Young Man, I tell You to Arise. Tuesday 24th Week Ordinary Time
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Breakfast with the word Tuesday 24th Week Ordinary Time of the Year C
Young man, I tell you to Arise.
Luke 7:11-17
To arise in simple terms means to get up, to stand again, to recover, to come back to life and to come back to self. When someone tells another person to arise or to get up, it means that either that person was down, downcast, unable to move, tired, depressed and weakened with the troubles of life or that the person has lost hope entirely.
In today’s encounter, the statement was made to someone dead already and unable to move. Dead literally means lifeless, no life again, departed, expired, no hope condition, lack of anything positive, no joy condition etc.
In essence, God is asking you “what is keeping you worried? Why are you always in tears? Why are you crying? Arise again, your time of victory has come.
As Jesus raises the son of the widow whose hope has been dashed to the ground, He has come to raise you again. Young man, I tell you to arise, is an inspirational statement, spiritual and life-changing advice, encouraging words coming directly from the Lord today.
In essence, Jesus is making this statement to all of us who have lost faith, whose inner spirit is dead, whose hope has faded, who are now thinking that there is no God. In today’s gospel, Jesus meets people with a no-hope condition. But in dead-end conditions, He still speaks life to them.
In essence, what Jesus is telling us today is that even though we have no hope again, there is still hope in Him. Even though your prayer seems to be answered, still put up a little smile, all hope is not lost.
As you read this today, Jesus tells you “Young man!! Young woman!! Arise again, cheer up, there is life in Jesus.
Therefore, Young man, I tell you to arise is a statement that can apply in every situation. It can be applied in your business, prayer life, studies, relations, family issues, and problems.
This is a call to those whose hope has faded. Jesus is telling you to still fan your gift into flame. All hope is not lost.
What Happened today?
In the gospel of today, Jesus is going to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people. Immediately he reached the near the gate of the town, He met a dead man who was being carried out for burial.
This man is the only son of his mother, and the mother was a widow. Also, a considerable number of the townspeople were with her.
When Jesus saw her, He felt sorry for her. He looked at her and said to her ‘Do not cry. What a compassionate God!!
It was then that He went up and put His hand on the bier and the bearers stood still. He said, ‘Young man, I tell you to arise.’ And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
So, everyone was filled with awe and praised God. Let us analyze it in simple terms.
One Quality of Jesus Christ.
The first thing this encounter reveals to us is the nature of Jesus. We have to ask ourselves “Where were Jesus and his company going?”
It could be that Jesus is busy and moving somewhere. Also, It could be that, time is no longer on his side. It could also be that He has a lot of people to attend to. it means that no matter how busy God seems to be, He does not forsake us.
We have also to ask “Why is it that the widow whose son died did not in any way ask Jesus to raise Her son but Jesus did otherwise?
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One thing we have to know is that the crying of this woman touched the heart of Jesus. In essence, this helps us to understand the nature of Jesus. He cannot see you cry and ignore you.
I have always told people that if anyone wants to cry about any problem, go in the presence of the Lord and cry there. That crying is more powerful than wasting our tears elsewhere. Immediately Jesus saw the woman, He pitied her and proceeded in helping her.
Therefore, instead of dying in silence, let us always go to His presence. He wipes away our tears.
Also, let us be like the Lord. Jesus proceeded to save a dead-end situation when He knew He could do it. Therefore, He also tells us to always do the same.
When we see people we know we are capable of lifting what do we do to them? Insult or help them? Are we life savers or life destroyers?
Today, Jesus tells the young man “young man I tell you to arise!! What do we tell people who come to us with heavy hearts? What do we tell people who come to us for encouragement and consolation? Do we injure them more? Or do we bring them back to life? Let us be life savers.
There is still Hope even In dead-end Situations.
Few things make the situation of the man today a dead-end one or an impossible situation. The first is that He is already dead. The second is that He is already in a coffin.
It means that the only source of joy for this woman is in a coffin. The source of her joy is already going to lie in state. In the same way, there are times our sources of joy, and livelihood seem to be lying in states. There may be a situation when it seems that your only source of life is in a coffin.
Despite what it looks like, there is still hope. Just as Jesus appeared from nowhere and met this woman because I know the woman didn’t know she would meet Jesus. In the same way, we can meet someone whom God will send to save us. A helper can rise from where you do not even expect. Always keep your faith strong.
Third, He is the only son of a widow, so it means the woman also has lost everything that she had. Now there is no husband, no children and not even a sign of grandchildren. Death has brought her to a lonely path. It was a devastating and tearful situation.
There are also times it may seem as if we have lost everything. We live in a world full of troubles, problems, deadly sickness, devastating situations, betrayals etc. We live in a world where people die of hardships and suffering.
Sometimes, there is no joy, no smiling, no happiness again. We are burdened with hardship, sorrowful moments, painful situations, troubles, fear, despair, and disappointments. Sometimes we try to be positive, but in the corners of our hearts, there are shadows. We try to live up to expectations but what we see are failures, disappointment and anger.
Like this man today, many people have seen their loved ones die. Some have seen their destiny die and vanish either because of the mistakes they made. Many people have lost hope, because of what people talk and say about them. This makes us live below our means.
We seem like people are already dead. Today, Jesus is giving you life again. He says to you “Young, man, I tell you to arise”. He is telling us “young man, rise again, quit beating yourself up”. Jesus is telling us that “even if we have sinned, we have to rise and confess our sins, and be fine again”.
Remember that whenever He speaks to any situation, they obey. Today, He is speaking to your condition, He is telling us to rise. He is telling us to try again.
He is talking to you personally. Jesus is asking you to wake up. He is there with you. He says to the woman “don’t cry” and to the young man “Young man, I tell you to arise” We have to listen to His words.
Peter listened to His words and walked on the water (Matthew 14:22-31). The servants at the wedding at Cana listened to him and there was a miracle. Therefore, let us listen to Him. We shall experience life again. Let us arise, come to Him and try again.
Also, We have to take action, Jesus did not only talk to the man but Jesus went to the coffin and raised him.
Therefore, this is the time to take action towards whatever that is draining us and bringing us down. In Jesus there is hope. Today, He tells you “stop crying, and “young man I tell you to arise”. We have to rise again.
There is always light at the end of the tunnel
May God bless you and give us the grace to overcome our challenges. Amen
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