The Master’s Touch

The New Covenant

The great prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel had proclaimed the promise that God would make a new covenant with His people, – a relationship of the heart, empowered by His own spirit to create an intimacy of friendship with God through forgiveness.  The writer to the Hebrews endorses this promise by declaring that in Jesus this new covenant has been realised.  It was moreover a newness which was different from the old which was now outdated.  Paul confirms this to the Corinthians by showing that the Mosaic covenant had consisted of a code of laws to be obeyed, whereas the new covenant is based upon a personal relationship with God through the spirit.

‘As I have loved you’
This was the essence of the new commandment that Jesus gave to his disciples immediately before his betrayal – to love one another as he had loved them and this should be the proof to the world of their discipleship.  But what was new in this?  Had not the old Law demanded such love?  Jesus showed that this was different for it was the quality of his own loving.  And for it a word, agape, little used before in Greek texts, took on a new meaning.  Nygren, in his famous book Eros and Agape, had shown the difference between purely physical, sensual attraction, eros, which does not appear in the New Testament, and the agape of the New Testament.  In fact the verb agapao has no specialised application as it is used with a wide range of objects of all kinds and often means little more that ‘respect’ or ‘regard for’.  The real meaning of agape as used in the New Testament is illustrated by the way in which Jesus spoke, taught and acted.  It is defined by his whole life.  Although some have wished to exalt this word exclusively to a spiritual relationship with God, which it may well express also, it is rooted firmly in human relationships.

Good News to the Poor
The Sermon on the Mount breathes a spirit of warm, sensitive compassion. Happy are those who seek peace, build bridges, repair relationships and show mercy, kindness and sympathy, even loving enemies and praying for persecutors.  Judgmental attitudes and harsh criticisms he condemned and showed how forgiveness to others is the basis of being forgiven and finding true peace with God and with oneself.  Paul’s picture of love also shows a freedom from envy, pride and selfishness, a willingness to suffer one’s own loss and find hope, goodness and joy in giving and in others.  This is the blessing that Jesus came to give, a true fulfilment of oneself, an uplift of mind and heart.  He had come to bring a new dimension into the life and spirit of those who would come to him.  He was the Saviour, the one who would make men whole, healthy, sound.  He would release them from bondage to self, sin and slavery of body and mind.  He would wipe away their shortcomings, make them right as they were meant to be, and bring them into a relationship of friendship with God, if they would come to him, reorientate their whole thinking and respond to his call.  This is what he declared in the synagogue at Nazareth.  The day promised of old was now fulfilled.  The new age had begun.  He came to seek the lost, to restore the outcast, to welcome the despised and to help each person to find his or her true self, restored, healed, comforted and accepted, by his warm, sensitive, compassionate understanding of each individual’s need, personal, relevant and often challenging with perceptive caring insight.  But it was not one sided.  They came, they begged, they confessed, they responded, obeyed and thanked, healed in both body and mind.

Release to the Captives
As Jesus passed through the towns of Galilee people flocked to him and among them a leper; he came and knelt before him pleading for help which he believed Jesus could give.  Jesus moved with pity touched him and he was healed.  That touch was more than physical healing.  He, an outcast, rejected, separated from people, had felt this hand, this touch of human warmth and acceptance.  He was no longer an outcast, a reject.  The priest would certify his healing and he would be restored to society, healed in body and mind.  Soon after in Capernaum the paralytic, enslaved in both body and mind, was challenged to take up his bed, liberated from the guilt to which no doubt he attributed his disability – a new man forgiven and cleansed.  Legion, bound in body and mind, was released by the sight of his demons drowning in the sea.  Restored to his home  and family he was now accepted, integrated into society, a whole, cured disciple eager to spread the good news to others.  The woman with the haemorrhage had dared to touch and was forced to confess.  Previously rejected as unclean, she was proclaimed cleansed and cured, restored to her family and friends.

