He Touched Them

This past week, I was reading about the widow at Nain (Luke 7:11-17).  What impressed me in the study, other than the miracle itself, of course, was that Jesus touched the stretcher upon which the widow’s dead son lay.  Observant Jews were not to touch anything to do with a dead person (Numbers 19) or they would be unclean: a big deal in Jewish culture. 

With Jesus’ touch, though, the young man did not remain dead.  He rose up, spoke, and Jesus presented him to his mother.

The passage in Luke also tells us that Jesus had “compassion” for the widow.  The word for “compassion” is the same word He used in the parable of the Prodigal Son when the father saw his son a long way off, had compassion on him and ran to him and hugged him.  The compassion Jesus felt was deep.  This wasn’t, I think, just because she had lost her son, which was devastating in itself.  She had also lost her support.  She had no husband or another son. 

It was very difficult for Jewish women, and especially widows, to support themselves in these times without a male bread winner.  According to the Law, they were included every three years in a tithing feast (Deut. 14:28-29), in a day of feasting once a year at the Feast of Weeks (Deut. 16:9-12), and at the annual Feast of Booths, a week-long celebration and feasting which included widows, too.  That was it so far as the festivals were concerned, though.  To survive, widows could also glean during the harvest times, and 10% of the crops each third year was distributed between the Levites, strangers, fatherless, and widows (Deut 26:12-13).  So, she could endure, but it was a hard life.  Jesus’ touch changed that.

Jesus also had compassion on a leper and healed him in Mark 8:3.  We’re told He touched him even though those who might touch a leper were unclean according to the Law.  Here the leper, too, was not just delivered from the malady but from a pitiable life.  According to Mosaic Law (Lev. 13), lepers had to wear torn clothing, let their hair grow over their faces, live alone, and shout, “Unclean, unclean,” whenever they were around others.  In healing the leper, Jesus’ touch changed all that.

There are others Jesus has touched, of course.  Like with the widow and the leper, He had compassion on them, and when He touched them, they were never the same.  Their lives were completely changed for the good.  If you know Jesus, you’re one of those people.  What a joy to experience the touch of our Master and see the changed lives we live.  If you don’t know Christ, He’s reaching out to you now.  Why not give your life to Him, and feel His healing touch?