July 15 - Jesus’ Touch and Instantaneous Healing - Devotional

GracetoYou.org ^ | 2008 | John MacArthur, Grace Community Church

[metmom]

“Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’ And immediately his leprosy was cleansed” (Matthew 8:3).

The Mosaic law forbade the Jews from touching lepers, because they were unclean (Lev. 5:3) and would expose healthy people to ceremonial and physical contamination. But lepers, in their social ostracism, yearned for even a brief, up-close contact with another person besides a fellow leper.

Jesus could have healed this man with just a single word, but He made a point of touching him. This action was truly amazing—not in a spectacular, sensational manner, but simply because the Son of Man would lovingly reach out and reach down to touch an outcast of outcasts as no one else would.

The Lord bestowed instantaneous healing: “immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” When He touched the man’s defiled body, his disease simply disappeared. (Christ could have chosen to heal in stages, as He sometimes did [Mark 8:22–26; John 9:6–7], but there was no necessity to do so.) The picture for the eyewitnesses would have been dramatic. A bent-over, withered derelict, with skin ravaged by scaly, ugly sores, would suddenly stand up. His limbs were now perfectly normal, his face smooth and unscarred, his eyes clear and bright, and his voice strong and confident.

Modern medical science, with all its wonderful expertise and abilities to cure, can never equal the miraculous restoration Jesus provided.

Ask Yourself

Are there certain people you are wary of touching—either by physical embrace or even eye contact? What gives us the right of being too good or polished or educated or privileged to look lovingly into the face of another, to offer ourselves and our acceptance?

From Daily Readings from the Life of Christ, Vol. 1, John MacArthur. Copyright © 2008. Used by permission of Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL 60610, www.moodypublishers.com.

[metmom]

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[metmom]

Studying God’s Word ping

[Elsie]

Jesus’ Touch and Instantaneous Healing

Then I won't debate, but merely point out...

Mark 8:22-26 NKJV

²² Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. ²³ So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.

²⁴ And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”

²⁵ Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. ²⁶ Then He sent him away to his house, saying, ^[a]“Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town.”

[ViLaLuz]

So Jesus dealt with the blind man differently than the leper. I trust he had his reasons why. Very interesting to ponder.

[Elsie]

...when He had spit on his eyes...

I'm glad THIS hasn't made it into the 'Things Catholics Do' set of practices.