Luke 7-A "Arise!"

S = Luke 7:14-17 “Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

O = Two crowds meet outside the city, one most likely filled with excited cheerful chatter and the other filled with wailing and tears. One group focused on life, the other on death. But these two waves of humanity didn’t just pass through the other but were arrested by the One with power over both life and death…because of his compassion (v.13) and they saw hopeless sorrow and death swallowed up in overflowing life! Seems to foreshadow a time later when two crowds would meet as Jesus entered Jerusalem for that last week…and another widow who would watch her son die to take away the sin of the world. But on this day, outside Nain, how did the people respond to this miracle? Their fear produced worshipful testimony. They knew God had visited them where their leaders did not have such an enlightened view. “To him who has…more will be given and he who has not even what he has will be taken away” (19:26). The prophet spoke God’s Word to the people with supporting power and revelatory signs… God has come in authority over his people to deliver and restore! The fear of the Lord is the natural result of seeing him as he truly is.

A = So do I live my life by following Jesus, listening and learning and talking about it with my fellow travelers, or do I trudge along in a solemn, grief-filled procession to my loss whether recent or just kept fresh and raw by the constant keening of the professional mourners I surround myself with? Do I have compassion for the hurting enough to stop and bring the visitation of God-in-me to their lives, in the midst of their pain and hopelessness? Jesus wants life, not death! What do I bring to the room?

P = O Lord, in my own strength I have nothing to touch the world, my own family, or even to put one foot in front of the other. Thank you for visiting me and enabling me to transcend my circumstances by bringing me your life, your love, your strength, and your hope. May I not be able to contain it all in the coffin of my own heart…may I be compelled to sit up and speak of your glory to those who need to hear it, to those who need to see a continued change in me!  Amen.