Parresia · Beholding Jesus in His Amazing Grace, Session 3, “Jesus, Our Completeness”

Introduction

Welcome to session 3 of Beholding Jesus in His Amazing Grace. This session is entitled, “Jesus, Our Completeness.”

Matthew 8 – Peter’s Mother-in-law/ háptomai

I want to dive right in and begin with Matthew 8, verse 14 – 

Matthew 8:14-17, NASB – When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. 15 He touched [háptomai] her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him. 16 When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.” [That is a quote from Isaiah 53:4]

When Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law, and cast out the spirits, and healed all who were ill, He was demonstrating that He Himself was the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah.

I want to highlight on one little word in this passage from Matthew 8 – the one word which will be the focus of this message: the word “touched.”

When Jesus “touched” Peter’s mother-in-law’s hand, power went out from Him to her, and it healed her of the fever.

That word “touched” is the Greek word “háptomai.” It doesn’t really have a good English equivalent, and it has a much deeper meaning than merely “touch.”

Here are several meanings of háptomai – to modify or change by touching, touching that influences; touching someone or something in a way that alters it; to fasten to, adhere to, or cling to; to set on fire; 

Other definitions include – pertaining to sexual relations between a man and a woman;  regarding the law – contact with the unclean which would cause one to be unclean. 

One commentary called háptomai “impact-touching.” Most occurrences of this word in the New Testament are when Jesus touched someone to heal them. 

Earlier in that same chapter, Jesus “háptomai’d” the leper, and he was cleansed. In the next chapter, Matthew 9, the woman with the issue of blood “háptomai’d” Jesus, and she was made whole. Also in Matthew 9, Jesus “háptomai’d” the eyes of two blind men, and they were healed. 

Forgive me for butchering this Greek word by making it an English past tense verb, but I’m doing it to make a point.

Can we still be touched by Jesus? Of course, we can. We have all experienced the touch of Jesus in one way or another by His Spirit who dwells inside of us. It’s a touch that changes us and gives us life from the inside out.

This impact touching is always one way. Our weakness, our lack, our pain, our sickness, our uncleanness, our sin, our  unrighteousness are never transferred to Him because  that was done once and for all when Jesus bore all of our sin and the curse of the law on the cross.

How I got the name for this message

Earlier this week I shared my plan for this message with Neil. I retold the story of when Mark was prayed for in a prayer meeting in 1995 to be healed of an incurable disease that he had suffered from since 1987 when we were still newly weds. In that prayer meeting, this passage from Matthew 8 was read over Mark., and I had an epiphany – Jesus took Mark’s disease in His body on the cross.

Now, that was the second Rhema word I had received regarding Mark’s healing. The first had come a few months earlier, in January of 1995, when the Bible fell open in my lap to James 5:

James 5:14-15, NIV – Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.

When the Bible fell open miraculously to that passage after Mark had been sick for 8 years, I did not know how healing worked or if it was for everyone, but I instantly knew that it was for Mark. 

And then, a few months later, when Matthew 8:14-17 was read over Mark, my mind was forever changed. That last part, “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases,” was a quote from Isaiah 53, the beautiful “Great Exchange” passage.

I was telling all of this to Neil, and I said to him, “I want to talk about what happens when Jesus touches us, but I can’t think of a title. I want each message to be “Jesus, Our ______.”

Neil suggested, “How about ‘Jesus, Our Completeness.’” Instantly I felt the presence of God. Yes! When Jesus touches us, He completes us. 

I thought of one of the definitions of háptomai – the union of a man and woman. This week we had Valentine’s Day. As I was looking for a card for Mark, this saying kept coming up, “You complete me.” 

Jesus completes us. In fact, He already completed us 2000 years ago. In the resurrection He became “the firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18) and “the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).

When we are born again by faith in Jesus, we become a new creation. He creates anew as a bride comparable to Himself, just as Eve was for Adam in the Garden. As a new creation, we are complete in Jesus.

We are complete in Jesus

Colossians 2:9-10 – For in Him [In Jesus] dwells all the fullness [plērōma] of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, [in Jesus (plēroō)] who is the head of all principality and power. [that word “complete” is the verb form of “fullness” in verse 9. It means: “to fill to the top so that nothing shall be wanting; to RENDER PERFECT, to cause to abound, to be liberally supplied, to be filled with the presence, power, agency, and riches of Christ]

In our redeemed spirit we are already 100% whole. We are complete and lack nothing. But in our soul and in our bodies, we need the touch of Jesus every day to fill us, heal us, and supply us.

All week I have been singing this old song: “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.”

Jesus makes us whole because He is our completeness.

