“And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!” (Matt.12:49)
When Joseph brought his two sons before Jacob, he laid his hands on them (Gen. 48:14). By doing so, he identified those boys with his whole family saying, “You are my children, even though you were born in Egypt. You belong to my family. Now you have an equal share in the blessings which God has given to Abraham and his seed”. By laying his hands on them he also reminded them, “Now my grandsons do not be deceived by Egypt and its wealth or glory. God has given you a great spiritual and eternal inheritance along with the other children of Abraham.” Thus, by the laying on of hands, we show our spiritual oneness and relationship with God’s Children who are brought by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In your town, there may be many people, but only those who know the Lord Jesus Christ are your brothers and sisters. In Matt. 12:50, our Lord said, “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister, and mother”. In the laying on of hands, we declare that we belong to those who love the Lord, irrespective of nation or culture or education. We belong to the same family. We cannot be deceived any more by the world and its attractions. So the first significance of the laying on of hands is our spiritual relationship with other believers.
Secondly, by the laying on of hands, we declare our identification with the Lord Jesus in His sacrificial death. “And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him” (Lev. 1:4). Whenever anyone brought a sacrifice to the door of the Tabernacle, he would lay his hands upon the animal and confess his sins. The animal was then killed and sacrificed upon the altar. By laying his hands upon the animal, he declared, “This animal is going to die in my place”. He himself could not go inside. In his place, the animal was killed and taken inside for a sacrifice. Similarly, by faith, we declare that the Lord Jesus died in our stead. Thus our spiritual identification in the death of the Lord Jesus is expressed by the laying on of hands.