Focus: His Healing Hands

Text: Jh.18:12

"Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews TOOK Jesus, and BOUND Him."

David Platt said, "I want to be apart of something that can only be explained by the hand of God!" No less than one hundred Scriptures tell us about the hands of God and what God does with them. In the Gospels we also see Jesus Christ doing wonders with His hands.

Let us check them out.

Jesus Christ touched a leper and cleansed him miraculously. "And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed" (Mt.8:3).

He healed the mother of Peter's wife by a touch. "And he touched her hand, and the fever left her…" (Mt.8:15).

He restored sight to the blind by the touch of His hand. "Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you" (Mt.9:29). Again, we read, "So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him" (Mt.20:34). "And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town… and put his hands upon him…" (Mk.8:23).

By the touch of His hands He dismissed fear from the heart of His disciples. "And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid" (Mt.17:7).

By a touch He cured a deaf and dumb man. "And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue" (Mk.7:33).

He blessed children with His hands. "And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them" (Mk.10:16).

With a touch and a word He restored a dead man to life. "And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise" (Lk.7:14).

Then comes the last miracle He performed with His hands: "And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him" (Lk.22:50,51). He immediately took care of a situation caused by one of His overzealous disciples. And as soon as He miraculously restored the right ear of Malchus, the next thing we read is that "the band and the captain and officers of the Jews TOOK Jesus, and BOUND Him." They handcuffed the hands that once healed and blessed people in need. They denied Him the further use of His hands. 

He lost the use of His hands, and as the saying goes, His hands were tied. From that point, He was taken to the courts and to the place of crucifixion, and there they finally nailed His hands and feet. They ended the use of His hands. They bound and nailed the good hands of Jesus Christ. They rendered His hands completely idle. But then, though they stopped the use of His hands, they could not stop the use of His tongue. All through His time on the cross He made use of His mouth, and only spoke words. Interestingly, the words He spoke were enough to take care of things of eternal significance. He prayed His Father to pardon His offenders. He spoke words that assured the thief by His side of His place in paradise. By His own words He admitted His personal need and showed His humanity. He spoke words that guaranteed His mother's future. By His words we understand that He entered into the holy of holies to atone for the sin of humanity. We know this by the fact that He cried out, saying, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 

By His words we are assured that our redemption was a completed transaction, and finally with words of confident faith He handed His spirit over to His Father for safe-keeping.

They bound and nailed His hands, but couldn't tie His mouth. His hands took care of temporal needs, but His tongue addressed issues of eternity. And it is interesting to know that the hands of Jesus Christ were not nailed forever.

He rose again from the dead with no chains on His hands. By the resurrection power of the Spirit His hands are forever free. His hands are back in use and for action. Jesus Christ says to Thomas, "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my HANDS; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side…" (Jh.20:27). He rose from the dead with unchained and unbound hands. Indeed they are still those same hands that were nailed. The scars remain forever as a testimony that He is the same man with the same hands, except that they are no longer tied or chained. By those scars on His hands and feet we are eternally reminded of the price of our eternal redemption.

Today He is in your life to touch you afresh with His hands and speak words of power and peace to you with His tongue. With His tongue He tackles issues in your life and transforms your whole being with the touch of His hands.

His hands still heal. His hands still deliver. His hands still work wonders. His hands still bless. The hands that bled on the cross have power in them to turn things around for you. Yes, there are healings and blessings in His hands!

Those hands of Christ are sovereign hands. They are holy and righteous hands. They are good hands. They are able hands. They are miraculous and reliable hands. They are safe hands. They are outstretched and extended hands. They are hands holding out to us the bounties of heaven. They are open hands. They are creative hands. They are hands that guide. They are comforting hands. They are helping hands. They are hands that uplift and uphold. His right hand does mighty things, and His left hand hold precious things in store for us. They are solid hands. They are saving and sustaining hands. They are sure and secure hands. They are invisible and invincible hands. They are hands that provide and protect.

Be rest assured that you are forever blessed in His hands! Martin Luther said, "I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess." E. Stanley Jones lends his voice, "Surrender the thing you fear into the hands of God… Fear is keeping things in your own hands; faith is turning them over into the hands of God." Listen to Joni Eareckson Tada: "A broken life in the hands of God is ripe for blessing." Grace is God's hand reaching out to us with all the resources of heaven and faith is the hand that takes what God has to offer. What His hand gives, our hand takes. We are the works of His hands. What His hands have made, His hands uphold. Have faith in His hands even when you do not see them. Truly, there is healing in His hands! Amen!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter