“Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.””
(Mark 1:41, ESV)
(Mark 1:41, ESV)
Something special happened when Jesus touched someone.
In Mark 1:39, Jesus touched Simon’s mother, who had a fever. She was immediately healed. Less than a day later, a leper who begged for Jesus to heal him broke the law just to get close to Jesus. According to the gospel of Mark, this leper approached Jesus. Lepers were bound by Jewish law to never approach or touch humans on threat of punishment or death. People knew that illnesses like leprosy could be transmitted by touch or human interaction. Instead of Jesus being offended or outraged by the approaching leper, Jesus was “moved with pity” (Mark 1:41). Then, Jesus did something shocking. He reached out and touched the leper saying, “be clean” (Mark 1:41b). The man was immediately healed by Jesus’ touch with God’s action (Mark 1:42).
Mark 3:10 hints that many who saw Jesus knew His touch could bring immediate healing: immediate relief from suffering. In Mark 5, the gospel tells of a woman who was unable to be healed by the doctors of the day. With just a touch of Jesus’ clothes, she was healed in an instant (Mark 5:27-28). In Mark 7:33, Jesus touched a deaf man’s ear, and the man regained his hearing. Mark 8 shares the story of a man who was blind. Jesus laid his hands upon the man, and he too was healed (Mark 8:23). Luke 6:19 clarified that whole crowds hoped to touch Jesus to receive healing, to be changed, to be forgiven, to be made whole.
Healing and wholeness and spiritual insight came with every touch of Jesus’ hand.
Just a few years ago, in the days of the COVID-19 pandemic, people were urged to stop touching. In China, people were forced to stay at home or be confined to their neighborhood. At the height of the epidemic in Italy, people were forced to stay in their houses or apartments and not come out. The hospitals were filled with the suffering. Many shoppers were ordered to stay six feet apart, wear gloves, and cover their faces with masks. Families were urged by health agencies to skip Thanksgiving and Christmas meals with extended family. Many who lost a family member or close friend were forced to have no funeral, no visitation, no worship service, not view the body, not say goodbye in person, nor touch their loved one ever again. The psychological and spiritual scars from forced separation still haunt people to this day. Psychologists say the generation of children who were kept from social interaction at school bear unmistakable signs of emotional wounds due to the separation.
Simple human touch has great benefits. The hug of a mother can shape a child. The caress of a spouse can bring hope. And when touched by God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit, great things happen. Forgiveness and healing are often found by God’s interaction and the touch of a godly soul.
There are dozens of Biblical stories where the laying one’s holy hands on another in a holy moment or prayer changed a life. As shown in the above scriptures, Jesus touched and healed others frequently. The disciples also practiced this laying on of hands. The book of Acts mentions Peter and Paul and others laying hands on those to receive healing or be given the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Even today, when a pastor is ordained, it is usually done with a group of holy people laying hands upon the person beginning ministry. They lay hands on the person’s head, shoulders, and torso while praying for God to fill the person’s soul and empower the person’s mission work.
If the holy laying of hands and healing touch are so important in biblical stories and in the church, why are these life-changing acts so frowned upon in the world? Why is the world so quick to keep people six feet apart, order the wearing of masks, and ban worship services, as done during COVID-19? Why are teachers in many school districts warned to never give hugs? Why are pastors now taught to never touch a person in private lest they lose liability insurance? Despite the power of healing and help and hope through godly touch, the world keeps impressing on the church and pastors to keep away from others, stop touching and hugging, stop reaching out.
Today, I’m asking you to go along... not with worldly opinion… but with the Bible. Pray for others. Reach out, in Jesus’ name. Lay hands on those needing healing or wholeness or forgiveness. Show love through holy touch, just as Jesus did so long ago. Give hugs to the hurting and depressed. Hold hands with the ones you love. Don’t do it just to be near them or just for “ministry points”. Bring the presence of Jesus with your touch, your presence, your words.
In the early days of AIDS, I was called to the hospital room of a man who was dying from the deadly disease. In that time, if a person had AIDS, people wanted them to be gone. They were the lepers of the twentieth century. Just to visit the man, I had to gown up, wear gloves, don a mask. The room was hermetically sealed. The door to the room was plastered with rules… among them.. DON’T TOUCH THE PATIENT IF POSSIBLE. The man had less than a day to live. I knew it. He knew it. The hospital did not have the drugs to keep the man alive past a certain point.
