“The Power in a Touch”

Scripture: Mark 7:31-37

Jesus’ ministry among us was focused in 3 ways – teaching, healing, and redeeming. And of the three, healing is the most encompassing, because it is the essence behind the other two. His teaching healed our minds from the misconceptions and falsehoods that we have lived with. His redeeming healed the rift that had grown ever wider between us and our heavenly Father. And his healing itself took on so many forms that we probably will never understand them all. Jesus touches us physically, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, and once we recognize and accept the impact of each, we can never be the same again.

He healed physical ailments – blindness, leprosy, lameness, even death.
He healed the sinful state – the woman caught in adultery, the man filled with legion, the woman at Jacob’s well, his followers’ thoughts regarding the gentiles.
He healed the division that humanity had created between themselves and the Divine, through his sacrificial and miraculous act at Calvary.
He healed the law through his teachings that addressed dependency on ritual worship and the misunderstandings that surrounded God’s call on the people. Healing, in this case, is the ability to understand correctly.

Everything that Jesus did, and every way that he touched our lives, was with an eye toward the healing of our humanity.

Read Mark 7:31-35

Sometimes there was a physical contact between Jesus and a person who was in need, and other times, it was simply through a word and without a touch. Sometimes Jesus was in close proximity to the individual, and at other times, they were separated by a considerable distance. Sometimes he prayed for the healing, and sometimes he simply proclaimed the miracle. But the one thing that was a constant in all of Jesus’ healings was faith. In every instance, the person, or someone who loved them, held the strong belief that Jesus could, without question, heal. And he always did. And in those occasions when the people didn’t believe, healing was either limited or couldn’t happen at all. In this case, it appears to be the man’s friends who believed in the power of Jesus, and they weren’t to be disappointed.
And the healing would be complete. Because of the man’s deafness, not only couldn’t he hear, but he had trouble speaking, too. First, Jesus touches the man’s ears, then his tongue, and with a prayer, a sigh, and a word, the man is restored to perfect wholeness.
Touch, prayer, sigh, and a word. Does anyone wonder why all four? Well, at least I did! It may be that this incident was not just a healing, but a teaching. Touch is intimacy, and in this case, it shows compassion. Prayer shows us that even Jesus looked to the Father for the power in healing, and that it wasn’t by his means alone – and we must understand that, too. The sigh – a strange addition to the story, and one that I don’t see anywhere else in scripture – may simply be the Breath of God settling on the man, but we may never know for sure and it will remain a mystery. And finally, the word “Ephphatha”, “Be opened” is a healing command. Did Jesus need all of these means for the healing? Probably not - in other instances, he didn’t, but the meaning in this story doesn’t seem to be obvious.
The point for us, though, is this: The means of the healing can come in any of several ways, but is not primarily in the touch, or the prayer, or the sigh, or the word – it is almost completely by the power of God that comes in faith. But each of the means that Jesus used that day are still important for us to use. In our service today, we will touch, and we will pray, and we will speak words of faith in the Christ. And by the grace of Almighty God, your need will be cared for.

Read Mark 7:36-37

At nearly every healing, Jesus tells the people to keep it to themselves. It may not make much sense to us, except in one aspect. Jesus wanted people to come to him by faith, and not simply because they could get something from him. He wanted people to seek him out, not because he was some miracle healer, but because he is the Son of God. He wanted to give great gifts to humanity, not because of need, which is universal, but because of trust and confidence in the one who will heal and bless and sustain.

And the word still spread far and wide, and it has continued to do so for two thousand years, and it comes to us here today. And the question that each of us must ask is this – do I believe that Jesus is and has and gives? That he is Almighty God, that he has unlimited power, and that it is given to us in faith.

Come to his altar rail today, in need and in faith. Come for yourself or for a loved one. Come alone or with a friend. But regardless, come.
And you will be anointed, and hands will be laid on you, and prayers will be lifted up, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will be proclaimed. And that is what we are called to do. Remember that the power of healing isn’t in my touch or that of anyone else – it is in the touch of Jesus.

Come.

(At this point, a healing service was held, with all invited to come with their burdens and pains.)