ODJ: touch
June 16, 2011
Jesus reached out and touched him (v.3).
READ: Matthew 8:1-4
Kiley had ventured outside her home country only once in her 18 years. So when she had the chance to go to Kenya to help with a medical mission, she was thrilled—and a little uneasy. After all, she didn’t have any real medical experience.
As she provided basic medical care in a remote village, she met a woman with elephantiasis. It’s a horrible but treatable disease caused by parasitic worms. Elephantiasis causes grotesque swelling in the lower half of the body. Prevention includes simply wearing shoes. But in poverty-stricken Africa, many villagers have little or no access to such basic needs.
Kiley was repulsed by the woman’s distorted leg, but she proceeded to clean and bandage it. The woman began crying. Startled, Kiley asked if she was hurting her. “No,” she replied. “It’s the first time in 9 years that anyone has touched my leg.”
Leprosy is another disease that renders its victims repulsive to others. Ancient Jewish culture had strict guidelines to prevent it from spreading. “They must live in isolation . . . outside the camp,” read the Levitical law (Leviticus 13:45-46). Sufferers had to loudly announce “unclean” from a far distance to prevent others from approaching them.
That’s why it’s so remarkable that a leper had the nerve to approach Jesus and say, “Lord, . . . if You are willing, You can heal me and make me clean” (Matthew 8:2). Jesus did the unthinkable. He “reached out and touched him,” says the New Testament account. “I am willing,” He said. “Be healed” (v.3).
In touching a lonely woman’s diseased leg, Kiley was imitating the fearless, taboo-breaking love of Jesus. It was one tiny touch, but it made a difference. What difference will you make today? —Tim Gustafson
Is there someone you are afraid to touch? Why is this so? What might need to change for you to become more like Jesus?
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