The Funeral Crasher

Losing a husband is incredibly difficult. The absence of a faithful companion and provider leaves a massive gap. Who will take care of such a lonely woman?

Sons have to become men quickly when fathers and husbands are removed from a household. How much can a woman count on from the government, family, or friends? Will it last? Will it be enough?

The oldest son has to drop his life and provide. In the ancient world, before various aid programs began, this would have been doubly true.

One time Jesus encountered such a dire woman. This woman's situation was even more extreme than the one described above—she had lost her husband, but then she had also lost her only son. There is no record of Jesus meeting her before she had lost her son. We don't know if he had given her comfort, advice, or even money during the gap of time between funerals.

A funeral in the Middle East in the first century must have been something to see. Professional mourners and musicians were actually hired to create the scene. The women would wail while the musicians would blow sad songs.

I remember a man who once said he didn't want to own insurance so that everyone would cry at his funeral! Well, back then how could you not be sad in such a funeral atmosphere? I've seen women cry, but imagine professional criers brought in just to get things going!

This situation was so sad in and of itself that I don't think the community needed too much fuel for the tears to flow. When Jesus crossed paths with her, it was literally as the procession was moving to bury her son just outside of town.

The story describes Jesus' emotional response to this woman. Once again his heart glowed with compassion. But then he told her not to weep. If it was anyone else, this would seem like a complete disconnect. This woman had been through it. She had not only lost her companion and provider, she had now lost her only hope-her only son. If anyone had a right to bawl, it was her.

Jesus reached out and touched the open coffin. This did not seem especially sanitary physically or religiously, and it bought the morose march to a halt.

The next words off Jesus' lips were addressed to the corpse. He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." Having been to many funerals, I've seen people respond differently to the sight of the cold body of their loved one. Sometimes they say a word and maybe even brush the cheek, but I don't think I have ever witnessed anyone issue an authoritative command!

Once again, I've got to wonder how this is compassion. Many sincere people have roused the hopes of sick friends by suggesting that if they only had enough faith, God would heal them. Most all of those friends stayed in their same situation—except that their faith was slapped in the face.

Was Jesus just doing the rousing ruse? Was his idea of compassion to get the woman to stop crying from sadness and distract her down a path of other passions for a while?

After Jesus stopped the open coffin and gave the command to the corpse, the dead man sat up and started talking! I imagine that the coffin bearers came close to dropping the coffin! The Bible tells us that fear seized the crowds. I bet it did! That event was beyond feelings of happy amazement or wondering how the trick was done—it blew the lid off of their categories. This can't happen. And yet, it did!

Jesus then gave the son back to his mother. While it was incredibly kind to resurrect the mother's wounded heart, it was even more. Jesus was compassionately caring for this widow's well-being. She had her life back.

At the same time Jesus was revealing the character and power of God. And he was showing some amazing things about himself as well. Did you draw out those conclusions already?

In addition to the fear grip, the crowds glorified God and started saying things about Jesus. They said, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and "God has visited his people!" The story of what Jesus had done, obviously spread like a wildfire.

Don't be satisfied just hearing another remarkable story about Jesus. Do your own research. The historical record for this story is found in the seventh chapter of Luke's record of Jesus' story in the Bible (Luke 7:11-17).

Think carefully about the details of the account. What are the implications of the story? Where's the "so what?" for your story? Hasn't Jesus earned the right to speak into your life? Hasn't he earned your respect? He has done the impossible again and again; what does he want to do in your life?