One day Jesus was nearing a town called Nain. As he was entering the gate he was welcomed by a funeral procession. They were carrying the only son of a widow to be burried. A large crowd followed Jesus and there were many in the procession to the burrial place. Jesus felt sad as he witnessed the widow’s grief. “ When the Lord saw her, his heart was moved with pity” Luke 7.13. Jesus felt for the grieving person. Jesus is fully Human and fully Divine. He is fully human and fully alive today. He didn’t leave us orphans. Prior to his ascension into heaven, Jesus said “ I will be with you always, to the end of the age” Mat.28.20. He promised his presence and assistance to us. Jesus in fact promised his assistance to the disciples in their difficult task of mission, when he said “! I will be with you always”. Mt.28.20. Jesus assured his presence, only after mandating the disciples to make disciples of all the nations. “Go to all peoples and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit” Mat.28.20. This is where Jesus promised his presence . I think this includes all our life activities. Every activity in our life is to minister to ourselves and to the others. We are being born again and again into the charisma of Jesus. In that maturing process we need the constant protection against evil and assistance to advance in Holiness. It is this Jesus, who felt and pitied the suffering widow. Jesus ministered to her. The same Jesus ministers to us in our sorrow and grief. Jesus walked over to her and told her “Don’t cry” Luke 7.13. It was with authority that Jesus walked to he! r. No one in his or her right mind would approach a grieving community and stop them and talk to the relatives such words as Jesus said. The Holy Spirit in Jesus, gave him courage and presence of mind as to what has to be done at the appropriate time. The Spirit moved Jesus to say fitting words. “The Spirit will put words in your mouth” Jesus said. Jesus comforted the widow by saying “Don’t cry” Lk 7.13. It indeed is a magic word from God to us. It is indeed a great lesson for us to comfort the sorrowing people. Jesus wants us to comfort the suffering people, not to run away from their pains.
Often times when we confront painful events in life we tend to run away from them. To site an example, you may find a sick person, a terminally ill person in your neighborhood. We know that there is no hope, humanly speaking for this victim of illness. At times or often times we may tend to sit around and say some words, which is coming from our heart. Those words are nothing but our sympathy or sharing the sorrow. There are people who shy away from pain and painful situations because they do not know what to say or what react or comfort. It is also possible that they didnt heal themselves so as to confront painful situations in life. Often, when we encounter pain, we may not find meaning in saying “Don’t cry or don’t worry”. We may say Jesus per! formed miracles, but we cannot. I feel that all of us have the power to perform miracles, one way or the other. The mark of a Christian is as follows, “Believers will be given the power to perform miracles: they will drive out demons in my name; they will speak in strange languages; if they pick up snakes or drink poison, they will not be harmed; they will place their hands on sick people and these will recover” Mark 16.17-18. Often times we are rendered powerless because, the Spirit of the Holy God is absent or minimal in us. With great faith if we command the mountains to be uprooted , they would obey us. I have seen powerful signs that accompany ministry and people have testified. Some of us might be so overwhelmed that we don’t know how to react when we encounter miserable situations or at times we may look at that from a philosophical or sci! entific attitude and deduce answers. But that is not what Jesus did. He ministered to the sorrowing widow. He Went to her and touched her, talked to her, listened to her, and comforted her. Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to her “ Don’t Cry” Lk.7.13 and that had great impact on her. It was God speaking to her. Jesus didn’t simply console her as many of us might do. Jesus, unlike any of us might do, touched the litter and the bearers stopped. Then Jesus addressed the dead man. No one other than the Lord of life can address a dead person. Jesus said “ young man, get up” Lk.7.14. At the sound of the Lord of Life, the departed soul reunited with the body. The dead person became alive. They have never seen such a miracle. For those who thought that there is no life after death, this was a total surprise. They were filled with excitement. Amidst their ex! citement, Jesus did a very human thing. He gave the son back to the mother. I think this is one of the greatest examples of the feeling Jesus. Jesus didn’t leave that woman and walk away like a hero. Jesus went to the woman, touched her and possibly conversed with her or behaved as the culture permitted. In the middle of her grief, God spoke with her. The same happens in our lives Jesus who is God on earth spoke to a grieving person, gave her a gift that is her son. She looked at her son as though she looked at him for the first time. People exclaimed, “God has come to save His people” Luke 7.16. This is the impact Jesus wanted them to feel. Jesus wanted them to feel hopeful amid their hopelessness. God has come to save them. They always believed that God will be born in human form to save them and they witnesse to the truth and appreciated the birth of the Immanuel. In our grief, do we see ever God approach us? Yes God approaches us. He is with us all the time and ministers to us. “I will be with you always, to the end of the age” Mat.28.20 There are many parents who are grieving over their children. Some of our children may be ill and we may be frustrated, but help is only next to us. We have an unseen comforter an all seeing Jesus just beside us,who whispers "Do not cry"Luke 7.13. Praise the Lord. Fr Thomas Mathew/June 26/2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: Click Here **************************************************************** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to this mailing list, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************************************
