The Fullness of You...Touching

Mark 1:41 NIV

 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!"

                                         Does It Matter Who Touches You?

More than thirty years ago Mary Jo and I started doing things together.  We went to movies, went out to eat, her family had me over to the house for Sunday dinners, we went to the New Orleans Jazz Fest, walked along the Lakefront, hung out in the French Quarter and played on the same volleyball team.  Although Mary Jo didn’t have a boyfriend and I didn’t have anyone I was dating, we had a friendship that was not in a sense romantic.  We had never kissed, we didn’t even hold hands.  Then after a year and a half of maintaining our relationship this way, we both started working at the same Christian camp in North Carolina.  Mary Jo had arrived a week before I did and so we both were happy to meet again after being apart.  My first afternoon there the two of us went hiking along a trail that went through the woods on the campus and to my complete surprise Mary Jo took my hand and held it as we walked.  It felt like electricity flew through my body.  We had never held hands before, not even when we prayed and I was stunned by the sensation of being touched by her.  On that day, touch, even as benign as holding a hand, initiated a chain of events that completely changed our lives.

Touch is perhaps the most powerful of all our senses as it is the only one that impacts the entire body.  As a result, touch is a dynamic force that fuels a wide range of emotions.  Even our use of the term “touch” in its metaphorical suggests an effect that is significant.  If you say that “she touched you” it implies something much deeper than the gathering of sensory information, it means that somehow the person impacted your heart….the center of who you are.  Are you comfortable being touched?  Do you like to touch others?  Do you find that certain people like it when you touch them?  How important is touch to the Church or even to the practice of Christianity?

There are reasons to mistrust the use of touch and the Bible gives several examples of how touch is misused.  Old and blind Isaac wanted to give a blessing from God to his oldest son Esau but the younger son stepped in without the father’s knowledge and pretended to be Esau.  He put lambskin on over his arms and neck so that when his father touched him, he would be tricked into believing he was the older and hairier brother.  Jacob got away with the ruse too and stole the blessing from his brother.  Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau."  He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. (Genesis 27:22-23 NIV)  Both Isaac and the older brother were devastated when they discovered what Jacob had done.

Have you ever been fooled by someone’s touch?  You thought you were loved but you actually weren’t.  You believed the touch meant you could trust the person; assumed the touch would be good for you.  How many have been touched for evil reasons, corrupt reasons.  When Amnon touched his sister Tamar, it was because he lusted after her but had no love for her.  His touch destroyed the personality of Tamar and left her emotionally crippled. 

But he (Amnon) refused to listen to her (Tamar), and since he was stronger than she, he raped her. Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, "Get up and get out!"   "No!" she said to him. "Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me."  But he refused to listen to her...Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the ornamented robe she was wearing. She put her hand on her head and went away, weeping aloud as she went…And Tamar lived in her brother Absalom's house, a desolate woman. (2 Samuel 13:14-16, 19, 20b NIV)

In contrast, when Jesus touched, He healed.  His hands brought joy and comfort.  When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. (Luke 4:40 NIV)  Children were blessed by His touch.  And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. (Mark 10:16 NIV)  The elderly were comforted by the feel of His hand.  When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity."  Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.  (Luke 13:12-13 NIV)  Crowds thronged to Jesus, the people wanting to touch Him because of what they believed would happen if they did. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed. (Matthew 14:35-36 NIV)

The Apostles, following Jesus lead also used touch to bless and change the lives of those they touched.  Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:17 NIV)  Even non-Apostles were instruments of God’s work by their use of touch.  Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord-Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here — has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."  Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. (Acts 9:17-19 NIV)  Touch became the way believers in Christ confirmed God’s calling to ministry and service.  In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: …While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."  So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.  (Acts 13:1-3 NIV)  Paul the Apostle especially used touch to bless and heal.  When Paul placed his hands on them (new Christians in Ephesus), the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. (Acts 19:6 NIV)  Paul followed Jesus’ lead and let touch be the instrument though which God healed many.  There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and for three days entertained us hospitably.  His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.  When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. (Acts 28:7-9 NIV)

Touch has been lost as a way to bring the love of our Savior to the world.  Many have been psychologically damaged by touch and are afraid of what it might do.  Others have lost their confidence in God to help them and aren’t interested in being touched by the Lord’s people.  Mostly though, Christians have stopped believing what God can do through them when they touch others.  We find in the book of Hebrews that touch is one of the rudimentary ways God uses His people to change lives.  It is “basic Christianity”.  Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.  And God permitting, we will do so. (Hebrews 6:1-3 NIV)

Let us not worry ourselves much about why Christians don’t use touch as instruments of God.  They have the Holy Spirit in them so as they gain experience as believers, they will gradually learn how to live with God as part of them.  A critical component of Christianity is touching people and believing that a supernatural work of the Lord will happen when doing so.  Recently I was stunned by how someone I touched through the Holy Spirit was healed by God.  Years ago the Lord told me to pray by touching a couple who for years had been childless.  In three months they called me to say that the next month they conceived.  We have no right to give up on our ability to touch people who need God’s help!  If God flows in you, He will flow out of you and your touch is what He wishes to use to bring comfort and help to the world.  Touch the weak, touch the broken, touch the proud and touch all who feel like they have lost.  Touch and God will touch through you.

The Worthiness of Jesus

Mark 1:22 NIV

The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

What Do You Think of Jesus?

