GRACE WINSSample

Jesus’ life on earth was a life marked by compassion. Compassion is empathy that leads to action. In this passage and throughout Jesus’ life, we see the heart of God toward humanity. God is not distant and judgmental, but He is a loving Father who grieves when He sees His sons and daughters in pain. Jesus’ heart broke for this woman who lost her husband and her only son. He entreated her, “Please don’t cry.” God is not ambivalent to our tears, for our tears move Him. Psalm 56:8 says, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” 

Grace won so that Christ can transform us from deep sorrow to the promise of a hope-filled future. Just like the young boy Jesus resurrects in this passage, Jesus breathes new life into whatever is dead in our lives and resurrects it into its intended form. Where disappointment and doubt live, He replaces them with hope and faith. Only Jesus has the power to truly heal and restore us from deep sorrow. Only Jesus can bring true peace that transcends all understanding and deep joy through pain. Only Jesus can lift our eyes in the most dire of situations. He is hope!

When we live with Christ at the center of our lives, hope becomes an “anchor for our soul, firm and secure” (Hebrews 6:19). This is the only hope that can sustain us through extreme loss, heartbreak and pain, because it is a hope that sprouted forth when Jesus sacrificed Himself to make a way for us and then rose again on the third day. Now everything rises again. “Death has been swallowed up by victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54) and just as Jesus declares, “Arise and live” to the young boy in this passage, that is His declaration to all humanity. Look up, "Arise and live!” For Grace has truly won—one sacrifice has been made for all to enable access to the freedom and hope found in Christ Jesus alone. 

In John 16 Jesus explains to His disciples that in a little while they won’t see Him any longer, and He says, “You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.” Jesus’ plan is always to turn sorrow into joy, for His nature is to restore and redeem the broken places and shine His glory through the beautiful, imperfect cracks in our lives. Something went wrong trying to retrieve data from the server.

- Georgie Kelsey