The Untouchables

"He went down with them and stood on a level place.  A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all." 

Anyone remember The Untouchables with Robert Stack? Ran from 1959-1963. I used to watch the reruns. Tommy guns. Elliot Ness. Al Capone. Black and white pictures. Nineteen-thirties Chryslers with suicide doors. The good old days of Prohibition and Corruption. Oh, wait a minute...I just described 2020. 

In the 1930's Al Capone and his gang were terrorizing Chicago. They had the mayor, the councilmen, and half the police force on the take. Enter Elliot Ness, Oscar Fraley, and a group of hand-picked men of courage, high morality, and incorruptibility, known as "The Untouchables." 

I grew up less than an hour from Chicago. My great uncle owned a gas station in Hanna, Indiana where John Dillinger stopped before heading into Chicago to meet "the lady in red" and his fateful end at the hands of these same "G-men." Hence, my interest. 

While Chicago had The Untouchables, Jesus had "untouchables" as well. Not the same. More like the description of the lower cast social status in India, also known as "Dalit." While not considered contaminated from birth, the people of Jesus' day acquired some sort of communicable disease that sequestered them from the rest of society. No touching! I used to imagine what that was like. Now I have a slight idea. 

No, I don't have Covid. No, my fingers, toes, and nose are not rotting and falling off from Leprosy (Hansen's Disease). But the social effects are, in part, there. The social distancing. The "stay at home" recommendations. No personal contact. No touch!

My heart is saddened to think that I may never be able to extend my hand for a firm shake. That I may never be able to kneel down before someone and hold the hand of a grieving person. That I may never be able to hug a brother or sister in Christ without fear of contracting or giving some invisible enemy. That anointing people with oil will be frowned upon as some perpetuation of the disease. 

Thank God for the power of Jesus and the hope of his coming. 

When my oldest daughter was a toddler we used to have to tell her over and over when we went to a store, "Don't touch." She would say, "I not. I just looking" - the little liar. 

How I long for the "Touchables." Until then I guess I'll just be... looking : - )