Sight to the blind
Isaiah had foretold the time when the blind would see and those that sit in darkness should be delivered.  And he had come, the anointed of the Lord, to open the eyes of the blind, not only physically but also spiritually.  The blind man of Bethsaida required two stages in his enlightenment as many also do. The man born blind, though anointed by Jesus, had to travel, no doubt slowly and painfully from the height of the Temple Mount down to the deep recess of the pool of Siloam and there to dip himself in the waters as Naaman of old.  It was healing through faith and obedience.  But Bartimaeus needed no such bidding.  With utter trust and total confidence he responded to Jesus’ call.  Casting away his garment he confessed his need, was healed by his faith and followed Jesus in the way.  Nicodemus needed different sight.  A ruler of the Jews, rich and powerful, a man of dignity and authority, he was nonetheless desirous of seeing Jesus.  He came by stealth, secretly aware of Jesus’ power in performing miracles but unable to understand the flow of divine grace that enabled it.  So Jesus opened his eyes to the influence of the spirit, the inner vision to see God at work in nature, in man and in himself, if he would open his heart to receive new life as a babe.  And surely Nicodemus did precisely that by openly pleading for Jesus in the Council and finally humbly pleading with Pilate for his body. .Such was the effect of Jesus’ power upon those who came, who heard and who responded.

Freedom to the bruised
Not all were in need of physical healing.  There were others, outcast, rejected, despised, guilty who needed sensitive, loving treatment.  The prostitute who broke into the banquet and anointed Jesus’ feet was accepted by him for her love for which he reinstated her into society and rebuked Simon for his judgmental attitude.  The rich, young ruler, confident and assured of his own deserts, had to learn that eternal life is not the reward for works or deeds but the fruit of humble receipt of God’s grace.  Zacchaeus above all was a man hated, despised, unscrupulous and unjust.  Yet he wanted to see Jesus.  And Jesus saw him and invited himself to his house.  Jesus granted Zacchaeus the honour, the privilege of being his host, no longer despised and hated, but enriched in heart and mind by the dignity of entertaining Jesus.  It is no wonder that it changed him – a glorious transformation from a mean, selfish man into a warm generous benefactor, converted by the unerring touch of the Master.  Finally Peter, full of remorse for his denial of his Lord, no longer the brazen, boastful disciple but the humbled servant.  He could no longer claim love for his Master but only honest friendship.  And he was accepted as the true shepherd of the flock, acknowledging his failure and therefore receptive of the Lord’s grace not in his own strength but in God’s.

The challenge of faith
They had come pleading, trusting in the power of Jesus to heal and he had touched each one at the point of his or her need, now whole, cleansed and reinstated.  Jesus penetrated to the heart of each need, the loneliness, the rejection, the guilt.  As they responded to his command, they came away, renewed, challenged to face new situations and relationships, but filled with the grace, the love of the Lord.
	‘Wilt thou be healed?’  ‘Do you want to recover?’  What a strange question to be asked of a man crippled for 38 years, hopefully awaiting a cure. But not even Jesus can heal unless the recipient accepts and responds.  ‘Take up your bed.’  Surely a challenge to one who had to face a new life – the challenge that Jesus presents to all who come to him confessing their need.  He will change our lives as we change our minds and hearts.  Jairus provided his daughter with food and Peter’s mother-in-law prepared a meal.  The man with the withered hand stretched it forth.  The Syrophoenician woman who had no doubt come with pride was humbled to accept his gift of healing for her daughter.  The deaf mute and the blind man of Bethsaida were led away from the crowd quietly, privately as each needed.  The centurion, himself a man in authority, acknowledged Jesus’ own authority and was granted his request.  To each he ministered in answer to his or her situation, touching each one with sensitive compassion, restoring her son to the grieving widow.
	To all there was a challenge to respond in faith and trust, not knowing whither it might lead – to Lazarus ‘Come forth’ – to the disciples ‘Launch out into the deep’ – to the servants at the Marriage Feast ‘Draw out’.  As they responded the nets filled, the water became wine, Lazarus rose to life!  The healing touch of Jesus brought restoration, recovery and renewal as they answered and responded.  The prophecies were fulfilled