When Jesus “háptomai’d” Peter’s mother-in-law, He made her whole. He healed her to fulfill Isaiah 53:4. Let’s look at that passage in the Amplified Bible and see all that Jesus bore on our behalf so that He could make us whole:

Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53:4, AMPC – Surely He[Jesus] has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him[Jesus] stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy]. [Leprosy in the Bible is a picture of sin]

Let’s look deeper at a few words in this passage in the Hebrew:

1. Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses)

That word “borne” is the Hebrew word “nāśā’,” and it means to bear in the sense of “suffering punishment for something.” It is the same word used later in that passage in verse 12 where it says “He bore the sin of many.”  Continuing – 

2. Surely He has borne our griefs, (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses)

“Griefs” is the Hebrew word “choli,” and it literally means “sickness.” 

In fact, that word “choli” is part of the curse of the law that is described in Deuteronomy 28:

Deuteronomy 28:59 – [There are] Extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses [choli].

All of this fell on Jesus for our sakes. 

Galatians 3:13 – Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)

Jesus took every “choli”  – every sickness and disease – in Himself for us.  The full force of the entire curse fell on Jesus. That’s why we are redeemed from it. That’s why we pray for healing. That’s why if and when we die (if Jesus tarries), we will live. The believer never truly dies. 

Back to Isaiah 53:4 – 

3. …and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment]

“Carried” is the Hebrew word “sāḇal” and like the word “nāśā’” it means to “bear something as a penalty or chastisement.” It’s the same word used later in verse 11 where it says, “He shall bear [sāḇal] their iniquities.” 

The word “sorrows” is the Hebrew word “maḵ’ōḇ” and it means “pains” – both physical and mental.

Jesus carried our mental pains – remember the crown of thorns?

He carried physical pains – remember the stripes on His back?

Young’s literal translation says it like this:

Isaiah 53:4 (YLT) – Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains — he hath carried them.

Next verse – in Isaiah 53:5 –

Isaiah 53:5 – He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him,…

• Wounded, chalal – to be profaned, defiled, desecrated

• Bruised, daka’ – crushed, broken, shattered

• Iniquities, `avon – perversity, depravity, guilt or punishment

• Chastisement, muwcar – discipline, chastening, correction

• Peace, shalom – completeness, wholeness, soundness, welfare

So let’s put those definitions in Isaiah 53:5 – 

But Jesus was profaned, defiled, and desecrated for our sins; Jesus was crushed, broken, and shattered for our perversity, depravity, and guilt; the discipline, chastening, and correction to obtain our completeness, wholeness, soundness, and welfare was upon Jesus,

Isaiah 53:5, cont. – …and with the stripes [that wounded] Him[Jesus] we are healed and made whole 6 All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has made to light upon Him the guilt and iniquity of us all. [NKJV – And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.]

“Laid on Him” is the Hebrew word pāḡa – to touch, to make intercession, to join, to reach the mark, to encounter. Jesus touched our sin and took it away. He reached the mark for us by paying the penalty – the wages of sin is death. He touched death for us.

In Hebrews 4:15 the KJV says that Jesus was “touched with the feeling of our infirmity.” “Infirmity” means weakness and sickness. “Touched” is the Greek word “sympatheō”, and it means to be affected with the same feeling as another, to feel for, to have compassion for.”

Jesus touched all of our brokenness in order to take it away, and He exchanged our brokenness for His Completeness and Wholeness.

Hebrews 4:15, KJV – For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities…

Matthew 8 – the healing of the leper

Earlier in Mathew 8, Jesus touched – “háptomai’d” – the leper and cleansed him. When I read this story again, it reminded me of covid. It was treated alot like leprosy, wasn’t it?

In January of 2021, I got covid – the original.  A few months later, Frances got the Delta variant, and she came home from Chattanooga so I could take care of her. And then a few weeks later, Elizabeth got it. She came home from Memphis so I could take care of her, too.

Because I was immune, I could touch them and hug them and care for them. I literally got in the bed with them. When you’re sick, you need someone to hug you and come close to you.

Quarantine is nothing new. In the Bible, the lepers had to quarantine. They were considered “unclean.” No one could touch them, or they too would become “unclean.” But it didn’t stop Jesus from coming near and touching the lepers. 

Right after the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus came down the mountain.

Matthew 8:1 – When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 

Jesus would soon encounter a leper. But the leper would not have been in the multitude. No one would have been with the leper – not even his family could be near him. So Jesus must have been some distance ahead of the multitude when He came close to this leper.

Matthew 8:2 – And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him… [Luke’s account says he was “full of leprosy.” Another version says he was “covered with leprosy.” Imagine the sight! Luke says “he fell on his face and implored Jesus.”]

