"A Hint of Glory"July 20 Readings: Matthew 8:1-17, Luke 7:1-17

Today's Reading - Matthew 8:1-17, Luke 7:1-17

Background

After a side-trip into the early chapters of John and an excursion in Matthew and Luke in the wonderful teachings of the Sermon on the Mount (and its cousin, the Sermon on the Plain), we return to the early Galilean ministry of Jesus in today's readings. After years of obscurity, Jesus appeared before John and was baptized, went into the wilderness to be tempted, then under the fullness of the Spirit headed into Galilee to begin his ministry. He proclaimed the good news of the coming kingdom of God and healed many. When he was rejected in his hometown of Nazareth he moved to the northern shore of Galilee, to a small fishing village called Capernaum. He healed and preached and cast out demons, causing no small stir in the sleepy region and throughout the nation of Israel.

Three stories come to the fore here - the story of the leper's healing (likely the same one we've seen in other gospels previously), the story of the healing of the Centurion's daughter (remarkable both because Jesus heals a Gentile and because of the faith the Centurion shows), and the first resurrection story, in which Jesus raises the widow's son in Nain. 

Devotional - A Hint of Glory

I read a story this morning that was both sad and disgusting, the story of a preacher and his family who were killed in a small plane crash. That was the sad part. The disgusting part was the message this false prophet had preached, that the death and resurrection of Jesus was not our "good news" and that we should not waste so much time talking about it. If you read the book of Acts you realize that everything in the early church founded on the message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He died and then he rose again as Lord of all.

And sometimes, even in his earthly ministry, while he was living his sinless life and earning the righteousness in which he would clothe us for eternity, hints of Jesus's eternal work of glory would break through. One such story is found in Luke 7:11-17, when Jesus happened on a funeral procession in the little village of Nain. The power of the resurrection peeked through for just a moment that day - it was a small hint of the glory that would come!

Here was a woman who had lost everything. She was a widow and had now lost her only son - in that culture it meant she was a woman without hope, without provision, without resource. There was no husband to provide for her and her son, who would have taken care of her had now been taken from her. Life had blown apart and she was bereft, hopeless.

Then, along came Jesus. Jesus said a few strange things, but this was one of the strangest. "Do not weep." Say what? Jesus is telling a woman who has lost everything not to weep? What is the difference there?

The woman was looking at what was, but Jesus was looking at what would be. She was looking at her life's situation as things were, but Jesus could see through the fog and he knew what he was about to do. When he said "Do not weep," the only basis for that was faith in him. He was about to show a hint of the glory he would display in this world that would allow us to know that all is well, that we can, in fact, trust him and his word. If you factored in what Jesus was about to do, his words made perfect sense, did they not?

He went the bier carrying the young man and the funeral procession stopped. Jesus spoke, and again he said something ridiculous, something impossible. "Arise." It was something when Jesus made the lame walk and the blind see, but this man was dead. Dead. No life. And Jesus was talking to him. Telling him to stand up. Absurd.

Unless you are Jesus. Because Jesus was the best funeral guest ever - even uninvited. The young man sat up and started talking. The dead arise when Jesus speaks. Jesus told a mother not to weep about her son's death and he told a dead man to rise up. Then, by his mighty power, he made both ridiculous statements reasonable!

Jesus comes to you and to your circumstances and says "Do not worry." Your circumstances tell you to worry and be afraid, but he says, "No!" Jesus says "Rejoice," even when you feel sad, lonely and torn apart. But he sees beyond your circumstances to what he is doing in this world and in your life. And he speaks to those who are dead in sin and says "Arise." He is the one who can raise the dead and bring life. That is why he died and rose again, to bring life to sinners - your family, your friends, your co-workers, the people of Senegal and others around the world. Jesus still raises the dead through the gospel of salvation!

NEVER live life simply looking at the circumstances of this world. Realize that Jesus is here, he is at work. He is doing something bigger than you. He is working all things for God's glory and your good. He will never leave you or forsake you.

That's why they call it walking by faith, and not by sight. 

Father, I thank you that your Son came walking by in my life when I was dead in my sins. He raised me and gave me hope, and life, and a future. Help me always to remember that my circumstances are not the final word in my life, but Jesus' work is!

Think and Pray

Are there circumstances in your life that make you doubt? Cause you pain? Rob you of joy? Make it hard for you to see the work of God?

Are you looking more at the circumstances of life or at the promise of the work of Christ?

Will you live your life on the basis of what Jesus said he is doing and is going to do, or on the basis of what you see in this world? Will you live by faith or by sight?