Jesus Put Forth His Hand and Touched Him
And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed (Matthew 8:3 KJV)
The scripture above records an exciting encounter between Jesus and a man who was sick of leprosy. When the man expressed his concerns that Jesus might not be willing to heal him, Jesus stretched forth His hand, touched him, and said to him, “ I will; be thou clean”. His will has not changed today. He is still telling us that “I will, be healed, delivered and free from that bondage!”
Let me quickly point out a mystery in this verse to show us how God touches us. It says Jesus “put forth His hand, and touched him”. Have you ever prayed and said, “Lord stretch your hand and touch me”? The Old Testament talks about the hand of God being put forth or God touching people or nations. Remember that God does not have a physical body. Jesus, God in the flesh, had a physical body that He could physically put forth His hand and touch the man. Before He became a man, how was He touching people? In other words, if God wants to touch you, what does He do?
That same verse tells us the mystery of His hand. Jesus touched him and said to him “ be thou clean” and immediately the man was cured. He TOUCHED him SAYING. The Word of God is the hand of God stretched forth to do His will! He touches people and things by SPEAKING to them!
MEDITATE
What happens when two objects touch each other? Think of the case in which someone touches a hot piece of metal. Think of what happens before and during the touch.
APPLY THE WORD
God’s Word to you is His hand stretched forth to touch you. He said to the leprous man “be clean”. He is saying to you right now, or put another way, He has stretched forth His hand to touch you, saying “ be healed, delivered, free from that bondage, full of the Holy Spirit, prosperous, etc!”
PRAY
Thank the Lord for stretching forth His hand to touch you through His Word and Spirit.
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