Perhaps the leper had been hiding in the rocks and overheard the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said things like, 

Matthew 7:7-11 – “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

The leper cries out to Jesus – 

Matthew 8:2 – …saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus put out His hand [Mark’s account says Jesus was “moved with compassion, and stretched out His hand…” ] and touched him, [Jesus “háptomai’d”] saying, “I am willing; [That’s who He is!] be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

It’s the same way with sin. Jesus didn’t stay away from sinners. He went towards them. He touched them, ate with them, defended them, forgave them, and loved them.

The time we need the touch of Jesus the most is when we fail. He is immune from sin and shame, so He will come near and touch us, care for us, and hug us even if everyone else is afraid we’ll infect them or disgrace them. 

And for the believer, His Spirit will remind us of our righteousness in Him. For the sinner, His Spirit will convict him of his need for a Savior.

When Jesus touched the leper, instead of becoming unclean, the leper became clean. When Jesus touches a sinner that person’s sin doesn’t go into Jesus. Jesus’ righteousness goes into the sinner.

In fact, Jesus didn’t just come near sinners, He became sin – He adhered to sin to take it away. He became our Mediator. 

Job – Jesus our Mediator

I want to read to you some profound words that were spoken by Job – 

Job 9:32-33, NLT – “God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial. 33  If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together.” [NKJV has the more literal translation: “Nor is there any mediator between us, who may lay his hand on us both.”]

The difference between Job and us is that we live on this side of the cross. We have a Mediator! Jesus, the God-man, has laid His hand on both God and us to bring us together.  

1 Timothy 2:5-6 – For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all…

The Greek word for mediator [mesitēs] means one who intervenes between two persons to restore peace, one who intervenes to ratify a covenant, a go-between, a reconciler.

Jesus is our Mediator, our intercessor. The Greek word for Intercession means to “strike the mark with an arrow, to hit the bullseye.”  [entygchanō] 

Jesus’s Intercession is opposite of sin – harmartia – which literally means to “to miss the mark.”

Jesus continually strikes the bullseye for us. Every time we miss the mark, His comforting hand remains on us as our Intercessor, reassuring us that we are still one with Him and the Father. 

Hebrews 7:25, Wuest expanded Translation – [with the verb tenses] He is able to be saving completely and forever those who come to God through Him, being always alive for the purpose of continually making intercession for them.

Woman with the issue of blood

Back to Matthew – in the next chapter, Matthew 9, we have an example of someone touching Jesus and being made whole.

Matthew 9:20-22 – And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched [háptomai – clung to; adhered to] the hem of His garment. 21 For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” [As we will see in a minute, this wasn’t an ordinary garment] 22 But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour. [This is the only woman He directly addressed “Daughter,” and all her pain for 12 years was erased with one háptomai.]

I want to read a short excerpt to you from an article called “Healing in His Wings”:

Jesus would have been wearing a prayer shawl called a “talit.” On the corners of the talit were 4 tassels. The English word “hem” is a translation of a Greek word (“krespedon”) which means “a tassel of twisted wool.” The Jews of Jesus’ day believed that the tassels that were tied to the corners of the prayer shawl of the Messiah had healing powers. They believed this because of Malachi 4:2, which says, “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.” The “sun of righteousness” is a Hebrew figure-of-speech which means ”the Messiah,” and the word “wings” in Hebrew is the same word that is used when referring to the edge of a prayer shawl. (From Healing in His Wings)

This woman reached out to touch – háptomai – the wings of the Son of Righteousness, and she was healed. 

In Luke’s account – 

Luke 8:44, 46 – And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” [who háptomai’d Me?] … 46 “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” [Power is the word “dynamis” – the word from which we get our word dynamite. This was impact touching, and Jesus could feel it.]

This woman was a law-breaker because she was bleeding and in public, but when she heard about Jesus, it was worth breaking the law to get to Him and touch Him.  Because – 

Mark 6:56, KJV – as many as touched [háptomai’d] him were made whole.

ALL of them!!!! I like to say: not just those who were prayed up, confessed up, well-behaved, and up-to-date on their tithing. Not just those who perfectly obeyed the law. All of them! Because Jesus is full of grace.

John 1:16 – And of His fullness [plērōma] we have all received, and grace for grace.

Faith 

To the woman with the issue of blood, Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well.” To the two blind men that He “háptomai’d” in that same chapter of Matthew 9, He said, “According to your faith let it be to you.” To the woman with the alabaster box who “háptomai’d” Jesus’s feet; to the centurion and the Syrophenician woman and Bartimaeus and the Samaritan leper who thanked Jesus for cleansing him in Luke 17,   Jesus said to each of them that their faith had healed or saved them. What is faith? 

This is a bit of a rabbit trail, but I felt I wanted to share it before we finished. 

We should never let the idea of “faith” intimidate us or cause us to feel condemned. God has showed me something about true faith that convinced me that there is no way to be under condemnation for not having enough faith when you understand what it is.

