Luke 7:11 – Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. 12 A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. 14 Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” 15 Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16 Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people today.” 17 And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside. (NLT)
In this passage Jesus is entering the village of Nain, while at the same time a funeral procession is leaving the village. The Jews always buried their dead outside of the town limits. We are told that the young man that had died was the widow’s only son. In those days, a woman’s best chance of survival was to have a husband or a grown son who could provide for her. There were no employment opportunities for women, and no pensions or social security. Without a son or a husband, this woman was in a bad way, and this is why Jesus was moved with compassion when he saw her. While a compassionate Jesus is a great picture for us to hold dear, what I find striking is what Jesus says to the deceased: “Young man, I tell you, get up.”
In many ways this speaks to the relationship that we have with Jesus. Consider what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 6:11 – “count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” And in 2 Corinthians 3:6 – “The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.”
If we truly want to follow Jesus, we must die to the world, and live for Christ. However, we don’t die to the world to simply remain dead, we die to the world to be truly alive! We die to the world to receive the Spirit of the new covenant. When we die to the world, Jesus says, “I tell you, get up!” Having life in Christ is a call to action. It is a call to live as Jesus lived. It is a call to love as Jesus loved.
Today, let us get up and live!
Posted by Ramón Torres
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Amen.
Approaching the Lenten season, it is a time for me to wake up, and become closer to Christ asking the Holy Spirit to continually shed, deny any temptation by the adversary.
Now is the time for prayer and fasting. Allowing Him to take over totally. Everything.
Thank you, Alan!