The Hands of Jesus
The Hands of Jesus.
From page 50 of “Love your Enemies” the story of Richard Wurmbrand.
Background; Wurmbrand was a atheist Jew that became Christian in Romania in 1940. He became the pastor of a church facing harassment and persecution from pro Nazi anarchists.
(During one Sunday morning service, Richard looked out from the pulpit to see a group of men from the Iron Guard file into the back of the church. The men wore their green shirts and held revolvers.
Richard was suddenly confronted with the realization that this could be his last sermon. He decided to make it challenging. He began by talking about Jesus’s hands, how they wiped away tears, lifted up children, fed the hungry, and healed the sick.
Jesus’s hand had also been nailed to the cross at his crucifixion, and with them he had blessed his disciples before ascending to heaven.
Then, pulling himself up to his full height and staring straight at the Green Shirts, Richard bellowed, “But you, what have you done with your hands? You are killing, beating, and torturing innocent people. Do you call yourselves Christians? Clean your hands your sinners!”)
John 20:27 KJV "Behold, my hands".
“Behold means; to look at, to examine, and compare with or to”
Do you know how many times the word "hands" are used in the Bible or the word "hand" is used in the Bible? 1,433 times.
Think of everyday usage that we make of hands. Try eating without them
Now look at your hands. Take them out in front of you and look at them a moment. It's the most versatile part of all your body. We climb with our hands. We push with our hands. We pull with our hands. We throw with our hands. We catch with our hands. We can tear with our hands.
We can thread with our hands. We can sew with our hands. We can chisel with our hands. We can saw with our hands. We can drive a nail with our hands. We can draw a picture on a canvas with our hands. We can play an instrument with our hands. We can even walk on our hands,
And of all the five senses, the eagle can see better, the dog can smell better, and the horses can sense better and hear better with their ears. But none of the animals have the hands that are capable of such diversification as the human hands.
"Behold my hands".
Jesus’ Hands created the world.
Jesus’ Hands Were Nail-Scarred
His nail-scarred hands represented the love he had for us and the sacrifice he was willing to make for us.
And thirdly, there's the healing hands.
The healing touch of the hand of Jesus.
To heal your heart, to heal your mind, to heal your soul, to heal your body.
Think of the leper crying, "Unclean, unclean, unclean"! The lepers, who no one could go near to them. Social outcasts; little bells that would ring in those days, “keep away, keep away. I'm a leper”.
Unclean, unclean. Jesus walked right up to them and put his hand right on the leper. Can you imagine what that meant to that leper?
Remember when he went to Peter's home. Peter's mother-in-law was sick, nigh unto death.
Jesus went in and took her by the hand. She got up and began to wait on the tables.
The healing touch of Jesus: The man born blind. Jesus calls him to get a little dust from the earth, collects the saliva and puts it in the dust and makes a little salve and puts it on his eyes with his hands and he's healed.
He healed the deaf: “And He . . . put His fingers in his ears and touched his tongue” (Mark 7:34).
The touch of the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ in healing.
Has he come into your heart to heal your hurt?
The hurt between you and your wife?
The hurt between you and your son?
The hurt between you and your brother?
The hurt between you and your neighbor?
The hurt of poverty out of a job.
The hurt of bad health?
The hand of compassion.
He said, "I have compassion on the multitude because they've now been with me three days and have nothing to eat".
So, he said, feed them. The hungry people of the world, He has compassion on them.
Our hands are useful
We can use them to communicate in Good or Bad ways
We can use them to build up or tear down
We can use them to comfort or harm
Our hands, the healing hands of the Lord Jesus Christ
And he uses your hands to minister.
Think about he hands of a doctor, the hands of a nurse, the hands of a social worker, the hands of the clergyman, the hands of the psychiatrist or the psychologist to talk to you, to heal you, to help you.
The value of Hands
A basketball in my hands is worth about $19.
A basketball in Michael Jordan's hands is worth about $33 million.
It depends whose hands it's in.
A tennis racket is useless in my hands.
A tennis racket in Venus Williams' hands is championship winning.
It depends whose hands it's in.
A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal
A rod in Moses' hands will part the mighty sea.
It depends whose hands it's in.
A sling shot in my hands is a kid's toy
A sling shot in David's hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends whose hands it's in.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God's hands will feed thousands.
It depends whose hands it's in.
Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse.
Nails in Jesus Christ's hands will produce salvation for the entire world.
It depends whose hands it's in.
We have been given wonderful gifts;
Love, Grace, Mercy, Truth, God’s Holy Spirit, etc.
Are you extending the hands of God?
Or are you binding the hands of God?
Which hands do you have?
THIS MESSAGE IS NOW IN YOUR HANDS.
WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH IT?
