A Hygiene Lesson

Matthew 9:18-26

I’d like to give a hygiene lesson today. What do you think of?

Brushing your teeth

Combing your hair

Using deodorant

Washing your hands - Covid has made us very aware of this need for hygiene

Hygiene was an important factor in Jesus’ time. There were lots of rules about cleanliness - washing utensils, how to treat mold in the house or on clothing, sores on the skin - and many more that would seem strange to us. But all these rules were in place to keep the community safe. So anyone who appeared diseased or infected in any way would have to go live outside the settlement until the issue was cleared up.

Probably the two most important hygiene rules had to do with touching dead things and women who were menstruating. They didn’t have the knowledge we have today about germs and how disease gets transmitted, and so dead thing and blood were seen as dangerous to be around. If you touched something or someone dead - outside the camp you went. If you were a woman having her regular cycle - outside the camp you went. If you touched a woman having her cycle - well, you get it.

That’s what makes this passage about Jesus so amazing. First, we have a leader of the synagogue - we can think of that like a church - asking Jesus to come try and heal his dead daughter. What he’s asking is for Jesus to potentially infect himself with whatever disease killed his little girl by touching her. And the amazing thing is - Jesus agrees to go with him.

But before he can get to his house, there’s a twist in the story. We are introduced to a woman who has been suffering from some kind of bleeding issue for 12 years. We don’t know what the specific issue is, but we can probably assume this is referring to some kind of problem in her reproductive cycle. I went to school with a girl who once confided in me that she had been on her period for 30 days straight. As a man, I obviously have no first-hand knowledge about living with this. But I am married to someone who experiences the natural cycles of women’s reproductive systems, and I see how tired - and sometimes cranky - it makes her. Maybe you can also sympathize with what life was like for this woman. Not only the physical effects of this problem, but the social effects. She is someone who would have been forced to live away from everyone else for 12 years in fear that she might infect others.

Here is where we begin to see what is so amazing about Jesus. First with this woman. She thinks to herself, if only I can touch the hem of his cloak I’ll be healed. She is willing to risk infecting him because she has faith that he can actually maker her better. And guess what: instead of her infecting him, something in him infects her. Rather than transmitting some kind of uncleanness or disease to Jesus, Jesus transmits to her his healing and wholeness and restoration. Incredible. But the story isn’t over.

Now we return to the leader of the synagogue. Jesus puts everyone outside the house and then does another no-no. He touches the dead little girl. He takes her by the hand, and instead of her infecting him with whatever caused her death, he infects her with his life. This is how powerful the touch of Jesus is. It’s amazing.

So what’s the hygiene lesson for us?

Very simply, Jesus’ touch is healing. Maybe you know someone who is suffering from a physical condition or illness like the woman in this story. Maybe you are the one suffering in some way. Or maybe your issue is more like the little girl’s, that there is something in your life that just seems dead and hopeless. Jesus is still touching people, still healing people.

Sometimes the areas of our life that have become infected are deeper: things that get into our minds and heart. Memories of the past we’re stuck in and bound to. Habits we can’t break free of. Sometimes it’s just the guilt and shame of knowing we’ve done things that are wrong and we don’t know how to deal with it. Jesus will touch these places as well.

One chapter before this we find a leper came to Jesus. Leprosy was a kind of skin disease that again forced people to live away from everyone else for fear of infecting them. But this leper took a risk and came to Jesus and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Breaking the rules again, we read that Jesus touched him and said, “I am willing”.

Jesus is willing to touch you - to infect your life with his life - in any way you will let him. We believe that Jesus’ touch can still heal our physical issues. Sometimes he does that when we pray for people. We’d be happy to pray with anyone this evening who would like to ask Jesus to touch a physical concern in their life.

But we believe Jesus is always willing to touch our spiritual issues too, those places where we feel dead and separated from God because of our guilt or shame. Jesus simply invites you to confess whatever those things are, giving them to him, and ask him for his forgiveness. When we do that, he comes into our life touching us in ways we can’t even imagine. He begins to restore our life from the inside out. If you’d like someone to pray with you this evening about beginning a relationship with Jesus, or restoring a relationship with him that you used to have, we’d also love to do that as well.

Thanks for listening to my hygiene lesson. Let’s pray...