A widow with no son was helpless and hopeless because she had no way to provide for herself. People mourned with her, but in that society she would soon be ignored as nobody. Jesus reached out with compassion because he could see beyond the funeral.

As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. ¹³When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry." ¹⁴Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" ¹⁵The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. ¹⁶They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." ¹⁷This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. Luke 7:12-17

Jesus spoke life into death; Jesus commanded the young man to get up and by that word brought his holy life to light!  Jesus gave compassion to the mother; Jesus gave when he touched the unclean coffin; Jesus gave the son back to his mother. This event foreshadowed his death and resurrection. Jesus gave by living perfectly for us; Jesus gave compassion as he looked into our hearts with mercy and love; Jesus gave by suffering silently; Jesus gave by dying. Jesus gives by living.

Awe comes when God breaks through our blind eyes, our deaf ears, our hard hearts and our long-buried souls with his word, “I say to you, get up!” I (you) am the object of his compassion, his mercy, and his love. I (you) am the receiver of the command to get up and live. Awe comes by receiving. Awe comes when we recognize, like the helpless widow and the dead man, that we have nothing to offer God and he raises us up in his life. Life rests in mercy alone.

Recognizing just how dead our dead stuff is requires conversation and waking up to the depth of the dead stuff we carry in our body. That may cause fear and pain from the past for a while but we are not alone in the journey from death to life. Our conversations shift when we see our Savior’s compassion and hear his command to “get up!” What are we going to talk about - death? I think not! We talk about hearing him call our name. We talk about life and gifts and mercy and love and healing.

The stink of death cannot overpower the fragrance of life. Everything is new as we learn to embrace our lives and hold to his word and work in us. Christ’s resurrection is ours today; awe comes by receiving his resurrection in our lives. Freedom is real and whole and holy; liberation is real and full and free.

May God grant us courage to allow him to bring us to recognize where we are still playing around in the stink of death. May God grant us boldness to cry out to him for life, full and free. May God grant us brave souls to reach out to others and let others reach out to us to touch our lives with life. Blessings IN Christ, Cindy

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