Jesus Reached Out and Touched Him

Luke 5:12-28

I feel like I'm in round three of the story of Jesus' healing ministry.
Can anything new catch my attention, after reading Matthew and Mark?
Oh, yes, I definitely have a need to learn things more than once. I've
been painfully aware of this in the past. And now I discover that what
I'm about to write - Jesus touched him - was lifted up for us back on
February 16, when Brian Quade wrote "Able and Willing." Still, having
commented recently on the healing of the paralytic ("Such Great
Authority," on January 11), my focus today is on Jesus healing the
leper, Luke 5:12-14.

Recently, as I again read about the man with leprosy coming to Jesus, I
paused a long time as I came to these words, "Jesus reached out and
touched him." Not, the man touched Jesus. Jesus chose to touch one of
the untouchables. He didn't have to. He sometimes healed with just a
word. This man needed to experience once again what it felt like to be
touched. I picture Jesus stooping, raising the man up from where he
knelt with his face to the ground, then gripping the man's shoulders
and looking straight into his eyes. I hear him saying with a kind smile
and gentle voice, "Yes, of course I am willing."

I think back to a woman I once knew. I'll call her Laura. She lived
several houses up the street from me. I don't remember how we met. This
is strange when I think about it. It must have been an unusual meeting,
for Laura was a woman most people avoided. Some pretended she wasn't
there. It could be hard to carry on a conversation with Laura, for she
seemed slow in intellect and in social awareness. As I befriended her,
I heard rumors of abuse in her home and of children in trouble with the
law.

Sometimes, Laura would act as though she didn't know me. Other times,
she reached out for help. So, when her husband needed a ride to the
hospital for chemo treatments, I sometimes was the driver, even though
I was afraid of him.

One day Laura came to the church, expressing a desire to have God in
her life. She accepted my invitation to attend a women's Bible study.
Mostly, she didn't speak up. But I was impressed by her understanding
when we were studying a passage about Jesus' authority. She told us she
knew what authority meant - when her kids were warned by the local
policeman about some misbehavior, they did what they were told!

Laura didn't go out in public much. However, one afternoon I brought
Laura with me to a women's event. A person - who obviously didn't know
who Laura was - asked if she was my sister. Why would anyone think
that? Did we look alike? I quickly made introductions. That's all I
remember about that day. Except for my unspoken thoughts.

MY sister? Oh, no. My sister is a university professor. My sister has a
faithful, loving husband. No skeletons in the closet. My sister's
children are talented and well-behaved. They don't play hooky from
school. They wear clean clothes. No rags...

I had introduced Laura as my friend. But was she even that? No. My
project. This close and no closer.

Jesus, make me more like you. Thank you that you are already turning me
into a hugger.

Deetje Wildes