Welcome!
Date: Thursday, June 24, 2010
Today: When the dead man started speaking
Passage: Luke 7: 12-15 NIV
12As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” 14Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. (Luke 7: 12-15, NIV-emphasis added).
The dead man mentioned here, was the only son of a widow
We don’t know how he treated his mother, when he was alive
May be he was a blessing; may be he was a “head-ache”
However, a mother cannot accept the death of her son, however bad he was
And this lady was a widow and this was her only son!
All hopes were over!
The most painful aspect of death, is separation
Sometimes, that is when we learn the value of relationships
When alive, we may not be good at keeping relationships with people
Whether it be a family or a church, most of the time, relationships are dead!
We live under the same roof or come together on Sunday in the same place, but what is the quality of relationship?
Here, the young man was physically dead. But the Bible looks at spiritual death more serious than physical death
Jesus took victory over death on the cross-both spiritual and physical
So we have victory through Jesus
Physical death is not the end of a person.
Many (young) people are physically present in the house but emotionally, they are never present there
A son who leaves house early in the morning and comes back late in the night, never even talking to his parents……!
What a great day it would be, if such a son/daughter is touched by Jesus and he/she starts speaking to everybody at home!
Jesus touched the coffin of that young man and those who were carrying the coffin stopped!
There were some, may be friends, who were carrying this dead man in the coffin. No one could stop them or the procession, except Jesus!
They were doing what was normal. But Jesus went beyond that which was normal. These friends could not do anything more than that
If Jesus was not there, they would have buried that body
In the same chapter, coming down, we see a sinful woman anointing Jesus with precious oil and the people start hating Jesus
She was physically alive but dead in her sins
Jesus blessed her and praised her. She was forgiven of her sins
Jesus does not want anyone to perish in their sin
He wants them to come back to life and start talking, and become a blessing to the family and the community, instead of being a curse or a pain
Bring those “spiritually dead” to Jesus, in prayer
Jesus will touch them and put life back in them
In Luke 15, we read about a son who left his father’s home and went far away
He was “dead” as far as the family was concerned. He was separated
See what the father says about the son, as he came back home:
24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. (Luke 15:24 NIV)
He came back to his senses, his life
In His father’s house, there was everything he needed
Jesus said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5)
In Him, we have everything we need
Any person, any area where we have lost hope, bring it to Jesus
Jesus can revive and restore
Do not loose hope. Hope, faith and love are the greatest assets
God bless
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I am sorry for loosing hope and getting ready to quit. I bring the “dead” issues of my life to you. I am asking you to please put life back into those. Amen