During the years of my Campus Ministry at Michigan Technological University, I often worked with students from India. I was surprised when they told me that in many areas of India, there remains a “caste” system! What exactly is that? What follows is a brief peek into that system.
Villagers walk along a dusty path. As they near certain houses, they pause to kick off their sandals, pick them up and carry them. They proceed barefoot, until they pass the houses. Then they drop their sandals and put them on again.
Women go to the village well for the daily task of drawing water. But some women are not allowed. They must find water elsewhere. . .in a muddy, brackish pool. As one woman tries to carry her water jug home, she is attacked by a pig. She slips into the muck and drops her water.
A frail-looking woman, middle-aged, cleans public toilets. Her tools? A basket and her bare hands.
Such is the plight of the "untouchables," the lowest caste in the society of India. Untouchables are social lepers, deemed subhuman by the castes above them. The jobs no one else will do are dumped on the untouchables, and untouchables are ostracized from the castes above them. Hence, no drawing water from a public well; no drinking tea in a public tea house.
How does an Indian become an untouchable? By birth. How does one get out? As the system stands now, there is no escape. An untouchable is doomed to remain as such all his/her life, and then the cycle repeats with the children.
It shocks us to think there is still a society that operates like this in our modern-day world. And yet, isn’t it true that all of us once were "untouchables"? How so? The Psalmist David lamented, "Certainly, I was guilty when I was born. I was sinful when my mother conceived me." (Psalm 51:5) This sin we’re born with is so vile, so disgusting, so dangerous, that it makes all of us "untouchable” to our holy God! The prophet Isaiah observed, "It is your guilt that has separated you from your God." (Isaiah 59:2) Like spiritual lepers, we were cast out from God's presence, with no hope of enjoying His companionship now or in eternity in heaven. (Revelation 21:27)
Until Jesus came. Jesus came and touched the "untouchables." He healed lepers! (Luke 5:12-16) He ate with tax collectors and prostitutes! (Luke 15:2) With a touch from his holy hand, he cured the lame, the blind, and the deaf. The power of His perfect word penetrated even the grave—touching the lifeless corpse of Lazarus and raising him from the dead!
Then Jesus suffered and died for the "untouchables," for us! In fact, our Savior actually became an "untouchable" on the cross, as proven by that awful moment when He cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!" (Matthew 27:46) Separated from his Father, Jesus endured the agonies of hell itself for all the billions of untouchables our human race will ever number. Then He died at 3 PM on Good Friday, offering the Father payment in full for all the sins of all the untouchables of all time! (Remember John 19:30 which contains that precious word “Tetelestai!”)
The result? You and I are no longer "untouchables" in the eyes of our Heavenly Father! Instead, because of our Lord’s limitless grace, we have been given a new status, a new "caste" if you will. The Apostle Paul assures us, "Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him." (Romans 8:17)
Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
Villagers walk along a dusty path. As they near certain houses, they pause to kick off their sandals, pick them up and carry them. They proceed barefoot, until they pass the houses. Then they drop their sandals and put them on again.
Women go to the village well for the daily task of drawing water. But some women are not allowed. They must find water elsewhere. . .in a muddy, brackish pool. As one woman tries to carry her water jug home, she is attacked by a pig. She slips into the muck and drops her water.
A frail-looking woman, middle-aged, cleans public toilets. Her tools? A basket and her bare hands.
Such is the plight of the "untouchables," the lowest caste in the society of India. Untouchables are social lepers, deemed subhuman by the castes above them. The jobs no one else will do are dumped on the untouchables, and untouchables are ostracized from the castes above them. Hence, no drawing water from a public well; no drinking tea in a public tea house.
How does an Indian become an untouchable? By birth. How does one get out? As the system stands now, there is no escape. An untouchable is doomed to remain as such all his/her life, and then the cycle repeats with the children.
It shocks us to think there is still a society that operates like this in our modern-day world. And yet, isn’t it true that all of us once were "untouchables"? How so? The Psalmist David lamented, "Certainly, I was guilty when I was born. I was sinful when my mother conceived me." (Psalm 51:5) This sin we’re born with is so vile, so disgusting, so dangerous, that it makes all of us "untouchable” to our holy God! The prophet Isaiah observed, "It is your guilt that has separated you from your God." (Isaiah 59:2) Like spiritual lepers, we were cast out from God's presence, with no hope of enjoying His companionship now or in eternity in heaven. (Revelation 21:27)
Until Jesus came. Jesus came and touched the "untouchables." He healed lepers! (Luke 5:12-16) He ate with tax collectors and prostitutes! (Luke 15:2) With a touch from his holy hand, he cured the lame, the blind, and the deaf. The power of His perfect word penetrated even the grave—touching the lifeless corpse of Lazarus and raising him from the dead!
Then Jesus suffered and died for the "untouchables," for us! In fact, our Savior actually became an "untouchable" on the cross, as proven by that awful moment when He cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!" (Matthew 27:46) Separated from his Father, Jesus endured the agonies of hell itself for all the billions of untouchables our human race will ever number. Then He died at 3 PM on Good Friday, offering the Father payment in full for all the sins of all the untouchables of all time! (Remember John 19:30 which contains that precious word “Tetelestai!”)
The result? You and I are no longer "untouchables" in the eyes of our Heavenly Father! Instead, because of our Lord’s limitless grace, we have been given a new status, a new "caste" if you will. The Apostle Paul assures us, "Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him." (Romans 8:17)
Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
RSS Feed
