# 267 A Holy Kiss!

The Book of Genesis

Day 267

Ge 29:11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept.  12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's relative and that he was Rebekah's son. So she ran and told her father.  13 Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things.  14 And Laban said to him, "Surely you are my bone and my flesh." And he stayed with him for a month.

Wow! There sure is a lot of kissing going on here! What’s with all this show of affection? I hope you noticed that Jacob didn’t greet the other shepherds with a kiss! The kiss was reserved for his kinfolk, for Rachel and Laban, his family.

This kind of family greeting has pretty much gone by the wayside in our American culture, but you will still find it being practiced in the “old country” families.  It still sends the same message. “We are family.”

This cultural kiss of greeting is mentioned five times in the New Testament where it is often referred to as “a holy kiss.” The first mention is found in Ro 16:16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you.

Why this emphasis on a “holy kiss” in the New Testament? Because as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we become brothers and sisters, sealed with the Holy Spirit. We are family, just like Jacob, Rachel, and Laban! And families use hugs and kisses in greeting to demonstrate to all, the family bond. In fact, the word “greet” means to embrace! 

It’s sad in a way, that we have reduced our family greetings in the Body of Christ to at best a handshake. Could we at least, make it a “warm” handshake? Our style of greeting says a lot about our closeness as a family. It’s a lot more natural to greet a brother and sister whom you have connected with through mutual Bible Studies and times of prayer with a hug and even a holy kiss!

I think the lesson for all of us, is to realize that through faith in Jesus Christ, and the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit in us, we are kinfolk! We are family! Let’s greet each other as if that were true, and more importantly, let’s treat each other like it were true. Let’s do the work of connecting with each other in our interactions. Let’s not just do church together, let’s start doing life together. As we put our fellowship into practice, the holy greetings will follow naturally.