Jesus left no one worse than he had found them. None left his presence without some blessing, some challenge, some enablement or encouragement to live for the good of others and the glory of God. And what a difference it would make in this world if we determined to do the same.

Some of the most stirring but also the most tragic images the Bible gives us are of great crowds surging toward Jesus so they could be healed. At a time when humanity had only the most basic knowledge of the human body and knew of only the most rudimentary medical treatments, there were always many who suffered constantly and grievously. Thus we can picture in our minds people covered in sores limping toward him, people who could not walk crawling toward him, people unable to move being carried toward him. Surrounding him always were the most pitiable people in the most desperate of conditions.

And as they came, Jesus would reach out and touch them. As his hand came into contact with theirs, they would receive strength. As his fingers brushed against their bodies, they would be made whole—bones would be knit back together, ligaments would be strengthened, eyes would be opened, ears would be unstopped. Though the ministry of Jesus was primarily about teaching, it also involved much touching, for the crowds that surged toward him longed to feel his healing touch.

We do not have such power today, for it pleased God to allow that healing gift to fade away at the end of the age of the Apostles, at the time when the writing of the Scriptures had come to completion. But we still do have the ability to touch people’s lives, for their good or ill, for their strengthening or weakening, for their blessing or cursing.

Our lives, and those of others, are constantly coming into contact with one another. Friends and enemies, neighbors and colleagues, family members and perfect strangers—as we live out our lives, Providence directs that they come into our orbit and we into theirs. And if we acknowledge that God’s unseen hand directs all our ways, then we must acknowledge that our paths and those of other people do not cross without some design, some purpose. It was no chance encounter when, along the border between Samaria and Galilee, Jesus was met by 10 lepers. It was no coincidence that when he entered Bethsaida a blind man approached him there. It was no lucky break that, as he approached the Sea of Galilee, a deaf man awaited him. The mind of God had planned all of this, the hand of God had directed it, and it fell to Jesus to make the most of each opportunity.

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