Touch: The Practice

Last week we looked at the first element of the incarnation — God, in Christ, becoming one of us, with us, for us. The incarnation has a direction, and that direction is a movement toward us, rooted in love and motivated by compassion. This week we look at the second element: touch. God moving toward us in Jesus was never simply about closing distance — it was about opening the door to real, meaningful relationship. We see this in Mark 1. A man with leprosy comes to Jesus seeking healing. With nothing more than a word, Jesus could heal him. Instead, while the man is still unclean, Jesus reaches out and touches him. Touch wasn't needed to heal his body. So why touch him at all... unless something else was being healed in the process — something that did require touch?