“Don’t Cry!”

“Don’t Cry!”(Lk.7:22-17).
A dead man is being carried out of the town for burial. He is the only son to his mother who was a widow. “When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, ‘Don’t cry.'”
So saying, the Lord raised the dead man and gave him back to his mother. “The people “were filled with awe and praised God.” They said, “A great prophet has appeared among us. God has come to help his people.”
This is one of the three incidents where the Lord raised the dead.
I recall an incident when a prayer warrior minister asked that they should bring a dead child to her. The dead child was brought and placed on the Lord’s table. The minister and her band of prayer warriors kept a prayer vigil, but the child remained as cold as stone. There are several ways by which we contravene the commandment, “Do not put the LORD your God to the test.”
The three dead people whom the Lord raised to life were surely not the only deaths that took place during Jesus’ earthly ministry.
We must not be declared physically dead for the Lord to resurrect us. After all, the three whom he brought back to life eventually died again. Our resurrection would happen when the trumpet shall sound.
What lessons then do we gather from the story?
Jesus had compassion for the widow and decided to give her temporary reprieve. His heart went out to her. He comforted her with the soothing words, “Don’t cry.” He raised her son so as to comfort her.
It doesn’t look like the Lord was interested in the young man being alive. It is the social status of the woman and her pain that touched Jesus’ heart.
As a widow she found some comfort in her son who was probably the breadwinner. With her son’s presence society would not look at her with disdain.
The Lord may have considered that it was best that the son lived to bury his mother instead of vice versa.
Fast forward to the large crowd that was present. “They were all filled with awe and praised God.” And they said, “A great prophet has appeared among us. God has come to help his people.”
My friend, there is that more than death situation that you may be facing, keep your mind open to be among the fortunate few whom Jesus will meet and his heart will go out to. The Lord Jesus Christ knows your condition. In his compassion he is telling you that your condition is not your conclusion. There is no full stop yet to the sentence of your life. The Lord is still writing and in that near death situation his heart goes out to you.
The crowd may have had a foggy understanding of Jesus to call him “a great prophet.” Nevertheless, they got it right that “God has come to help his people.”
You/we may be passing through what we consider unsavable, do not give up hope. God in Christ has come to save you/us!
Remember: Every problem has a solution. There is an expiry date to any problem. Or as it is jestingly put, “There’s no problem in the problem!”
Remember the kids’ song? “God is always near me. Hearing what I say. Knowing all my thoughts and deeds, All my works and play…Not a look or word or thought, But God knows it all.”
And back to the crowd: “They were filled with awe and praised God.”
Have you seen what the Lord has done for somebody? Be filled with awe and praise God because God has come to save his people!
Sunday prayer: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, thank you that in your mercy you comfort me saying, “Don’t cry. Amen!
Have a blessed Sunday! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.