Then Jesus came up and touched the coffin--doing something unthinkable-- and the bearers stood still. And Jesus said, "Young man I say to you, arise. And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother!" Luke 7:11-17
Jesus has given to us as Creator five senses: hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling, and touch. That last sense is a miracle in so many ways. When a little baby is born the hugs of parents and grandparents help wire the child in a wonderful way. Through touch love is communicated even when the child does not yet understand words.
When Jesus conducted his ministry on earth the Gospels reveal His constant touching of people. He touched the blind, the deaf, and the paralyzed, curing them of dreaded debilitating diseases. He lifted up little children into his loving arms commanding adults to bring them up in the knowledge of His love. His touch was always wholesome, healing, and life-giving. Remember the time when he spit and mixed His Divine saliva with dirt to put on the blind eyes of man born blind to signal to the man born blind that healing was on the way. It was also a sign of how Jesus' uses means of grace.
Here we come to a very important matter. How does Jesus touch us today? He personally gave Elijah power to raise up 2,800 years ago the son of widow of Zarephath. This was to foreshadow His resurrection power. As God's only Son Jesus touched the coffin of the only son of a widow, a son who had just died. The touch of Messiah Jesus breathe life into the young man, just like Jesus breathed life in the soil that brought forth Adam. The touch of the Almighty Son of God was God's way of visiting this planet in a profound personal way.
Throughout the Old Testament Jesus would literally show up walking on planet earth, breaking bread with Abraham, wrestling with Jacob. Here was God in flesh already long ago touching this planet in a way unique to the God of all grace. As the Scriptures unfolded, Jesus coming to planet earth would become more intimate. He would be born of a Virgin--God dwelling in the womb of Mary. He would hug his mother and father, touching their lives as the one sinless child who walked on this earth to keep for us a perfect record. He would institute the Lord's Supper giving His disciples His very body and blood--touching them with a new Passover meal. And after Jesus rose from the dead, He set in motion a system whereby He now touches our lives.
So we come back to our question. How does Jesus come to us today, September 19, 2021? We can't go back in time and space 2,000 years and have Jesus touch us. The good news is Jesus has put into place a way that He touches us. The five ways Jesus touches us: the 5 B's: Baptism, Body and Blood, the Bible, Body of Christ (the Church).
In baptism Jesus not only saves us but graft us into His body--1 Peter 3:21 & 1 Cor. 12:13. In the Lord's Supper Jesus touches us by giving us His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins (Matt 26:28). Through the Bible Jesus as God and Man dwells in us through the story of His love for us which culminates with His death on the cross (Rom 10:17)
Paul's prayer for the Christians at Ephesus is that Jesus would dwell in their hearts through faith. This faith would come about through His love. His love would come to creating faith through His lifelines of love, Word and Sacrament (Eph 2:20).
Paul's prayer was that Christians at Ephesus would receive grace from Jesus' means of grace. He prayed they would be grounded in love. He prayed that they would comprehend with all the saints the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ (Eph 3:17-19).
Just as the Bible begins with the Torah, five books, at the end of the day there are five ways Jesus' touches us with His love, His grace, His mercy. We have mentioned four: Baptism, Body and Blood, the Bible, and then there is a fifth B:Body of Christ.
This is why fellowship is so vital. In Acts 2:42 Luke, the good doctor, records how the early church recognized the ways Jesus comes to us to touch our lives. He wrote, the early Christians continued steadfastly in the Bible study, receiving Christ's body and blood, and being around other members of the body of Christ in worship. This came right after He recorded how in Baptism Jesus granted forgiveness and the Holy Spirit to all people, young and old (Acts 2:38-39). Put it together and you have Jesus touching hearts in a five-fold fashion: Baptism, Body and Blood, Bible, Body of Christ.
In Lutheran circles, we say Jesus has chosen to come to us in Word and Sacrament. You might prefer saying Jesus comes via His lifelines of love or His means of grace. Through these means Jesus touches lives. For us it is important that we are called to be "Jesus with skin on." Each one of us is to be the feet and fingers of Christ. When we comfort, encourage, and care for each other, indeed we are "Jesus with skin on." The power to do this, living a life of love in thanksgiving for Jesus' love, makes us a vital part in Jesus touching others through us. Also, beautiful poems!
Be around Word and Sacrament. See how you are also "Jesus with skin on." Through the body of Christ the Church, the blood and body of Christ in the Lord's Supper, baptism where Jesus washes away our sin, and the Bible these are the touchstones of an abundant life. Amen
