11 And it came to pass the day
after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went
with him, and much people. 12 Now when he came nigh to the gate
of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his
mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on
her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14 And he
came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said,
Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 15 And
he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his
mother. 16 And there came a fear on all: and
they glorified God.
(Luke 7:11-16)
There are many different kinds of touches – the touch of love, the touch of
art, the touch of accomplishment, or even being ‘touched’ in the head; but the
touch of Christ is an altogether different touch than that we experience in the
mortal sense – it is a touch of life, of healing, and of forgiveness. F.B.
Meyer speaks of eight touches of the Lord that are blessings. I will briefly
discuss each and add one of my own.
There is the touch of faith. This touch does not depend upon
whether God touches us, or we touch Him. It is the element of faith that makes
the Divine connection. “And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an
issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his
garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I
shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee
whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.” (Matt
9:20-22) It is not
the physical touch that benefits, but the faith that is represented therein.
All of the devices and wisdom of man had not helped this woman. She actually
spent all of her wealth seeking a cure for her ailment. In the process, she
lost all of her wealth and grew continually worse. Going it on our own will
always be a downward path to penury, but coming to Christ is the upward Way
that heals and restores! She believed Christ could heal. She believed that He
was divine and holy – so much so that coming so close as to merely touch His
garment would evoke the healing she sought – and she was RIGHT! Her faith (in
Christ) had healed her. The touch of faith is available to every sinner
afflicted with the disease of sin.
There is a touch of cleansing. In our hospitals and other medical
treatment facilities, the staff wears gloves anytime they touch a patient. This
is not to offend the patient, but to protect the medical professional from any
desires that might be transmitted by the touch. Our Lord Jesus Christ was a bit
more personal and feeling than that. He did not hesitate to touch the most
egregiously afflicted with his naked hand. If you have ever witnessed a leper
in his latter stages of the disease you will know that touching such a person
would be reprehensible to us. Their running and open sores, rotting flesh, and
offensive odors are beyond our usual capacity to confront, or even get near to.
“ And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord,
if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand,
and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean.
And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” (Matt
8:2-3) Lepers were
considered so unclean that they were required to shout, “UNCLEAN!” at the
approach of others. Amazingly, the faith of this leper did not compel him to
shout “unclean” prior to approaching Jesus, for he knew that Jesus was the
Great Physician and that no disease could stand against Him. The touch of Jesus
brought immediate healing and restoration! Jesus touched even the filthy sores and
body of a leper. To be honest, we are all lepers before Christ.
There is a touch of cooling. When the fever of life bears down on
us and there seems to be no escape, there is yet a Balm in Gilead – the Lord
Jesus Christ. “And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his
wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever
left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.” (Matt
8:14-15) Peter’s
mother was gravely ill of fever, but Jesus touched her hand only, and she arose
and saw to the needs of her guests. There is a great lesson there for us. When
God heals us, or rescues us from the swirling waters, we are not to waste our
time on trivial matters. We are to arise and minister to others. The same touch
that healed us may be transmitted through our own touch of love and compassion
toward others.
There is a touch that opens. Jesus is the DOOR to the
Sheepfold, and only He can open to us. He is the key of opening of dumb ears
and blind eyes. “And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed
him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was
come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said
unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their
eyes were opened.” (Matt 9:27-30) The touch of Jesus ALWAYS
brings healing because disease and death cannot exist in is present. Undertakers
of his day went out of business because the graves kept opening to release
their dead. But faith must accompany the touch!
There is a touch that comforts and assures. Remember the
experience of Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration? The Voice
of God spoke and they trembled with fear. “. . . behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the
disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus
came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be
not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man,
save Jesus only.” (Matt 17:5-8) No matter the severity of the
storm, Jesus comes and touches the helmsman and all is still and steady. It is
true of the seas, and it is true of our souls. One of the greatest feelings of
my life was a special touch at the right moment. If I messed up in sports, or
in academics, my dad would come and place his hand on my shoulder and say, “It
is OK, son. Just keep in the game!” That took away the sting of defeat and made
me want to be better.
There is a touch that sets free and loosens. Every man without
Christ is in bondage to sin. There is no such thing as “Free Will” in a godless
life, for the master of sin is Satan. It is his will we obey when we are
separated from God. Even our faculties are held captive by sin and its
deleterious effects. “And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had
an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And
he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he
spit, and touched his tongue; And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith
unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened,
and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.” (Mark
7:32-35) When
Christ touches us, our own mouths are opened to proclaim the Gospel, and our
ears are opened to learn of Him.
There is a touch that blesses. This touch is the one that melts
my own heart for it is illustrated in the love and compassion of the Gentle
Savior for little children. “And they brought young children to him, that
he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But
when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid
them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily
I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little
child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put
his hands upon them, and blessed them.” (Mark
10:13-16) I often
wish that I had a record of the lives of these children after that touch of
Jesus. Today, churches try to separate children from the worship service just
as these disciples tried to keep them from Christ. But the Lord disapproves of
such a separation. He desires, above all others, to have the young children to
come unto Him before their lives are marred and scarred by unrestrained sin. He
wants us, as a matter of fact, to become more like these innocent and trusting
children. His touch always blesses and makes glad.
There is a touch of restoration to life. Every repentant sinner
who has come to Christ has received this touch of restoration to life. “Now
when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried
out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the
city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and
said unto her, Weep not. And he came and
touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was
dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.” (Luke
7:12-15) The first
thing the young man, restored to life, did when the Lord touched his bier was
to sit up and SPEAK. How can we remain silent when the Lord has forgiven,
justified and restored us to life! We were all dead in trespasses and sins
until the Lord quickened or souls and made us alive. (Ephesians
2).
Finally, there is a touch that heals. The healing of the nations
is offered by the Lord, but the nations seem to deem that the last resort. “And
one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.
And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far.
And he touched his ear, and healed him.” (Luke 22:50-51) Jesus even
healed those who came to bear Him away for crucifixion. He did so because He
knew that they did not know who He was. But Jesus was not so gentle toward the
rulers of the Jews and the Pharisees. He called them out as “a generation of vipers” and “children of their father, the devil.” He
treated them in that manner because He knew that were aware of who He was and
yet rejected Him for the sake of power and prestige.
I hope every reader of this devotion has been touched by Christ and will never
reject the Savior of your souls.
