Jesus, touch my life--and my kids

 

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.  --Leo Buscaglia

My wife and I have fallen in love with the television series The Chosen, the first multi-season series on the life of Christ.  It is a crowd-funded project created, directed and co-written by American filmmaker Dallas Jenkins.  The pilot first aired December 24, 2017.  My wife's favorite episode is season 1 episode 3, which originally aired April 21, 2019, because in it Jesus attracts a group of children to Himself, and begins teaching them the Gospel.  The words that Jesus spoke to the children in this TV drama were taught to the disciples in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but the simplicity of the gospel message is such that even a child can understand. 

The people whom Jesus touched were truly blessed by Him, and many wanted their families to be touched by Him as well.  This is where we take up our passage in Mark 10:13-16:

And they were bringing children to Him that He might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.  But when Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.  Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."  And He took them in His arms and blessed them, laying His hand on them.

Perhaps the disciples thought that Jesus was much too busy with adult problems and logistical challenges to minister to the children.  Maybe they thought that the time spent by an important Rabbi or spiritual teacher would be wasted on children.  After all, children were too young to understand the spiritual concepts of Original Sin, Sacrificial Atonement, and Righteousness through Justification.  Still the children were drawn to Him, and He accepted them with open arms.

How young is too young to confess and believe in Jesus?  I was seven.  My parents took me to church regularly, and I felt the prodding of the Holy Spirit to respond to the invitation given by the pastor at the end of the service.  My father took my hand, walked me to the altar, and led me in the Sinner's Prayer.  While there is nothing magical about the words, the fact is that I trusted Jesus for my salvation on that very day.  Did I have some heinous sin that I needed to repent of?  No, of course not.  Was my understanding of theology fully mature?  By no means.  Did I feel the stirrings of the Holy Spirit within my heart, and desire to come to God through His Son at that early age?  Absolutely.

Jesus directed the disciples to allow the children to come to Him, not to rebuke them.  He gathered them in His arms and blessed them, laying His hands on each of them.  If you work with children, you know that they like attention.  Jesus directed His full attention to them.  He may have listened to their rambling stories and smiled when they offered Him a flower or a small stone as a present.  The scripture says that the parents brought the children so He could touch them; He did so much more.

In the early 1960s, Christian singer/songwriter Bill Gaither was travelling with Dr. Dale Oldham in his evangelistic crusades.  One day in 1963, Oldham told Gaither, "Bill, the word 'touch' is a very popular word.  It comes up so often in the New Testament stories about Jesus touching people's eyes and healing them, or touching people's lives and changing them.  It's a special, spiritual word and you ought to write a song that praises His touch."  The song He Touched Me was written that week, and first sung by Dr. Oldham's son Doug.  It went on to be recorded by The Blackwood Brothers, Jimmy Durante, Elvis Presley, was featured on the Lawrence Welk Show, and was sung in countless churches and tent revivals for decades.

Throughout the course of our exegetical study of the Gospel of Mark over the last several months, we have seen how the touch of Jesus was powerful, loving, healing, and forgiving.  In Mark 1:41, a man with leprosy approached Him, saying, "If you will, you can make me clean."  Defying Old Testament tradition and the prevailing health standards of the day, Jesus touched the man, saying "I will.  Be clean."  In Mark 7:33 a deaf/mute was brought to Jesus, and He drew the man aside, away from the crowd, and touched his ears and his tongue (that's much more than many of us would ever do!).  In Mark 8:22 some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged Him to touch their friend.  Jesus led the man away, and laid His hands on him, not once but twice, until the man's need was fully met.

You see, touching someone is more than poking a finger at them.  Jesus engaged the people He touched--He spent time with them, listened to them, put his hands on them.  See, He didn't just touch them physically; He touched them on an emotional, almost visceral level.  After a touch from Jesus, one would be completely changed.  He or she would have a heart of flesh where there was once a heart of stone. (See Ezekiel 36:26)

Shackled by a heavy burden,
'Neath a load of guilt and shame.
Then the hand of Jesus touched me,
And now I am no longer the same.
He touched me, Oh He touched me,
And oh the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know,
He touched me and made me whole.
Since I met this blessed Savior,
Since He cleansed and made me whole,
I will never cease to praise Him,
I'll shout it while eternity rolls.
He touched me, Oh He touched me,
And oh the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know
He touched me and made me whole.