I hit Matthew 9 today, and the story of Jesus raising the girl from the dead. It’s in verses 18-26. He walks into the house and everyone there is wailing and mourning because the girl is dead. He tells them she isn’t.
There it is. The difference in how Jesus views us and how everyone else does. We give up on each other all the time. “They’re a failure”, “they’re a mess”, “they have no hope!” We look at other people, and basically classify them as dead. Maybe it’s because they disappoint us. Or they’ve hurt our feelings deeply. Or we are intimidated by them. But we write them off, dismiss them, push them aside.
In walks Jesus and tells us that no, we’ve got it all wrong. They aren’t dead, they’re just not awake yet. And we laugh. Oh how we laugh. There is no hope for that one, even God can’t change them. So, He clears the room, walks over, and simply touches them, and it all breaks apart. Just His touch, one time, is enough to turn the world upside down.
But even harder sometimes is when we are the ones who are dead. We’re the ones who have messed up one too many times, we’ve screwed up, we’ve dropped the ball and we’ve blown things up. We are convinced its over, so we listen to everyone else, and we lay down and die.
Until He walks in. He comes for us when it’s all over, when there’s no hope, He walks in. And takes us by the hand. And tells us to get up.
I am so glad He never quits, He never gives up on those of us who are dead. Just Him grabbing our hand, and there’s life again. Phew… that will keep a person going for a long time.