Matthew 8:2-3 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.
Wilma was a quadraplegic. Although she could only move about in a wheelchair, her husband made sure that Wilma attended church or any other function she desired.
Wilma's hands were frozen in place where laid. So when greeted, she could not reach out to shake a hand or touch a face. But she could lean her head into a hug, and she could appreciate when someone gently touched her hand.
When I read of Jesus's healing of the man with leprosy, I'm struck by how Jesus touched him to provide healing. Leprosy was contagious, so people stayed as far away from a diseased person as possible. Touching a leper would also make a Jewish person ritually unclean, requiring a purification process to become clean again.
While this story illustrates Jesus's lack of fear of contagion and possession of power greater than purification rituals, what really strikes me is the compassion of his touch. Did anyone ever touch a leper? Maybe another leper, I don't know. The impact of Jesus's touch, with or without physical healing, surely provided spiritual healing to this man.
Today, Jesus can still touch our souls to provide spiritual healing and possibly more. And we, in turn, can touch others to provide companionship and spiritual refreshment.
If you found this or any of my other posts useful, please like, comment, or share. Such actions actually allow more people to see the post, and in that way, you are touching them spiritually.
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