Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

Photo courtesy of here.

If Jesus were alive in Cincinnati today, he’d live in Westwood in Section 8 apartments.  And from that unlikely pool of baggy panted candidates, a gang of apostles would begin the modern day movement of the urban messiah.  This fact—yes, I’m calling it a “fact,” based on what we know from The Bible, and I don’t even care if you believe in those stories or not—anyway, this fact demonstrates how disconnected modern Christians, particularly modern white Christians, have become from the fundamentals of their faith.

Matthew Chapter 8 brings us the story of the man with leprosy:

When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.

Yes, when Jesus found someone who had a disease of the skin—the kind of person who would be an outcast in that society—Jesus was willing to reach out and touch that man. 

(Interestingly, skin diseases were the kind of thing where people would turn “white.” I only mention this as a matter of fact.  Biblical accounts of leprosy indicate people getting skin white like snow.  Check out this story, when God turns Moses’ sister Miriam “white” because she does not like Moses’ marriage to his second wife who is from Cush, which is present day Ethiopia.)

Anyway, whatever the case, the Bible shows a Christ who went out among the outcast, the downtrodden, those in need.  In the ancient world, “Samaritans” were social outcasts.  No one liked a Samaritan, or wanted anything to do with them.  But Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan.  Christ new that Godliness could be found in people that have been oppressed and cast aside by mainstream society.

Christ also comes across like a bit of a radical socialist.  He tells people to sell all they have and to give it to the poor.

To sum, Christ believed in sacrificing all one’s wealth for the sake of the poor.  He found Godliness in the types of people looked down upon by the rest.  He spent his time reaching out to lepers, and touching them.

Therefore, if the spirit of Jesus is alive in Westwood, it will manifest in the form of someone reaching out to those so-called outcasts living in Section 8, instead of bemoaning them and trying to run them out of town.

Thank you for reading (and printing from) The Cincinnati Beacon.