The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Luke 8:53-55a,
"They laughed at him [Jesus], knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and said, 'My child, get up!' Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up."
This comes from the account of Jairus' daughter. We are told Jairus was a ruler of the synagogue who had only one daughter, a twelve year old. She was dying and so Jairus went to plead with Jesus to come heal her. In route the daughter died and when Jesus arrived he found a crowd at the house "wailing and mourning". Jesus told the crowd to stop wailing as he prepared to raise her. We are told the crowd laughed at Jesus.
On the one hand, I find it not surprising that the crowd laughed and scoffed. How often does one see someone raised from the dead? And, yet, that is exactly what Jesus did with the girl. He raised Jairus' daughter from the dead. I wonder how the crowd felt after they saw her alive? It turns out that laughing at the Son of God is unwise.
At the event of an earlier miracle, Luke tells us that when Jesus had Peter and the others put in their nets, resulting in a miraculous catch of fish, Peter fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" Luke 5:8. Peter's appropriate response reflected a reality he previously was unable to perceive. How did the crowd react at Jairus' home after they laughed at Jesus, only then to witness this astonishing miracle? How did they feel, having laughed at him? An appropriate response, from our perspective, looking back on the event, would be one that included a measure of remorse for being so foolish.
How would I feel after scoffing or laughing at someone who turned out to be the Son of God? How would I feel after treating with contempt the blood of Jesus Christ that can bring me forgiveness of sins, making a way for me into the family of God, bringing me eternal life? I wonder how the folks that scorn Jesus Christ in this life will feel on judgment day?
Jesus Christ hung on a cross, dying a miserable death to pay for all of our sins. The sins of every human being that has ever lived. "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:2.
The writer of Hebrews says, "How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' and again, 'The Lord will judge his people.' It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10:29-31.
How will anyone feel having rejected God's wonderful offer of eternal life on that day? It will certainly not include laughter.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
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