As the man with AIDS lay dying, I entered his room. His family did not visit him. His friends did not visit him. Since being in that hospital, only nurses and doctors came into his room. Seldom did anybody speak to him other than to ask medical questions. Each of his care givers knew he was dying yet offered few words of comfort. I walked over to the man, and we spoke. A few moments later, I touched his arm. Then he cried, telling me of all the things that he would miss, words he had not spoken, shame over his illness… he stopped speaking. He looked up at me with wide eyes. He said, “You touched me!”. I reached out my gloved hand. He held it. We prayed. I asked God to help him, forgive him, bring him grace. I asked him to speak to God and unburden his soul. The man genuinely reached out to God in that prayer, hoping for forgiveness and grace from Heaven, seeking peace at the end of his life, bearing tear after tear after tear. I was the last person to spend time with that man. He died a few hours later. That moment in his room changed that man’s life. You could tell. My touch, God’s touch, brought so much peace and grace to his last hours.
Even now, Jesus is still touching lives. The prayers of holy people are saving souls. The touch of godly believers is bringing healing and forgiveness and hope. You don’t have to touch a person with your skin to touch their soul or bring hope to their struggles. God’s healing can work through the words of your prayer. But never forget that there is great power in the touch of a holy one. Don’t underestimate the touch of the Holy Spirit upon a soul.
In the next weeks before Christmas, who needs your presence, a healing touch, a hand in prayer, a hug, a moment with you, a moment with God?
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Heavenly Father, I praise Your name. You are the Creator. You bring life where there is none. You bring light into the world. You have touched the lives of many, bringing hope and healing and grace.
I ask for that grace upon this prayer. I ask for healing to encircle the following souls: ______________________________________________________________________.
In this season of lights, let me bring some light to the darkness of others. Let me bring hope to the depressed. Let me touch the lives of those around me. I do all this in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.
I ask for this, dear Father. Bring to my presence, those who need Your touch. Let me be an instrument of Your peace. Help me to offer up the right words to those seeking wisdom. Let your Holy Spirit work through me. When I pray with others, hear our prayer. When I touch the hand of one who is hurting, may I bring healing by Your grace.
I don’t want recognition. I don’t want accolades. I just want to touch the lives of others as You have touched mine. Amen.
In Mark 1:39, Jesus touched Simon’s mother, who had a fever. She was immediately healed. Less than a day later, a leper who begged for Jesus to heal him broke the law just to get close to Jesus. According to the gospel of Mark, this leper approached Jesus. Lepers were bound by Jewish law to never approach or touch humans on threat of punishment or death. People knew that illnesses like leprosy could be transmitted by touch or human interaction. Instead of Jesus being offended or outraged by the approaching leper, Jesus was “moved with pity” (Mark 1:41). Then, Jesus did something shocking. He reached out and touched the leper saying, “be clean” (Mark 1:41b). The man was immediately healed by Jesus’ touch with God’s action (Mark 1:42).
Mark 3:10 hints that many who saw Jesus knew His touch could bring immediate healing: immediate relief from suffering. In Mark 5, the gospel tells of a woman who was unable to be healed by the doctors of the day. With just a touch of Jesus’ clothes, she was healed in an instant (Mark 5:27-28). In Mark 7:33, Jesus touched a deaf man’s ear, and the man regained his hearing. Mark 8 shares the story of a man who was blind. Jesus laid his hands upon the man, and he too was healed (Mark 8:23). Luke 6:19 clarified that whole crowds hoped to touch Jesus to receive healing, to be changed, to be forgiven, to be made whole.
Healing and wholeness and spiritual insight came with every touch of Jesus’ hand.
Just a few years ago, in the days of the COVID-19 pandemic, people were urged to stop touching. In China, people were forced to stay at home or be confined to their neighborhood. At the height of the epidemic in Italy, people were forced to stay in their houses or apartments and not come out. The hospitals were filled with the suffering. Many shoppers were ordered to stay six feet apart, wear gloves, and cover their faces with masks. Families were urged by health agencies to skip Thanksgiving and Christmas meals with extended family. Many who lost a family member or close friend were forced to have no funeral, no visitation, no worship service, not view the body, not say goodbye in person, nor touch their loved one ever again. The psychological and spiritual scars from forced separation still haunt people to this day. Psychologists say the generation of children who were kept from social interaction at school bear unmistakable signs of emotional wounds due to the separation.
