THE TOUCH OF THE MASTER’S HAND

Anita Clark – Pastor – Carbondale, KS

“When He [Jesus] was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold there came a leper and worshiped Him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth His hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” Matthew 8:1-3

Leprosy is an ancient disease, and was incurable in the past, but now early diagnosis and treatment can cure it. It is transmitted by coughs and sneezes - droplets through the air spread the disease. Leprosy represents sin in the world and in the life of an unbeliever. In Jesus day there was no cure or medicine to help stop the ravages of this disease. But, “Jesus put forth His hand and touched him.” This touch of Jesus to this man with leprosy shows the first touch that we need from Jesus the Son of God to bring deliverance from our sin.

Leviticus 13 is dedicated to what Israel was to do if any of them developed leprosy. In that portion of the Word it speaks about the infection being in the flesh of the body. Germs from outside the body enters the body and affects the nerves killing the tissue. It is very destructive to the tissue of one’s body. Leprosy speaks in type, of sin in all humanity because of the fall of Adam and Eve. Romans 5:12, says, “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men.” Every one who is born in this world has a sin nature, and as the Scripture says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23. There was no cure of the sin of mankind. Jesus had to come to provide salvation for us. We could never be righteous enough to please a holy God by our own good works.

The helpless condition of this poor leper was not solved by his good works, only by the Lord Jesus, curing his condition. The same is true of all humanity. There was no way to cure us of the dread disease of sin without the Lord Jesus’ death for us on the cross, only through faith in what Jesus did to pay the penalty for us, are we delivered from our dread condition.

In Matthew 8:14-15, we read of Peter’s mother-in-law being healed by Jesus. “And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever. And He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she arose, and ministered unto them.” A fever is manifested when there is some internal problem. When she was healed she immediately got up and prepared a meal for Jesus. As we saw with Jesus touch in healing the leper, now we see Him healing to restore this woman’s ministry and service. Philippians 2:13, says, “For it is God which works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure.” By His touch, He cures the inward need bringing about deliverance from sin by the new birth, and then He brings service to God by touching us inwardly so we can serve Him with ability from within - from the life of Christ in us and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Mark 8:22-26, we read another incidence where Jesus touched another person. “And He cometh to Bethsaida, and they bring a blind man unto Him, and besought Him to touch him. And He took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of town, and when he had spit on his eyes and put His hands upon him...And he was restored, and saw every man clearly.” At first the man could not see very clearly. He saw a blurred vision of men walking as trees. After Jesus put His hands on him the second time, he saw clearly. When Jesus touches us supernaturally our spiritual sight gets better and better, as we keep on believing, and stay close to Jesus. This is called “revelation.” Our eyes are opened to some truth, but as we meditate, staying in the presence of Jesus through His Word, and depending on Him for help, and of course the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment, we begin to understand with Spiritual insight greater revelations.

Hebrews 11:1-2 states, “Wherefore seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith....” He opens our eyes to revelations of His written word, as we seek Him and believe. He touches us and gives us Spiritual vision, which grows more and more as we keep looking unto Him and His Word.

In Matthew 20:29-34 two blind men sat by the road, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Thou son of David.” The multitude rebuked them and told them to hold their peace, but they cried out even louder, “Have mercy on us, O Lord…” They asked Jesus to heal their eyes, and He came over to them, (verse 34), “So Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.”

Again the Master’s touch made them absolutely whole. Anytime we need Spiritual insight from the Lord, whether its is a revelation of the Word of God, i.e. some thing we do not understand, if we earnestly call out to Him, He will hear and give us insight of His divine truth. Are you walking in the light and in full sight of God’s Word and plan, or can you not see or understand what the Lord is doing in your life? Keep on seeking His help. He will come to you and reveal His truth.

Mark 7:31-37 is another account where the Lord Jesus touched an individual who had a problem. Verse 32 says, And they bring unto Him one, that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech Him to put His hand upon him.” We can look at this in a Spiritual sense - that is for an individual to have a problem with hearing the Word of God and all the truth, and also to have a problem speaking forth the Truth revealed to him by the Lord and Holy Spirit. The Lord is the one who calls an individual to bring forth the Word of God, but first that one must hear the Word and learn what is the truth. Revelation 2 & 3 the Lord says several times, “He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.” After we are cleansed from our spiritual leprosy, we need to “hear the word of the Lord.” This is spoken of in the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37:3, the Lord God asked Exekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live? Again He said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, Oh ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” Again, when we are deaf to the Word of the Lord, we can not speak it plainly. So the results is, we begin to be able to teach others, for our tongue is set free by the touch of the Lord Jesus.

Isn’t it wonderful to feel the touch of the Master’s hands. I used to model clay, and I was impressed with the steps it takes for a pot or anything to be molded. The very first step is to “wedge” the clay. This takes quite a long time. One method is to throw the clay down hard on the work surface several times. Another is to roll and cup the clay at least 75-100 times, working it very hard. It makes the clay more pliable, and must be done before the clay is ready to be molded into something like a pot or bowl, etc. formed by the potter. After the pot is formed, then its time to fire the pot in a furnace, called a kiln. Can you see how all this applies to what the Scripture is speaking of, when it says, “But now, Lord, Thou art our Father, we are the clay, and Thou our Potter, and we the work of Thy hands” Isaiah 64:8. A promise is “Now know I that the Lord saveth His anointed, He will hear from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand” Psalms 20:6. This applies to the Lord rescuing us from danger, but also think of it too in His molding us into His image by all the trials and tests we go through in this life. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” Phil. 2:13. Praise the Lord for His mighty work! The Following Poem expresses this wonderful work God does in our lives, which starts with His touch in giving us salvation and then His continued touch, working in us until we are completely what He wants us to be.