Getting Through the Tough Times:
My personal journey through the pandemic

Devotional #5—I Needed His Touch

Good morning Fit.Church! Every single one of us at one time or another has needed a touch. Let me read for you what Jesus did after preaching the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 8:1-3
1Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. 2 Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”
3 Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”

At first glance, I would say that as he is coming down the mountainside he healed the leper, but actually, before healing the leper, Jesus touched him.

There are times in my life when I have so longed for the touch of Jesus.

Jesus' action was not by accident. At that time the common belief of the day was that touching a leper made you unclean. If you had touched a leper, you were to self-isolate for six weeks before you could come into contact with anyone. I think more than ever we can relate to that fact.

From the account of Luke (5), we learn that this man had advanced leprosy and he had had it for a long time. Imagine his situation, from his diagnosis, he was untouchable. The touch of his wife, children, his mom, dad, and other family and friends to be experienced no more. He was physically and socially isolated and had probably been that way for years.

I think we could say that the touch of Jesus was part of the healing the man needed. To be touchable again was to be made well not only physically but emotionally.

The touch of someone we respect and love can be life-giving. It has been months and months since many of our elderly friends and family have experienced touch. Please understand that I am not talking about inappropriate touch, but we all need touch.

As a little league baseball coach, the hand on the shoulder of a young boy who has struck out can mean more than a consoling word. But we are currently in a culture where hugs and touches of any kind can be easily misconstrued, which really means that communication is completely needed.

Let’s look at another passage that deals with touch…

Luke 8:42-46
As Jesus went with him, he was surrounded by the crowds. 43 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding,[g] and she could find no cure. 44 Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped.
45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you.”
46 But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.” 47 When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed.48 “Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

Jesus was touched by a woman who needed healing. And when she touched Him, she was healed. And also when she touched Him, the power went out from Him.

There is power in a touch. To be touched by another can bring healing to us and touching another can do the same. This is one of the reasons I’m praying that our isolation ends soon and that as it ends, it will not only be safe for us to go out again but safe to touch again.

Touch is a powerful gift. Use it wisely during this time. And use it generously once it’s safe again to do so.

Triple D: Do you need a touch from the Lord? Physically, emotionally, financially, or spiritually? Email me at Ken@Fit.Church and let me pray with you. Share with me as much or as little as you need to, and it is confidential. We can link and pray together even though we may be “socially distant”.