Simple human touch has great benefits. The hug of a mother can shape a child. The caress of a spouse can bring hope. And when touched by God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit, great things happen. Forgiveness and healing are often found by God’s interaction and the touch of a godly soul.
There are dozens of Biblical stories where the laying one’s holy hands on another in a holy moment or prayer changed a life. As shown in the above scriptures, Jesus touched and healed others frequently. The disciples also practiced this laying on of hands. The book of Acts mentions Peter and Paul and others laying hands on those to receive healing or be given the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Even today, when a pastor is ordained, it is usually done with a group of holy people laying hands upon the person beginning ministry. They lay hands on the person’s head, shoulders, and torso while praying for God to fill the person’s soul and empower the person’s mission work.
If the holy laying of hands and healing touch are so important in biblical stories and in the church, why are these life-changing acts so frowned upon in the world? Why is the world so quick to keep people six feet apart, order the wearing of masks, and ban worship services, as done during COVID-19? Why are teachers in many school districts warned to never give hugs? Why are pastors now taught to never touch a person in private lest they lose liability insurance? Despite the power of healing and help and hope through godly touch, the world keeps impressing on the church and pastors to keep away from others, stop touching and hugging, stop reaching out.
Today, I’m asking you to go along... not with worldly opinion… but with the Bible. Pray for others. Reach out, in Jesus’ name. Lay hands on those needing healing or wholeness or forgiveness. Show love through holy touch, just as Jesus did so long ago. Give hugs to the hurting and depressed. Hold hands with the ones you love. Don’t do it just to be near them or just for “ministry points”. Bring the presence of Jesus with your touch, your presence, your words.
In the early days of AIDS, I was called to the hospital room of a man who was dying from the deadly disease. In that time, if a person had AIDS, people wanted them to be gone. They were the lepers of the twentieth century. Just to visit the man, I had to gown up, wear gloves, don a mask. The room was hermetically sealed. The door to the room was plastered with rules… among them.. DON’T TOUCH THE PATIENT IF POSSIBLE. The man had less than a day to live. I knew it. He knew it. The hospital did not have the drugs to keep the man alive past a certain point.
As the man with AIDS lay dying, I entered his room. His family did not visit him. His friends did not visit him. Since being in that hospital, only nurses and doctors came into his room. Seldom did anybody speak to him other than to ask medical questions. Each of his care givers knew he was dying yet offered few words of comfort. I walked over to the man, and we spoke. A few moments later, I touched his arm. Then he cried, telling me of all the things that he would miss, words he had not spoken, shame over his illness… he stopped speaking. He looked up at me with wide eyes. He said, “You touched me!”. I reached out my gloved hand. He held it. We prayed. I asked God to help him, forgive him, bring him grace. I asked him to speak to God and unburden his soul. The man genuinely reached out to God in that prayer, hoping for forgiveness and grace from Heaven, seeking peace at the end of his life, bearing tear after tear after tear. I was the last person to spend time with that man. He died a few hours later. That moment in his room changed that man’s life. You could tell. My touch, God’s touch, brought so much peace and grace to his last hours.
Even now, Jesus is still touching lives. The prayers of holy people are saving souls. The touch of godly believers is bringing healing and forgiveness and hope. You don’t have to touch a person with your skin to touch their soul or bring hope to their struggles. God’s healing can work through the words of your prayer. But never forget that there is great power in the touch of a holy one. Don’t underestimate the touch of the Holy Spirit upon a soul.
In the next weeks before Christmas, who needs your presence, a healing touch, a hand in prayer, a hug, a moment with you, a moment with God?
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Heavenly Father, I praise Your name. You are the Creator. You bring life where there is none. You bring light into the world. You have touched the lives of many, bringing hope and healing and grace.
I ask for that grace upon this prayer. I ask for healing to encircle the following souls: ______________________________________________________________________.
In this season of lights, let me bring some light to the darkness of others. Let me bring hope to the depressed. Let me touch the lives of those around me. I do all this in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.
I ask for this, dear Father. Bring to my presence, those who need Your touch. Let me be an instrument of Your peace. Help me to offer up the right words to those seeking wisdom. Let your Holy Spirit work through me. When I pray with others, hear our prayer. When I touch the hand of one who is hurting, may I bring healing by Your grace.
I don’t want recognition. I don’t want accolades. I just want to touch the lives of others as You have touched mine. Amen.