One touch that spoke louder than any words

I was thinking about this today when preparing to write this piece…..how often have we read the Bible and come across a passage where a miracle was performed and just glossed right over it without thinking about it?

It probably happens more than we realize. At least it does for me.

One such example was recently brought to life for me in a new way. I was watching “The Chosen”, which was a wonderful show that I really enjoyed that focuses in on the life of the apostles as they discover who Jesus is and begin their walk with him. One of the scenes in the show is where Jesus heals a leper.

I’ve either read or heard about this story dozens and dozens of times but in truth I’ve always just read it and thought to myself “Wow, that’s really cool. Jesus just heals him right there like it’s nothing and he goes on his way.” But there’s a lot more to it than that.

The encounter is described in Matthew 8:1-4 after Jesus had delivered the Sermon on the Mount:

“When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. Right away a man with leprosy came up and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Where Matthew picks things up here in chapter 8, Jesus has lots of people following him, many of whom have just heard him teach the greatest sermon of all time, the Sermon on the Mount.

I think to really understand the impact of what happens next, you have to understand exactly what it meant to have leprosy during those days. Leprosy was a debilitating disease that had no hope of improvement during that time. It slowly ate away at people’s bodies, leaving ugly scars and rashes and blisters. It could last many years and eventually lead to death.

Lepers were treated extremely poorly during those times. People shunned them. You were to stay six feet away from them at least (sound familiar?) and they were basically seen as subhuman. Leprosy was viewed as a punishment and a representation of sin.

This man had no hope in his life. He knew that nobody wanted to associate themselves with him. He knew that there wasn’t anything that doctors could do about his condition. And yet despite being surrounded by people who viewed him as the scum of the earth, he recognized Jesus for who he was.

His faithfulness and hope that he placed in Jesus is amazing to me. “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” This man knew full well that Jesus had the ability to heal him. But he didn’t demand that Jesus do this for him. He humbly submitted to the will of his Savior.

The next few words of what Jesus did next seem so mundane, but I think they are some of the most powerful words in the New Testament and sum up exactly who Jesus is. Matthew says, “Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him.”

Think about the WEIGHT of that. Nobody wanted to even come close to this man, much less touch him. Jesus didn’t care about any of that. He willing reached out his hand to touch the man and cleanse him of his disease.

It’s no accident that Matthew used that phrase to describe the action that Jesus was taking. By touching the man, Jesus was showing him that he had power over his disease. He was different than those in society who looked down on the man and scorned him. Jesus did not have to touch the man to heal him. He’s God. He can heal him in whatever way he wants. But he purposefully chose to reach out and touch the man and show him that he was truly cleansed.

That’s an illustration of the compassion that our Savior has for all of us. Even someone who was a total outcast to the world around him was shown love and favor by Jesus Christ.

One of the main things I take away from this story is the submission to Jesus’ will by this man. He had the head knowledge that Jesus had the ability to cleanse him. But what really separated this man was his heart. He fully submitted himself and his future to the will of Jesus.

How many of us have the head knowledge of what Jesus can do and who Jesus is but don’t follow that up with a heart for submitting to the will of the Lord? How much more fruitful could our lives be if we submitted to the will of the Lord on a daily basis?

There will be times in this world, especially in today’s age, where people look down upon you because of your faith. They will scorn you. They will mock you. They will attack you for your beliefs. But the chief concern for those of us who follow Jesus should be to submit to the will of our Lord. Every time. And trust that his will is always greater than anything we could hope for on our own.

May I have your attention, please?

God is trying to get the attention of our nation. The question we all must answer on an individual basis is: Has he gotten your attention yet through this pandemic?

As I sit here and gather my thoughts on what we’ve witnessed in the United States since the outbreak of COVID-19, my brain drifts back to the sovereignty of God. It drifts to the illusion that all of us fall victim to in our own lives….the illusion of having control.

Think about what’s been happening. Many of the things that have consumed our daily lives in America for years have been uprooted during the past few months.

That job that occupies so much time, energy and devotion in our lives? Many have lost that job. Trust me, I know.

Those sporting events, teams and athletes that we idolize? Totally put on hold.

Even something as seemingly simple as gathering together to worship the Lord in a singular location with other believers, something that we in the United States take for granted in a big way, was stripped away for many of us.

Some of us haven’t even been able to spend time with loved ones in months because we don’t want to potentially endanger those who may be vulnerable.

All of these things that were once a routine part of our lives that we didn’t even think about have been drastically changed almost instantaneously. Aren’t you grateful that we serve a God who never changes? Could it be that God is trying to teach us something through this pandemic?

This isn’t the first time a pandemic has swept the globe and it probably won’t be the last time. The loss of life that has been inflicted by COVID-19 has been tragic. But even if you haven’t known anyone who has contracted the disease or you haven’t experienced it yourself, this should be a time for deep introspection into your own life.

Have your priorities shifted at all through this? What has the Lord shown you during this time? I think about those two questions in my own life, and I come back to the word “control.”

