One Pair Of Hands

“One Pair Of Hands”

Mark 1:40-42

David P. Nolte

Hands – some are gnarled and misshapen with arthritis; some are calloused and stiff from years of labor; some are smooth, delicate and well cared for.

Hands can hurt or help, strike or soothe, grasp or give; exclude or embrace.

Hands lift us up when we fall; hands hold onto ours when we walk together to show the way to go; and hands carry our burdens.

Today I want to think about one special, unique pair of hands – the hands of Jesus. They were the very hands of God encased in human form.

Jesus had just completed healing many people and then enjoyed an early morning prayer time with His Father. He returned to His disciples, and then a leper came to Him “beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, ‘If You are willing, You can make me clean.’ Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’ Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.” Mark 1:40-42 (NASB).

One pair of hands and we should recognize and appreciate the Hands Of Jesus because:

I. THEY ARE WILLING HANDS:

A. Here we meet a man who had been rejected, cast out, neglected, forsaken, and banned.

1. He approached Jesus in urgency and desperation – what did he have to lose? He was already a dead man walking.

2. He approached Jesus in uncertainty – he was unsure that He would cleanse him.

3. He approached Jesus with just a small bit of hope for the willingness of Jesus.

B. But he did come, and Jesus said, “I am willing.” He meant:

1. “I want to heal you.”

2. “It is my pleasure to heal you.”

3. “It makes me happy to heal you.”

C. And He stretched out His hand and touched him.

1. He couldn’t remember the last time someone touched him.

2. He had not enjoyed the embrace of wife or child or friend for so long.

3. And, now, Jesus actually touched him and was pleased to do it.

D. Who are you willing to touch?

1. We have shut-ins who need a loving touch.

2. There are people in the Helping Hands Shelter who need a kind touch.

3. Some our recently hospitalized folk need a gentle touch.

4. There are forsaken and forgotten people who need an embracing touch.

E. It is important that we be willing to do the right thing without coercion. That reminds me of a story in Reader’s Digest. A young man and his fiancé met with her pastor to sign some pre-wedding ceremony papers. While filling out the form, the young man read the some of the questions aloud. When he got to the one which read: "Are you entering this marriage at your own free-will?" he looked over at his fiancé. "Put down 'Yes,'" she said.

God wants us, willingly, to put down “yes” when He calls us to touch the untouchable, to include the outcast, to befriend the forsaken. Think of that one pair of hands and remember:

II. THEY ARE POWERFUL HANDS:

A. This “untouchable” was touched by and cleansed by powerful hands of the man who would walk on water, feed the multitudes, cast out demons, heal the sick, give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the mute, and life to the dead. And that touch changed his entire life from that day on.

B. The song spoke about His powerful hands:

“One pair of hands healed the sick;

One pair of hands raised the dead.

One pair of hands stilled the raging storm

And thousands of people were fed.

Those hands are so strong

so when life goes wrong

Put your faith into one pair of hands.”

C. Have you been touched by His powerful hands?

1. That may not mean a physical healing – not everyone is healed and the time will come for each of us to die.

a. But the greatest healing will be a heavenly one where we are in the presence of Jesus, not suffering anymore.

b. And, if physical healing is not in His plan, He will heal your weakness, fear, apprehension and anxiety.

2. For sure, His powerful touch will enable you to persist, to persevere, to prevail.

D. The Bible says in reference to His great power:

1. “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, y to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21 (NASB).

2. “Although He was crucified in weakness, He now lives by the power of God.” 2 Corinthians 13:4 (NLT2).