[305 words]
Jesus once came across a funeral procession and did something strange. He walked up to the boy’s grieving mother and said: “don’t cry.”
That poor lady might have said: “Why not weep? It is time. I have lost my only son.”
But Jesus reached out and touched the open coffin. This was a strange thing for a Jew to do. You see, when a Jew came in contact with the dead, it made him unclean for several days. But this didn’t stop Jesus. He touched that open coffin and said: “Young man, I tell you, get up!” And, immediately, that young man sat up and started talking.
He had been dead but now was alive – by the power of Jesus Christ! How happy that mother must have been. Her son was dead but now he was alive again. I am certain that mother thanked Jesus from the bottom of her heart.
News of this event spread far and wide. Here was a young man. He had been dead for some time – for there was always a period of preparation in those early days.
Therefore, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind. This young man had been dead. But now, through the power of God, he now lived (Luke 7:11-18).
Such a miracle was truly wonderful. Here, the power of God was demonstrated. It could not be faked. There was no attempt to fool someone. Jesus spoke a command and that young man awoke from the sleep of death.
Jesus has power over death.
Did you know that when we are baptized into Christ, we are brought back to life from a spiritual death? Before baptism, we were slaves to sin and death but by our commitment to Christ we were resurrected to a new life with a new hope (Romans 6:1-5).
Larry Fitzgerald
Abilene, TX