Luke
7:11-17
“The dead man
sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave
him to his mother.”
(Luke
7:15)
Unlike the
resurrection miracles of Lazarus and the daughter of Jairus, Jesus has not been
invited to intervene here in Luke’s story.
Jesus encounters a funeral procession as it makes its way out of the
city. He sees the tears and probably
hears the cries of the boy’s mother. She has already lost her husband and now,
her son. “Do not weep,” Jesus says to the widowed, now childless mother…strange
words, given all that has been taken from her. Luke mentions no response from
the grieving woman, who most likely is caught off-guard by this unexpected
stranger.
Compassion often
surprises, creating unforeseen opportunities that transform. Luke reports that Jesus gave the son to his
mother, a rather matter-of-fact way of framing such a miraculous moment. The crowd began praising God, but I would
imagine the widow simply clung to her son, the treasure of her life…once dead,
now alive…once lost to her, now found in her
arms.
The Lenten
journey leads us to the cross where compassion once again surprises. God intervenes in the midst of human sin, and
death is overcome…sons and daughters are restored. Thanks be to
God!
Prayer: We are
grateful today for your life-giving compassion, O God. Amen.
Jim Abernathy
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