He Touched Me
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He Touched Me
I was in a choir, the CMI Choir (Concert Ministries Inc.) In this choir of 200+ people, we sang several songs. It was a Christmas program, it started out with secular Christmas songs then Act 2 it went into Christian songs and hymns during Act 3 it started out in Bethlehem then went through Jesus’ ministry. One of the main songs that I absolutely loved was “He Touched Me.” It was sung by four women. Each time they sang, and the choir backed them up, it felt like the spirit just fell upon us, and I was brought to tears almost every single time we sang this song. I could feel the power of the Holy Spirit upon me because He Touched Me.
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
Grieving - Saul and Jonathan’s love touched David
Psalm 130
You are forgiven because of the Lord. It says right there in Psalms “ He himself will redeem Israel for all their sins.” How will He do that, Jesus! And we all, Israelite, Jew or Gentile or Christian will all be saved because of Jesus IF we put our faith in Jesus to save us. He Touched Me by taking my sin away and wiping it clear.
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
The love of God touched the Corinthians and made them want to give.
Mark 5:21-43
Jesus was filled with power. The woman bleeding for years knew if she just touched his garment she would be healed.
Did you know in New Testament times when someone died they hired people to wail and shout.
Most of the people hired to perform the act of professional mourning were women. Men were deemed unfit for this because they were supposed to be strong and leaders of the family, unwilling to show any sort of raw emotion like grief, which is why women were professional mourners. It was socially acceptable for women to express grief, and expressing grief is important when it comes to mourning a body in terms of religion.[4]Also, in a world full of jobs solely made for men, it gave women a sense of pride that they were actually able to earn money in some way.[4] Mourners were also seen as a sign of wealth. The more wailers or mourners that followed a casket around, the more respected the deceased was in society.
In ancient Egypt, the mourners would be making an ostentatious display of grief which included tearing at disheveled hair, loud wailing, beating of exposed breasts, and smearing the body with dirt.[6] There are many inscriptions on tombs and pyramids of crowds of people following a body throughout the funerary procession.[5]However, the most important of these women were the two impersonating the two goddesses Isis and Nephthys.
Isis and Nephthys were both Egyptian goddesses who were believed to play a special role when someone died. They were to be impersonated as a mourning ritual by professional mourners. In most inscriptions seen, one of them is at either end of the corpse.[5] There are also rules for impersonation of these two goddesses, for example the portrayer's body had to be shaved completely, they had to be childless, and they had to have the names of Isis or Nephthys tattooed on their shoulders for identification.[5]
Evidence of professional mourning is seen in Ancient Egypt through different pyramid and tomb inscriptions. Different inscriptions show women next to tombs holding their bodies in ways that show sorrow, such as "hands holding the backs of their necks, crossing their arms on their chests, kneeling and/or bending their bodies forwards".[7]
“Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days.
Numbers 19:11 NIV
Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.”
Numbers 19:22 NIV
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Isaiah 6:5-8 NIV
🎶He Touched Me 🎶
Behind the Song
He Touched Me was the song that propelled Bill Gaither onto the national stage.
Gaither had been writing songs for years, but nothing struck the chord with the American public the way He Touched Me did. He wrote: “I started writing in 1960 and had written a few that were strong songs, but nothing had made an impact on a national level yet. That all changed with ‘He Touched Me.'”
Gaither was accompanying an “old preacher friend” Dr. Dale Oldham on various crusades.
He recalled: “He was a very eloquent speaker. One night after one of those meetings, Dr. Oldham said to me, ‘Bill, the word “touch” is a very popular word. It comes up so often in the New Testament stories about Jesus touching people’s eyes and healing
them, or touching people’s lives and changing them. It’s a special, spiritual word and you ought to write a song that praises His touch.’ So I did.”
After the meeting, Gaither, Dr. Oldham and Doug were driving back to Gaither’s home in Anderson, Indiana. The conversation turned to how deeply the Spirit of God was felt during the crusade meetings. Gaither was unable to sleep that night. He could not get the last words the minister said to him when he dropped him off that night out of his mind. The minister said ‘You should write a song that says, ‘He touched me’ oh, He touched me.”
Gaither’s mind mulled over the revival meeting and the heavy laden faces he’d seen in the crowd. He thought about how the meeting transformed them to looks of hope and joy by the end of the meeting.
The next morning, Gaither’s wife, Gloria, awoke to find him still working on the song.
Dr. Oldham’s son, Doug, recorded He Touched Me in 1964. Gaither recalled: “Doug sang it around in church circles, but I think it really started to get popular as people would take it back to their own congregations and sing it as a chorus. The song exploded! It was recorded by the Gaithers, by Henry Slaughter and by the Imperials. The Imperials version was the one Elvis heard. He just had to record that song. Bill remembers: “…I finally got a copy of his record, I just stood there saying, ‘Hey, Elvis is singing my song! But that was all a bonus. I just really love the song.”
Its funny, you write 53 songs and then you write one little baby, and even though it comes out of the womb the same way they all did, this baby just all of a sudden goes BOOM!”
The Gaither Trio recorded the song in later 1964.
Elvis Presley recorded the song in 1971. After releasing the song as a single, he released the album ‘He Touched Me’ in 1972.
