Good morning. The day was cold and gray. The woman was numb, her spirits grayer that the skies above. With plodding steps, she followed those carrying her son’s body. Her only son, her only child, and she was a widow. Hope diminished with each step and was replaced by measures of grief and fear. Her son, the boy she loved, the one she counted on for so many things, was dead. His body was being carried on a funeral bier while sounds of grief filled the air.
She would soon be alone. Her husband had died years earlier and with the passing of her son, she now had no one. Well intentioned friends and neighbors would soon return to their personal business, and she would be all alone. Her voice was one of wailing grief.
The man that walked towards her, the one daring to look upon her face, the one who seemed to be leading a small crowd of his own, his eyes held a different message than those of any other. His eyes carried the message of…compassion. Yes, that is what it was. This stranger walking up to her was filled with compassion for her.
He spoke, but his words hardly made sense. “Do not weep”. Those were his words, but how could she obey them? Her weeping consumed her. But the stranger wasn’t finished.
The stranger approached those carrying her son’s body, and he spoke again. “Young man, I command you, arise!”
Incredible words. Crazy words. Impossible and insensitive words. But wait, how could this be? The dead form of her son began to stir. Could this be true? Her son was sitting up and speaking to her. “Mother?” he said.
In an instant her tears had turned from the deepest grief to the greatest joy. Her son was alive!
When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 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. Luke 7:13-15
Whatever questions you may have today, whatever obstacles might be in your path, whatever doubts or fears that might visit your mind, know this: Jesus is greater.
Vern
By the way, the wonderful folks at Yahoo have been messing with the email system. My apologies for the loss of better identification of these emails, and for any other oddities. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much that can be done about it. God bless your day!