Read Luke 7:11-17
"I say to you, get up!”
Luke 7:14
Picture this scene if you can. There are two crowds, two processions. The first one is the large group of happy disciples and a joyful crowd who are following Jesus as He enters a town called Nain in Galilee, close to where our coach will be passing as we drive through Galilee. In contrast there is another group of mourning people who are following a wailing widow to the cemetery of Nain where they will soon bury her only son.
When Jesus comes into the scene however things change. Moved with compassion and without even being asked, He raises the young man back to life and thus cancels the funeral. Suddenly the two processions become one. We can only imagine what joy everyone there felt. Here is the Lord who conquers death and restores life - and this is what He wants to give all those who sincerely follow Him, eternal life! We may safely assume that once raised, the young man also joined the procession of life and followed the Lord as one of his disciples.
The same word used for Jesus’ resurrection, implying that the raising of the boy is a reflection of the gift of eternal life that Jesus gives those who believe and are baptised, and to whom He gives the Holy Spirit as a ‘deposit’ of the fulness of His Presence we will enjoy in heaven.
Holy Spirit, Lord Giver of Life, may You raise me out of all that causes sadness and death and fill me once again with the joy that comes from walking with you in the intimacy of prayer.