I make it a regular practice of weighing myself on our bathroom scale.  Recently it started indicating that I weighed 120 pounds, 17 pounds and 3.8 pounds.  Now I am more than glad to lose weight but that was a bit extreme and so I changed the batteries but it continued to give me similar readings.  Why it was so important to me to know precisely how much I weighed as if where my belt notched did not give me all the information I needed, I can’t say.  Maybe it is a mild form of masochism; perhaps I needed a fresh dose of bad news each day.  I was determined to get an accurate measure of my weight though, so much so that I bought a new scale.  I was very happy to read that with the new scale, I apparently had lost 75 pounds.  Unfortunately, my belt told me that could not be the case.  Off I went back to the store to return my new scale so that I could have an accurate measure of one important area that I judged myself.

One of the characteristics of being human is that we regularly measure not only ourselves but more often others on a wide range of scales.  Is he smart?  Is she unsophisticated?  Is he creative?  Is she strong willed?  What is she really?  Talented?  Funny?  Depressed?  A good conversationalist?  Honest?  Caring?  Egotistical?  Full of love?  When it comes to Jesus, there is perhaps no one in history who has been categorized as often.  Yet, what do we really know about Him?  If you were hanging out with Jesus at Starbucks, what sort of impression would He leave you?  He was a carpenter and perhaps poor.  Would that be what struck you?  Would you have considered Him charismatic or witty or quiet and thoughtful?  Today we will consider just one aspect of Jesus and that will be His mind.

Early in Jesus’ life He famously camped out in the Temple of Jerusalem for perhaps an entire week and met with the Jewish teachers there.  Luke described Jesus’ conversations with the teachers as being eye-opening for all who were a part of the discussions.  Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.  When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom.  After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.  Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends.  When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.  After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.  Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. (Luke 2:41-47 NIV)  Clearly, Jesus was a mentally sharp young man who gave great thought to the Scriptures and had a well-organized mind.  The best teachers in all of Israel were at the Temple and they were impressed by Jesus’ thinking.

Nearly two decades later Jesus taught on a hillside and a large crowd came to hear what He had to say.  This extended teaching session became later known as the “Sermon on the Mount”.  At the time, Jesus’ fame was growing but not many yet had heard Him speak.  When He got finished, the crowd was in awe of what they heard.  When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. (Matthew 7:28-29 NIV)  No one, as far as we can tell from ancient writings, came close to Jesus’ insight into ethics and moral decision-making.  His teaching that day was pure genius.  Like the crowds, we too are amazed by how He interpreted Scripture and the way He presented a complete approach to life.

The Gospel of John gives a similar assessment of Jesus’ effect on others.  Temple guards who had been sent by the priests to arrest Jesus were not psychologically prepared for the task.  Their “mistake” was they took the time to listen to Him preach.  When Jesus finished, rather than arrest Him, they returned to the priests with genuine awe at what they heard and reverence for the one who delivered the message.  When asked why they had not seized Him, their response was not what the priests expected.  "No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared. (John 7:46 NIV)  The Pharisees who had sent them were not impressed by the guards’ assessment of Jesus’ sermon.  Certainly we can guess that the guards themselves were not expecting to come away as captivated by Jesus’ words as they were.  The guards were not “spiritual groupies”.  They were full-blown skeptics who found Jesus’ mind captivating.

There is a fascinating response of Jesus in Matthew 22 to those who did not believe in a resurrection from the dead. The ones who argued against a resurrection were influential and no one had been able to refute them because they refused to turn to anything other than the first five books in the Bible as authoritative on the matter.  Bible scholars at the time who believed in the resurrection could not find a scintilla of evidence for it in Genesis to Deuteronomy.  Jesus however quoted from Exodus God’s arresting call to Moses at the burning bush as proof of life after death.  But about the resurrection of the dead — have you not read what God said to you, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."  When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching. (Matthew 22:31-33 NIV)  And why not?  Who would have ever considered such an argument as that?  Jesus did though.

Let us look at one final example of Jesus’ mind at work.  John 8 is the explosive account of Jesus being brought the woman caught in adultery.  The background of this is fascinating.  The text in the Greek indicates that the woman had been caught in the very act of adultery; as she and her “lover” were in bed.  To catch them so, especially given the very delicate circumstance of committing adultery and not wanting to be caught indicates that somehow the Jewish leaders who brought her to Jesus knew in advance what the pair were about to do and where.  At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.  The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.  In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.  But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.  When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  (John 8:2-7 NIV)

If we strip away all the maneuvering of the teachers of the Law to get Jesus to say something that could land Him in trouble with Roman authorities for promoting an execution or cause Him to lose face with the Jewish crowds who would rebel against Jesus allowing for sexual immorality, we come to these two primary aspects of this report.  First, are we not impressed with Jesus’ shrewdness to give permission to whoever was without sin to begin the stoning of the woman!  Not a man in the crowd dared say he was sinless.  What sort of great mind is able to turn the tables on a crowd out for blood?  It is simply spectacular how quickly Jesus thought of a solution to the dilemma He faced.

Let us though turn to the second revelation we have in this passage of Jesus’ mind.  At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.  Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"  "No one, sir," she said.  "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." (John 8:9-11 NIV)  What is most illuminating in Jesus’ response to the woman is how Jesus’ mind worked.  Mercy saturated His thinking and His decision-making.  If He was going to have to choose between condemning someone and being merciful, He decided upon mercy.  He made this clear in the Sermon on the Mount.  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Matthew 5:7 NIV)  That is how Jesus thinks.  I will be merciful.  I could criticize.  I could judge.  I could condemn and be justified in blowing up a person’s life for what she has done.  That though is not how I think.  I will be merciful.  What about us?  How do we think?  Will our first choice be mercy?    Will we think like Jesus?  Will we give up our right to judge and criticize and condemn and like our Savior, be happy to show mercy?  What kind of world might we have if just Christian people (we won’t concern ourselves with any other sorts of people) would live by this one approach to life, “If I will err, I will err on the side of mercy.”