A leper came to Jesus and, kneeling before him, said, “If you will, you can cleanse me.” And Jesus, “moved with compassion”, stretched forth his hand and touched the leper; “and immediately the leprosy left him and he was clean.” Touching a leper was strictly prohibited, but for a heart to express compassion it needs hands — in this case, healing hands.
The sick are healed when compassion moves from the heart to the hand. The hand without the heart is powerless, and the heart without the hand is helpless. The Lord’s heart of compassion remains unchanged, and he needs our hands to finish the job that he began.
“God anointed Jesus from Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38) The only thing that has changed is that Jesus now goes about doing the same through us, by the same Spirit and the same power. It’s one thing to think of Jesus walking about with his disciples and doing miracles of healing; another thing entirely to think of Jesus walking about in us and doing them. It is the difference between history and current affairs.