He received a Grammy Award for this album and was named the Best Inspirational Performance for 1972.
The song has since been recording by everyone from MercyMe to Barbara Streisand.
Touch is mentioned in the Bible many times. Most of the time during the healing process.
In Matthew we have 4 stories where Jesus healed someone by touching them. Ok or them touching him or his garments.
When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
Matthew 8:1-4 NIV
As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”“Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.
Matthew 9:27-31 NIV
When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret (gih-NESS-uh-ret). And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
Matthew 14:34-36 NIV
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Matthew 17:4-9 NIV
Our Daily Bread - November 17, 2018
Power of Touch
Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him.
Mark 1:41
Dr. Paul Brand, twentieth-century pioneer medical missionary to India, saw firsthand the stigma associated with leprosy. During an appointment, hetouched a patient to reassure him treatment was possible. Tears began to stream down the man’s face. An attendant explained the tears to Dr. Brand, saying, “You touched him and no one has done that for years. They are tears of joy.”
Early in His ministry, Jesus was approached by a man with leprosy, an ancient label for all types of infectious skin diseases. Because of his disease the man was required by the Old Testament law to live outside his community. If the sick man accidentally found himself in close proximity to healthy people, he had to call out, “Unclean! Unclean!” so they could avoid him (Leviticus 13:45-46). As a result, the man may have gone months or years without human contact.
Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. Jesus had the power and authority to heal people with just a word (Mark 2:11-12). But as Jesus encountered a man whose physical illness left him feeling isolated and rejected, His touch assured the man that he was not alone but accepted.
As God gives us opportunities, we can extend grace and show compassion with a gentle touch that conveys dignity and value. The simple, healing power of human touch goes a long way to remind hurting people of our care and concern.
By Lisa Samra
INSIGHT
After Jesus healed the leper, why did He warn him not to tell anyone? (Mark 1:44). The Scriptures don’t reveal Jesus’s motive, but what follows could provide a hint: “But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing.” The first priority was to show himself to the priest. Why? In ancient Israel, leprosy was seen as a physical disease with spiritual implications. Therefore, when the first symptoms were experienced, the afflicted person would go to the priest—not the doctor—to be diagnosed (Leviticus 13). If cleansing took place, the priest would need to confirm that healing. Additionally, the priest was required to offer a specific and unusually detailed sacrifice after a leper was cleansed (Leviticus 14). In the entire Old
Testament, there are only two recorded healings of lepers-Miriam (Numbers 12:10-15) and Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5:1-14), and in neither case does the Scripture record that this specific, detailed sacrifice was made. Therefore, it’s quite possible that the first time this specific sacrifice was offered was in response to the healing described in Mark. But first the leper must “show [himself] to the priest” to have his healing confirmed.
Bill Crowder
In Luke it mentions a few more stories where Jesus healed by his touch.
He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
Luke 6:17-19 NIV
Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
Luke 7:11-15 NIV
Bier - a stand on which a corpse or coffin is placed
While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
Luke 22:47-51 NIV
He Touched Me - Gaither Vocal Band
Shackled by a heavy burden
'Neath a load of guilt and shame
Then the hand of Jesus touched me
And now I am no longer the same
He touched me, oh, He touched me
And oh, the joy that floods my soul
Something happened, and now I know
He touched me, and made me whole
Since I've met this blessed Savior
Since He's cleansed and made me whole
Oh, I will never cease to praise Him (to praise Him)
I'll shout it while eternity rolls
Oh, He touched me, oh He touched me,
He touched me
And oh, the joy that floods my soul
Something happened and now I know
He touched me and made me whole
Because the Holy Spirit entered my heart and I feel love and joy within. I want to spend time with Christ. One way is through prayer and anther is learning more about God through the Bible.
Our Daily Bread - May 20, 2023
Keep in Touch
Pray to your Father. Matthew 6:6
Madeleine L’Engle made it a habit to call her mother once a week. As her mother moved into her later years, the beloved spiritual writer called more frequently, “just to keep in touch.” In the same way, Madeleine liked her children to call and maintain that connection. Sometimes it was a lengthy conversation filled with significant questions and answers. Other times a call simply making sure the number was still valid was sufficient. As she wrote in her book Walking on Water, “It is good for the children to keep in touch. It is good for all of us children to keep in touch with our Father.”
Most of us are familiar with the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9–13. But the verses that precede it are just as important, for they set the tone for what follows. Our prayers aren’t
to be showy, “to be seen by others” (v. 5). And while there’s no limit on how long our prayers need to be, “many words” (v. 7) doesn’t automatically equate to quality prayer. The emphasis seems to be on maintaining regular contact with our Father who knows our need “before [we] ask him” (v. 8). Jesus stresses how good it is for us to keep in touch with our Father. Then instructs us: “This, then, is how you should pray” (v. 9).
Prayer is a good, vital choice for it keeps us in touch with the God and Father of us all.
By John Blase
In order to be touched by the Holy Spirit you need to be in a relationship with God. Take Jesus as your Personal Lord and Savior. Get into His Word daily. Continually be in prayer with Him. Putting Him number one in your life. Amen. Amen.