“13 And when the Lord saw
her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and
touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say
to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and
Jesus gave him to his mother.” (Luke 7)
This
is not the first person to be raised from the dead. Elijah and Elisha both raised children back up for their
mothers… or more accurately, prayed and asked God to raise them back to life
(Notice Jesus doesn’t pray or call out to anyone, he simply says, “I say to
you…”). This is not even the first
time we read of Jesus raising anyone.
Jairus’ daughter was awakened just a few chapters ago. Jesus doesn’t make a big deal about the
resurrection of this young man like he does when it’s time to raise
Lazarus. There’s no production, no
asking relatives whether or not they believe in Him, no waiting for the proper
moment when no one could dispute whether or not ol’ Lazzy was really dead or
just taking a really long nap… without breathing. Jesus is just taking a walk, sees the procession and takes
pity on a poor widow. It’s as
random an incident as can happen in a world completely under the Father’s
dominion. So I submit to you that
this incident is not about resurrection…
It’s
about compassion.
Oh
sure, it demonstrates God’s power.
And yes, it is pre-runner of all tears being washed away through the
restoration of all things lost.
But the final resurrection when Jesus brings us all to himself, the
wedding supper of the Lamb, the big Shindig in the sky is a drawing of the
sheep before their shepherd. We
rise and immediately take our place before the Throne. We rise to worship Him! Not to take back up our earthly
positions and duties. “30 For in the resurrection
they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”
(Matt 22) Instead, here Jesus gives
the boy back to his mother. He
returns him to his earthly service, his mortal concerns, his old life. He is not resurrected to something new. He may very well have a newfound
respect and outlook on his life, but it’s still the same life: same B.O., same
mom, same job in the same small Podunk town. He will still need to answer the same questions we all have
to answer the minute our feet hit the floor next to our beds each morning. He will still have the same need to
figure out what to do with the life he’s been given…twice. How should he spend his days? What is worth doing? What isn’t? What should he be about? What is his life for?
And
that’s what this story is about.
If
Jesus is the Son of God, if Jesus really is a perfect, sinless man, then it
stands to reason his life would be the model of a perfect, sinless life. A life well lived. Life as it is meant to be lived. And when we boil it down to its
essence, Jesus’ life can be summed up in one word.
Compassion.
We
are sons and daughters of God. Not
of the same stuff as Him, not begotten but made, adopted into His Holy Family,
Father, Son and Spirit. The
perfect wheel of love. However,
we, being given the ability to choose holiness or evil, chose evil, forever
alienating ourselves, stepping out of the wheel and separating ourselves from
our Holy Family.
Or
we would have, if our older brother, Jesus, had not had compassion on us from
the very start and even before. He
was willing to give up his place in the family to draw us back in, to make a
way. To BE the WAY! To take all of the sin and filth and
rebellion pulling us down to death upon His self and give us His righteousness,
His obedience, His purity so we could again enter into the perfect wheel. Somehow clothed in His
begotteness. His God stuff!
Jesus’
life, even before He came to Earth, is all about compassion! He took all he had, every minute of
every day and gave it away to all those who had the greatest need. The blind received sight, the lame
walked, the deaf heard, the captive was freed and the dead were raised! And greatest of all, our sins were
forgiven!
This
is how we are to live. Loving God
with all our heart, soul and strength.
Loving each other as Christ loved us. Giving all the Father gives us away to those who have
need. Aid to the poor, healing to
the sick, companionship to the lonely, forgiveness to those in debt to us. “18 Truly, I say to you, whatever
you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matt 18)
If
we do this, if we truly try to give ourselves away like this, we will come up
against an abrupt stone wall of truth…
We
are not Jesus.
Jesus
is our model in the story but the fact is, we are the widow. We have as much need as the needy we
will try to help. But fear not,
she has shown us the way as well!
Cry out! Cry out to God and
He will hear; He will have compassion on us! Do not cry alone!
“19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about
anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three
are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matt 18) The widow was not alone; she had a considerable
crowd of her friends and neighbors with her. The disciples were not alone, they had each other and they
had a crowd following Jesus as well.
The crowds were mixed.
There was likely no common language; Aramaic, Hebrew and Koine Greek
were probably all being babbled about.
There was no common affinity.
There was no common home.
They had but one thing in common.
One thing to draw them together.
One thing taking them down the road this day…
Their
Need!
There
is where God met them. This is
where God meets us! “18 “I will not leave you
as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and
the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also
will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you
in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he
it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will
love him and manifest myself to him.”” (John 14)
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