The same yesterday, today and for ever
They put him to death but he rose triumphant!  The resurrection is the vital key to the whole story.  Jesus was not just a teacher, a healer.  He became a living presence then and now as he promised them.  Through the resurrection he became a spiritual being, unlimited in space and time and an indwelling power in the lives and experiences of his people.  So his work did not stop.  It continued through the ministry of the apostles.  Through them people found a new dimension in life. The Jews of Thessalonica declared of the apostles that they had turned the world upside down!  The evidence of the Roman historian Tacitus attests to the existence of an immense multitude of Christians in Rome by the middle of the sixties, only 30 years after the crucifixion.  How can we account for this phenomenon?  The message of Jesus enshrined within the Sermon on the Mount – non-aggressive, non-resistant, peacemaking, merciful, forgiving, seeking righteousness – was not a revolutionary programme to draw popular support.  But, as with the ministry of Jesus, who had dealt with every individual differently, appropriately and personally, so the Gospel answered each need, each hunger, each problem.  On the day of Pentecost the mob, guilt-laden for involvement in the crucifixion, flocked to repent, be cleansed and start afresh.

‘Go into all the world’
And the disciples did go and found a world ready, eager, waiting for a message of hope and life and freedom of mind and heart.  Scattered on account of the persecution following the stoning of Stephen, they went out first of all to the Samaritans.  Because of their doubtful lineage, they were excluded from the Jewish worship at Jerusalem, in spite of their observance of the Mosaic Law, enshrined in the Samaritan Pentateuch, which survives to this day.  But now they eagerly responded to the preaching of Philip and found that in Jesus they could become truly a part of God’s people.  The Ethiopian eunuch, a devout Jew, a man in high authority, yet precluded from full participation in Temple worship because of his physical condition, was reading from the book of Isaiah.  Was he meditating about the promise to the eunuchs of a full place in God’s family (chapter 56.)?  Who was this man, despised and rejected who had borne the griefs and carried the sorrows of others?  Could he help him?  Philip, under the guidance of the spirit, soon showed him that by identifying himself with Jesus in baptism, he could find acceptance – ‘a place and a name’, Yad Vashem, the name of the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.  No wonder he went on his way rejoicing!  Cornelius likewise, for all his generosity and devotion, was an outsider, a Gentile, not able to take part in the Jewish worship.  Had he encountered Jesus before?  Peter says he did know him either personally or by repute.  How thankfully he must now have found himself truly a member of God’s family!
It was Saul of Tarsus who came the hardest road.  The face of Stephen radiant with the glory of Jesus’ presence, praying for forgiveness for his murderers, challenged the very foundations of his faith.  How could this man, who had questioned the authority of the Law and the Temple, face death with such inner peace, with such assurance and faith in the risen Christ?  And was this man, put to death as a blasphemer, truly exalted to heaven?  It is no wonder that Paul proceeded with uneasy conscience to persecute the Christians until he was himself faced with Jesus himself on the Damascus road.  Convinced of the reality of Jesus’ resurrection, which was the confirmation of his claim to Messiahship, he lived the rest of his life in the confident assurance of the risen Lord’s presence with him.  The three years which he says he spent in Arabia were a valuable time of preparation for his life’s work as the Lord’s chosen vessel to bear his name before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel.  This man, equipped racially, culturally and socially, a Jew, brought up in a Greek city and also a Roman citizen, was indeed the true servant to bring God’s message to the wider world.

Light to the Gentiles
When Christianity stepped outside the narrow confines of Judaism it was faced with a supreme challenge.  The Roman and Greek world was a world full of gods, temples, religious celebrations and festivals, sometimes seasonal, riotous, and often sexual.  It was a world full of myths, legends, stories of gods and demigods and some of them deeply offensive to the moral disciplines inculcated by the Jewish faith.  These challenges had been met in the past through the voices of the prophets who denounced idolatry, rejected all forms of material representation of gods and commanded a total destruct ion of all images.  The great prophet of the second part of Isaiah had however viewed it differently – by pouring scorn on gods made of wood and stone, the work of men’s hands  In contrast he proclaims, in the wonderful chapter 40.28-31, that the God of Israel is active, powerful and the source of strength to His people.