As Christians, we always say that we believe God is in control. If you’re like me, you believe those words but are still guilty on almost a daily basis of trying to control as much as you can in your own life. I want the best for myself in my career. I want the best marriage that I can possibly have. I want to be able to make decisions that control which direction my life is headed.

Perhaps the biggest lesson I’m learning — and I mean truly learning — is that when it really boils down to it, I don’t have control of much of anything. I’ve often been guilty of moving too fast in life, not taking the time to slow down and appreciate the many blessings that the Lord has given me in my life.

I hope that as we continue to move forward through this pandemic that I’ll grow in my appreciation of what the Lord has given me in my life and also realize that his grace is what sustains me. And he is the one who is truly in the driver’s seat in my life. All that we need to do is follow his lead.

What is the Lord showing you during this pandemic? If you don’t have an answer for that, maybe it’s time to slow down and shift your perspective. Ask God to make clear to you the message that he has for you.

Don’t let it be said of us that we got to the other side of this pandemic and remained unchanged.

What’s holding you back?

What’s stopping you from sharing the good news of the gospel?

Is it fear? Feeling like you’re not knowledgeable enough to share it with any confidence? Do you just not know how to begin that conversation with someone?

All of us Christians have probably been there at some point in our walk with the Lord when we feel like we don’t know what to say or do when presented with the opportunity to share the story of Jesus.

However, I believe the formula for overcoming that and sharing the good news is available to us. We have to get into the word of God, trust in Him, communicate with Him and listen to how He responds.

When we read the Bible and dive into the word of the Lord with an intentional, genuine desire to draw closer to Him, we will not be disappointed. And because of that, we will become more knowledgeable and more confident in sharing our faith with others.

The Holy Spirit has a way at tugging at our heartstrings and giving us the right words to say when we trust in the Lord.

Jesus gave us a command prior to his ascension into heaven that is referred to as The Great Commission.

Matthew 28:18-20, where that takes place, reads:

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus wants us to not only share our faith and lead others to Him, but He also wants us to make disciples. There’s a difference between being a believer and being a disciple. Coming to a saving faith in Jesus isn’t the finish line; it’s the starting line.

What steps are you taking to ensure that you are going and making disciples of all nations? When was the last time you shared your testimony of what Jesus has done in your life?

Take this as a challenge this week to dig into the word of God and draw nearer to him. And to any obstacle that’s preventing you from sharing your faith in Jesus, pray that He would remove that obstacle from your life and allow you to speak about him boldly and bravely.

Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins. He lived a perfect life that we couldn’t live and died a death we should have died. And on the third day, Jesus rose from the dead and conquered hell and the grave. If you’ll invite Jesus into your heart, confess that you’re a sinner and believe that Jesus is Lord and died for your sins and rose from the dead, you will be saved and will spend eternity with Him in heaven.

If you’ve never prayed that prayer or made that decision in your life, I pray that you’d be bold enough to do that today. Feel free to reach out to me to chat at robstanley10@gmail.com.

For those of you who are believers, allow God to remove those barriers from your life this week and learn to trust in Him and be confident to share your faith.

Adopting a servant’s heart

Perhaps now more than ever in the 21st century world that we live in, our society focuses on a transactional way of doing things. I give you this, you give me that. I pay you this, I receive that.

If we’re not careful, that can affect the way we live our lives as Christians as well. I think a big problem in today’s church is we view God, and the church, very much from the same transactional standpoint.

How many of us show up to church thinking “What can I get out of this?” Or maybe even more prominently, how many of us approach our prayer life with God as “What can God do for me?” Our prayers often turn into laundry lists of our wishes and desires, treating God like he’s the magic genie from Aladdin without really pausing to recognize who we’re talking to and the respect that should come with that.

There’s nothing wrong with bringing your requests to God or trying to see what you can get out of a church service that could be applied to your life. However, there is a problem when we approach our Christian lives looking to be served rather than looking to serve. Too often we approach our church lives and prayer lives as “consumers” rather than “active participants.”

A good example of what I’m talking about can be found in the gospel of Mark. Jesus had performed many miracles, had taken James, John and Peter to the mountain to witness the transfiguration and had spoken of his coming death and resurrection.

With all of the signs that had been performed, James and John recognized that Jesus was obviously special and that he was going to be glorified in some way, possibly even as a political ruler, and they wanted to take advantage of that. They approached Jesus in Mark 10:35 and went on to ask Jesus to let one of them sit on his right and the other at his left in his glory, in whatever form that would be.

Essentially, James and John wanted to elevate their status and take hold of a special place with Jesus. After dealing with those requests from James and John, Jesus calls the disciples to gather around in Mark 10:42-45:

Jesus called them together and said “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus refers to the traditional human viewpoint of rule and points out how he expects the complete opposite from them. He points out that even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

If we’re not careful, many of us can often be like James and John, who were looking for Jesus to elevate them and were concerned about their own clout rather than doing what the Lord has called them to do.

A practical application of this text from my viewpoint is to remember that Jesus teaches us to have a servant’s heart and to make sure that you put others before yourself. Try to adopt this lifestyle in your own life and see what a difference it can make in your walk with the Lord.