Jesus Interrupts a Funeral
02 Feb 2023Little Devotionals (Ann)
“Women of the Bible” series by Ann Little
(Originally written in Sep 2021, after the death of Juni)
In Luke 7:11-17 we read about a woman who at one time had both a husband and a son. In this story she had lost both and the scene we are introduced to is the funeral of her only son. All of this spells loneliness, no financial support, and the end of the family line.
(Originally written in Sep 2021, after the death of Juni)
In Luke 7:11-17 we read about a woman who at one time had both a husband and a son. In this story she had lost both and the scene we are introduced to is the funeral of her only son. All of this spells loneliness, no financial support, and the end of the family line.
***** (continued)
Many people from the town attended this funeral, indicating their sympathy. As they left the city gates, the funeral crowd met up with another crowd led by Jesus and his disciples. Jesus stopped the funeral procession and spoke directly to the grieving widow. Some translations say ”His heart went out to her.” Another translation says “He had compassion on her.” We again see here the deep love that Jesus had for women. “Don’t cry” he says. Professional wailers, or people paid to cry, may have been part of the funeral procession, but this widow was the person who was the most deeply affected by this tragedy. However, Jesus knew that this was NOT the time to cry.
Then Jesus touched the coffin and the men carrying it stopped. This action would have made Jesus ceremonially unclean, but rules of that sort were unimportant to Jesus when he was doing the work of his Father. Jesus spoke to the dead man “Young man, I say to you, get up!”
Not only did the young man sit up, but he began talk. I wonder what he said!? (“Hello Jesus, so glad to meet you!” “Where is my mother?" “Wow, that was quite a nap!” Insert your imaginative ideas here…) Jesus’ greatest concern was for his mother. “And he gave him to his mother!" What a wonderful gift from Jesus!
What was the crowds’ reaction? (Both Jesus’ crowd and the funeral crowd) FEAR! AWE! And they PRAISED God. And they spread the news of Jesus everywhere they went. I wonder how many invitations Jesus received to funerals after this!
In our little TMC Ladies group, we have just experienced a deep loss, complicated by COVID, and a host of other difficulties. How do we mourn the death of our sister, Juni? How do we honor the memories of her? How we wish Jesus was physically present at her bedside, and said to her “Juni, get up!”
Ladies, feel free to share any memories that you have of Juni on our Ladies LINE account so we can give thanks together for her life and honor her. Please also keep her family and her husband, David, in your prayers as they come to grips with their sorrow and deep loss. Pray that they will understand the deep compassionate heart of Jesus.We do know Jesus’ heart and his deep compassion. I’d like to imagine that he did say “Juni, get up” and took her hand and led her into his home in heaven, pain free, seeing, hearing and being loved by Jesus.