The Christian Challenge
So how did the Christians face the challenge?  After the preaching to the Jews in Antioch, where the Jewish rejection led to preaching to the Gentiles, Paul and Barnabas proceeded through Iconium to Lystra where they healed a cripple (Acts 14.)  The response of the people was to acclaim the apostles as gods and to prepare to offer sacrifice to them.  This response may have been caused by remembrance of an ancient legend of a visit from gods whom they did not welcome and consequently were punished by destruction except for the old couple who were the only ones to receive them.  Paul however challenged them with a protest, declaring that the true God is the Lord of nature and all creation and the provider for His people – surely a teaching which they could understand.
The next encounter with Gentiles is at the Roman city of Philippi, established as a colony for veteran soldiers.  They are challenged here on the grounds of teaching customs unlawful for Romans.  Was this a challenge to Emperor worship as they were acclaimed to be the servants of the most high God?  But the real strength of their faith was exhibited by their behaviour in the prison which so influenced the other prisoners that they did not escape.  Surely these men had some inner power to face the earthquake with hope and courage.  It is no wonder that the jailer sought to discover its source in faith in the Lord Jesus (Acts 16).  Next in Thessalonica the challenge again is of preaching of a God other than Caesar.

Athens
 But it is in Athens (Acts 17) that Paul faced the real challenge of idol worship with consummate skill.  This, the cultural centre of the ancient world, provided ample scope for discussion and enquiry and Paul recognised that he needed to meet their investigation with appropriate response.  He did not denounce their worship of images but used the altar to the unknown god as the basis of showing them his belief in a God Who is supreme, creator of heaven and earth, the very source of life for all people for ‘in Him we live and move and have our being.’
	He quotes from their own poets to support this and proceeds to argue that because God is not an image of gold, silver or stone He does not require a man-made temple to dwell in nor gifts from men.  Standing as he was, in view of the beautiful Parthenon, he did not decry it or denounce it, but simply argued that his God is not limited by such buildings.  In quoting from their literature he was actually showing his awareness that there were thinkers in their midst who believed the same.  But he concluded with a direct challenge that his God demands response in the face of coming judgment through Jesus who had been raised from the dead.  Although he may have made few converts, he left them with much food for thought.

Ephesus 
After an 18 month stay in Corinth of preaching and teaching, the fruits of which we shall study later, he proceeded across the Aegean to Ephesus.  It was here that Paul stayed later on in his third missionary journey for 2 years.  The outcome of this is clearly proved by the event which took place at the end.  It was a trade union protest.  The silversmiths who made images of the goddess Diana were losing their trade as a result of the apostles’ preaching and brought their protest into the theatre, proclaiming devotion to the goddess Diana.  After two hours the town clerk succeeded in quelling the tumult with a remarkable tribute to the apostles as neither robbers of churches nor blasphemers of their goddess.  This is surely a fine tribute to their preaching which had clearly led to the recognition of the inadequacy of their own religion.  In each case Paul builds brilliantly upon his recognition of their thoughts, beliefs and inner needs, not by attack or aggression but in each case by presenting them with a greater vision, a deeper truth and a more fulfilling faith.

All things to all people
Paul declares that he had made himself a servant to all, to the Jews, to the Greeks and to the weak that he might save some.  His letters are a one-sided correspondence.  They are his replies to the questions, problems, difficulties and situations of the different communities.  They are consequently written in the language of their understanding and to be interpreted in the context of their life, attitudes and language.  They reveal the same perceptive touch as that of Jesus, each letter individual and specific to their situation.  To the Galatians, the converts from his first missionary journey who had been influenced by Judaisers to turn back to the Law, he wrote in uncompromising terms, denouncing them for rejecting the all-sufficiency of faith in Jesus  Although the Philippians were his joy and crown, this ‘thank you’ letter shows evidence of some rifts between the members whom he exhorts to be of one accord, of one mind.  How well did this community in fact harmonise together – Lydia, the jailor, Euodias, Syntyche?  The supreme example of Jesus who took the form of a servant is the ultimate endorsement of his advice and exhortation to humility.  In Corinth he faced a more challenging situation.  This city, the commercial centre of traffic from East to West of the Mediterranean consisted of a mixture of people of all kinds and races, a shifting population of traffickers and merchants, some wealthy, prosperous, educated, cultured but also numerous ne’er-do-wells living on the pickings of trade and commerce.  It was a city noted for its loose morals and corrupt practices that still bears evidence of its low life resorts.  The church inevitably reflected these same characteristics, cliques, divisions, disorderliness, immorality.  Yet, as Paul states, they had been washed, they had been sanctified and made right by the spirit of God.  As they were a body in Christ each had his part to play, however humble, provided that the whole was bound together in the bonds of Christian love and fellowship.  The lesson of mutual respect and tolerance of each other remains valid for all communities.  However much the message was specific and particular to that community it carried with it advice for all generations.