Faith is the Greek word pistis, and it means God’s divine persuasion. God sent His Son, Jesus, to persuade us of who He is, and of His goodness, grace, and love. So I believe that Faith is simply keeping our eyes on Jesus. because He is the divine persuasion of God.

Hebrews 11:1 – Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

Faith is a gift of God. It is never produced through human effort. It cannot be conjured. It’s so simple that we almost always miss it. Faith is just Jesus. 

I’m going to say that again, but in the places where faith is referred to, I am going to change it to a word that Jesus is to us. I could choose many words, such as provision, healing, or holiness. But I’m going to use the word “righteousness.” 

Righteousness is a gift of God. Righteousness is never produced through human effort. Righteousness cannot be conjured. 1 Corinthians 1:30 tells us that Jesus is our righteousness. 

Romans 1:17 tells us that the Righteousness we receive from Jesus is revealed “from faith to faith” – from pistis to pistis – Why does righteousness have to be by faith?  Because every day you are going to see evidence to the contrary.

When we behold Jesus as our righteousness, He becomes the substance of what we are believing. If we believe right, we will live right. But if we are sin-conscious and behold our flesh, we will walk in the flesh.

So when we behold Jesus, He becomes the substance of what we believe, not only in the present, and also of what we hope for in the future.

The word “Substance” in Hebrews 11:1 is the Greek word “hypostasis” [hoop-os’-tas-is] – means foundation, that which has actual existence, giving reality to; assurance, confidence. It’s the same word used for “nature” in Hebrews 1:3 – 

Hebrews 1:3, NASB – And Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature [hypostasis – KJV says, Jesus is the “express image of His Person” – Person is hypostasis. Jesus is the Person, the Substance of God], and upholds all things by the word of His power.

Jesus is the manifestation of God. He came to persuade is of what God is like. Jesus Himself is the evidence – the proof – of things not yet seen.

John 14:9 – “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

When we read the Gospels, and we see Him saving, delivering, feeding, healing, defending, loving, caring – this is the substance of what we hope for.

Every single one of those people to whom Jesus said, “Your faith has healed you or saved you,” had one simple thing in common: they were looking unto Jesus, the author of faith.

Hebrews 11:1 – Faith [Jesus] is the substance [the actual existence of God, the reality of God. He is the substance] of things hoped for [elpizó (noun form is elpis) – joyful, confident expectation of good from God in the future. He is ], the evidence [the proof] of things not seen.

Jesus is the visible substance of the invisible God.

Colossians 1:15 – He is the image of the invisible God

Romans 10:17, NASB – So faith [pistis – God’s divine persuasion. The Substance of God] comes from hearing and hearing by the [rhēma] word of Christ. [rhēma – the word uttered by the living voice]

John 10:27 – My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

That’s why every time I teach, I pray that you hear His voice, not mine! 

When Jesus touches us

I have prayed that we would be touched as the scriptures concerning Jesus are opened up to us – like the two on the road to Emmaus when their heart burned within them – because when Jesus touches us, He brings the completeness of heaven into our lives, and we are changed and healed and made whole.

When Jesus touches us, we will experience something. Maybe tears come to our eyes. Or we feel His presence on our skin. Sometimes we are filled with joy. Sometimes we feel lighter because a burden is lifted.

Sometimes we’re physically healed, and we can feel it. Sometimes we’re healed, and we don’t even know it. 

Sometimes when He touches us, we feel a burst of energy. Sometimes peace floods our soul, and we have a calm assurance that everything is going to be ok. Sometimes a soberness comes over us because His touch causes confusion to evaporate.

The touch of Jesus can come on us when we least expect it. Before we know it we’re weeping, and the waterfall of tears is healing years of pain, disappointment, and deferred hope.

The touch of Jesus can bring a smile, a giggle, or all-out laughter. It can cause us to want to dance, sing, lift our hands, and shout our praises to God. 

The touch of Jesus can spark a fire,   infuse us with boldness,   initiate a big exhale and cause us to let go of our fears,  prompt a precious memory or a scripture or a song,  generate a vision, or activate our spiritual eyesight to see a glimpse of the future, or angels, or the face of Jesus Himself.   When Jesus touches you, something is going to happen, and as the song says, and then you’ll know He touched you and made you whole.

I want to end by praying for His touch.

Lord Jesus, we open our hands and our hearts to You to receive Your touch.  We receive without guilt, shame or any hesitation. Will You touch us with Your amazing grace, Your extravagant love, Your overflowing joy, Your heavenly peace, Your kindness, gentleness, and compassion? Jesus, You are our Completeness and Wholeness. Amen.

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• (NASB) Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
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• (WUEST) The New Testament: An Expanded Translation by Kenneth S. Wuest © copyright Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1961. All rights reserved. 
• The Message, Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson