Jesus Has Washed You CLEAN!

Jesus has washed you CLEAN! This statement is true of every Follower of Jesus. We are clean because of our relationship with Him, because we have accepted Him as the leader of our lives. This is a lesson the leaders of the Early Church struggled with.
At the time Jesus was born, there was a definite divide between God’s people—the people of Israel—and the Gentiles. God’s people followed a strict set of laws and purification rites to ensure they maintained a level of purity acceptable to God. Their laws covered everything from what they ate to when they washed and what they wore. As the Gentiles did not follow these laws, they were considered unclean. Contact with a Gentile in certain situations, such as taking a meal with them, meant the Jewish person was by association unclean and had to be purified through sacrifice before entering the Temple, the House of God, once again.
Jesus changed all of that. He was the ultimate sacrifice, and through Him any person who accepted his Salvation became clean and pure enough to stand in His presence. After Jesus death and resurrection, some of the disciples who ministered to the Gentiles taught them and had meals with them as Jesus had with the disciples. Others still followed the old ways, and wanted to keep that division. But Jesus broke those boundaries. He loved all men, women, and children equally. He never turned anyone away because of their social status, their nationality, or their health.
That is why we are called to share our faith. We are Jesus’ living representatives. We are called to take His love and ministry to the world. All of the world. We are not held back by social status, nationality, or health because we know Jesus calls us to LOVE all people. We are to share our faith so they in turn can hear that phrase: Jesus has washed you CLEAN!