Ephesus
This fine city, whose existing remains still give clear proof of its ancient splendour and culture, was the centre of Roman administration for the whole region.  It was however essentially Greek, as its temples, theatres and library attest.  It was a centre of learning and education and no doubt the Christians were equally versed in the thought, literature and philosophies of the contemporary society.  So it is in this vein that Paul writes to them.  Incipient Gnosticism influenced by Platonic thought was already undermining the Gospel.  Plato had taught that the reality or truth of all things lies not in the outward appearance or material substance but in the purpose, the essence, the concept, the fundamental idea of the object.  Although he was actually seeking to show the ultimate spiritual meaning of life, this teaching led to a sharp dichotomy between physical substance and spiritual idea and ultimately to a serious challenge to the humanity of Jesus.  How could he be thought to be the supreme source of salvation and enlightenment if he partook of the weakness of humanity and suffered a shameful death?  Others denied his humanity altogether.  To the Colossians, an offshoot of the Ephesian church, Paul meets this challenge head-on by declaring that Jesus is in fact Lord of creation, the image of the invisible God who has brought salvation through his death and resurrection which is the supreme revealed mystery.
So Paul speaks in the language of his readers, communicating to them according to their thoughts and ideas, with perceptive insight, consummate skill and sensitive awareness of each problem and situation.

Philemon
The letter to Philemon is Paul’s true masterpiece of diplomacy.  In this touching appeal he uses every device of persuasion to plead with a stern slave master who had the right to exact the extreme penalty over his runaway slave who had stolen from him.  Paul writes in love to a beloved brother and his family for whom he prays and thanks God.  He commends him for his services, his love, his faith, reminds him of his debt to himself, offers to repay whatever is owing, requests hospitality and threatens him with an impending visit from an old, now aged friend, a prisoner of Jesus Christ.
And all for a runaway slave, his brother in Christ!
Truly the Master’s touch!

Sheila Harris

THE  WILL  TO  CHANGE

‘Wilt thou be healed?’  The Master asked the man
Who’d lain for years, unhelped, unblessed, uncured.
‘Wilt thou be healed?’  How strange a question asked
Of one whose sickness bound him to the spot
From where he saw the healing waters flow!
‘Wilt thou be healed and start a life anew?’
For years he’d lain and age had ta’en its toll
Of youth and hope; yet still he dared to look
For one to help and guide him to the brink
Of healing, curing streams that flowed in front
Of eager, longing eyes that dared to hope.
For eight and thirty years he’d waited sore
For one to help – a lifetime’s weary age
Of desert pilgrimage to promised land,
So long indeed that many died unblessed,
Their vision fading of that promised land.
And they had ceased to hope for life anew.
But this man hoped and Jesus saw his faith.
In spite of age, infirmity and pain,
He had the courage to begin afresh,
To enter into life, renewed, reborn.
At Jesus’ word he rose and walked again.
For he had found the one to heal and cure.
Yet many lie still without hope or cure, 
In need of friendly word and helping hand,
Their vision blurred, their faith a fading glow.
‘I have no man to help.’ was his sore cry.
Yet Jesus walks this earth in hands and hearts
That still stretch out to help and heal the sick
And bring a glow of sunshine to the frail,
And lift up lonely hearts with words of cheer,
To give new hope and vision to a world
That lies in darkness, vision lost and drear.

Sheila Harris

This booklet is designed to be a sequel to ‘ 
The Joy of Salvation.  

It aims to show how this joyful message of liberation and acceptance was received by the people whom Jesus encountered.  

The apostles continued this work in their preaching and writing, applying their message of hope and joy to the personal, individual needs of the recipients.  

This provides us with a challenge of how to go out into our world to answer its needs, problems, frustrations, fears and hopes with the good news of salvation.