Immediately following the scene where Jesus heals the Centurion's sick slave, Jesus comes across a funeral procession for the only son of a Widow.
It is one thing to lose your son, but in those days, this woman literally had nothing left. Without family, there would be no means for the Widow to make money and no one to help take care of her. Her situation was far worse than just losing her son!
When Jesus comes across them, he doesn't just "feel bad," for them, "he was moved with pity for her." He told the widow "do not weep," and then went and touched the coffin. This is something that would not have happened during this time. The dead were considered unclean and no Jew would have done something like this.
Then, Jesus tells the young "dead" man to "arise!"
I am not sure what I would have thought if I had been in that procession watching everything that was going down. I would have been shocked at Jesus touching the coffin, but would have been totally confused at him commanding a dead dude to "arise."
When the dead man sat up and began to speak, I may have lost my mind! Now, when we picture this scene, I am always picturing someone who is sleeping and sitting up. A dead guy would have been all wrapped up and probably pretty stinky about now. I am not sure how pretty this whole scene would have looked, but I know I would not believe what was happening, even if I was standing right there.
Talk about having some power?! That's some powerful stuff right there.
Naturally, the people were fearful, but they also recognized and glorified God because they knew that something great had just happened. The exclaimed "A great prophet has arisen in our midst," and "God has visited his people."
Jesus shows us he is not just the God of the living, but also of the dead! He shows that death has no power over Him!
Aside from all the symbolism and the references to raising the dead, I want to reflect for just a moment on how the people responded. They knew immediately that God was among them. I suppose it might be hard to miss when you see a miracle like that before you own eyes.
How many times do we see miracles happen but don't recognize God and His roll in them? How often are we close minded and only seeing things through the eyes of the world? I want to have open eyes to see the magnificent things of God in our every day life. I want to stop taking for granted that He is always here and amongst us. Jesus brings healing and life to us all! He has the power to restore our physical bodies, but more importantly, he can restore our souls! He is among us, we just need to start looking to Him!
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