Personal Touch
Another P from the ministry of Jesus that intrigues and convicts me and brings tears to my eyes is Personal touch. If we are to be His hands in our world we must imitate this.
Matt. 8:3 Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him,
Matt. 8:15 He touched her hand,
Matt. 9:25 He entered and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.
Matt. 9:29 Then He touched their eyes,
Matt. 14:31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him,
Matt. 17:7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.”
Matt. 19:13 Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them.
Matt. 19:15 After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.
Matt. 20:34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes;
Mark 1:41 Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him,
Mark 7:33 Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva;
Mark 8:22 And they *came to Bethsaida. And they *brought a blind man to Jesus and *implored Him to touch him.
Mark 10:13 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them.
Luke 5:13 And He stretched out His hand and touched him,
Luke 7:14 And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!”
Luke 13:13 And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God.
Luke 18:15 And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them.
Luke 22:51 But Jesus answered and said, “Stop! No more of this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.
Jesus not only touches people with compassion and tenderness, He allows others to touch Him with the same healing result.
Matt. 9:20 And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; 21 for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I will get well.”
Matt. 14:36 and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.
Mark 3:10 for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him.
Mark 6:56 Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.
Luke 6:19 And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.
Luke 7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”
Luke 24:39 “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
Touch is a wonderful part of love and compassion. Mother Teresa exemplified this. Paul E. Miller in his book Love Walked Among Us has this to say of her,
“The image of her holding a destitute and dying person — not repelled by the squalor of feces, vomit, sputum, and blood — elicited love and admiration from the whole world. Mother Teresa said, ‘We train ourselves to be extremely kind and gentle in touch of hand, tone of voice, and in our smile, so as to make the mercy of God very real.’ She consciously imitated Jesus’ touch.”
If we are to do what Jesus would do, we are going to have to get used to touching people and being touched by them. Paul Miller goes on to say,
“When Jesus touched people, he gently intruded into their lives. Whatever He touched became clean and whole. He touched the blind, the deaf, and the lame when He healed them. He moved toward people that others pulled away from. He couldn’t seem to keep His hands off lepers.”
I have always thought that a pastor should have a shepherd’s gentleness of touch and be quick with a hearty hug or arm around the shoulder. Churches that I have pastored have been known for their love and familial relationships. We have also been marked by robust hugging. Imagine how elated I was to run across this quote from one of my heroes, pastor John Piper. It sums up beautifully what I feel about the pastoral hug.
“I think there are many people in the world who probably haven’t been hugged for ten years. I had a woman in her fifties say to me one time—she had been a widow for probably about ten years—and she said to me, ‘I haven’t been hugged for a long time.’ And it was just so revelatory for me for a moment that there are people who actually go through life—and they are good people! They’re not eager to jump into bed as a prostitute or to fool around on the weekend. They know they’re going to be pure—but they’re not ever touched. Nobody ever touches them.
And so I thought, “Boy. God, make me a good hugger. Make me a good, clean, pure, trusted, pastoral hugger.”
I just love that. I can’t count the times in my ministry that someone, man or woman, has wet the front of my shirt with their tears because I was available with a hug. There is an anointing of the Holy Spirit and when it is upon you, your touch can be healing. Sometimes physically but many more times spiritually and emotionally.
We must keep ourselves pure. We must keep our hands, hearts, and minds pure so that when Jesus wants to hug someone He can use us to do it for Him. Paul Miller reminds us,
“Of course, some people touch inappropriately. When talking about the danger of sexual lust, Jesus exaggerates for the sake of emphasis, ‘If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off’ (Matthew 5:30). Our hands are meant to gently touch with love. How can you even think of using your hands to touch people as objects?”
If we are to do what Jesus would do, we must reach out our hands and touch people in love.
In my work among the orphans of Colombia, one of the things that I never cease to be amazed by is their hunger and thirst for adult affection. Without a mommy and daddy to meet this deepest of human needs, they become famished for love and attention. Often our team members will have five or six children hanging on them, holding their hands, asking for a kiss on the cheek, and touching their face. Yes, we tell them about Jesus over and over again but it is an unspeakable blessing to be able to imitate Him and hold them and touch them and bless them. The first time I was there I came away with a whole new appreciation for the sweet God-Man of Mark 10:13-16
Mark 10:13 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” 16 And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.
Lord, help us to “see”, “feel”, “do”, and “touch” and “be touched” like Jesus!