclaimed a statement of faith which acknowledged Jesus’ ability to perform miracles. The woman in the crowd had a faith which drove her to Jesus, seeking only to catch the slightest touch of His robe. When confronted by Him, she fell down before Jesus and told everyone how she had been miraculously healed. Today, the woman with the alabaster jar stands behind Jesus at His feet, washing them with her tears and drying them with her hair. She proceeds to kiss his feet, lavishly anointing them with oil. There is no statement of faith except the profuse sense of humbleness. Her humility and her sorrow speak more than words. The Leper was touched. The woman in the crowd was touched. This woman with the alabaster jar; she was also touched, healed, forgiven.
Then there is the self righteous Pharisee who had been bold enough to invite Jesus into his own home. He did not recognize Jesus’ ability to heal. We do not even get the sense that he seeks to enter into any form relationship with Him. Instead, we are privy to the innermost thoughts of his secret heart.
"If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him -- that she is a sinner." Luke 7:39
He had invited Jesus into his life simply to test Him and discern for Himself just who was this Christ. After witnessing the passionate interchange between Jesus and the woman, he did not even count Jesus among the prophets; two lives, one savior. One who sought to test Him. One who sought to know Him. Whom did He touch?
I put before you that Jesus did and does not come into our presence without the desire to touch us. That Pharisee had just as much of an opportunity to have his life changed as the woman who came bearing a jug of oil. We see very clearly that God desires to touch us all through the life of His Son. We also see clearly that it is important to acknowledge our deep need to be healed. How dare we invite Him to come among us and then not welcome Him into our hearts? We can worship Him and have no understanding of our need to be touched. We can stand before Him at the time of our corporate confession and have nothing on our hearts that we feel must be confessed. We can go through the motions of the service, leaving as though we have done our duty rather than leave, knowing that we have been strengthened to live our lives for Christ. Do we realize our need to be touched? Can we believe that all that God has to do is choose to make us clean? Do we recognize that all we have to do is barely grab a hold of Him to be healed? Do we look at our lives, recognizing our need for a savior and weep because of our sin, or do we sit down with Him at His table, oblivious that we are in the presence of God himself? Invite him to touch your heart. Invite him to change your life.
We know that when we passed through the waters of baptism, we were touched. We recognize that the Holy Spirit has entered us and it guides us each and every day of our lives, but there is a little pharisaic nature in all of us; the tendency to forget that we need to be healed. We tend to forget that we need to be forgiven. We forget that our hearts, which belong to God, can also be pulled toward the ways of this world.
He desires our heart. He wants us to recognize our need for a savior so that we might embrace Him as the savior He is. He is the one that has claimed us. He is the one that has healed us. He is the one who has touched us. The Leper was touched. The woman in the crowd was touched. The woman with the alabaster jar was touched. You have been touched, I have been touched, and the world waits to be touched; touched by the loving hand of God who has given us His heart. Give him your heart, and you will continue to be…touched and in doing so, touch the lives of others.
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