Luke 7:15-16 - Barely Missing God

Luke 7:15-16 (ESV)

[15] And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. [16] Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”

Jesus just upped his game. People had seen him heal the sick and cast out demons, but now he demonstrated that he has authority even over life itself. He raised a young man from the dead. It’s a short story. There is not much follow-up on what happened other than to say, “Fear seized them all,” and the report of him spread. Their next statement is significant. Do they realize what they are saying? “God has visited his people!”

“God has visited his people” is Old Testament language. It is language that suggests deliverance. It recalls the exodus from Egypt, the fire from heaven at Elijah’s standoff with the Priests of Baal, and the various miraculous deliveries from enemies throughout the Chronicles. What they fail to understand is that their words are more true than they realize, for God had not only visited his people; he was standing among them.

The Apostle Paul was right. “We see in a mirror dimly” (1 Cor 13:12). They saw a man touch the platform on which a dead young man lay, and they saw the dead man sit up and begin speaking. Touching the platform should have made Jesus unclean. Instead, it made the dead man live. Who is this man who can change the very nature of life itself?

They were awestruck. They knew only God could do something like that, yet they had no idea that the man standing before them was indeed God the Son. It makes me wonder how often God is active in our world and we never see it. How often do we read the Scriptures but miss God’s message? How often do we miss opportunities to serve him because we just don’t see them? God was standing right in front of them, and they almost saw him for who he was. My prayer is that my eyes would be open to the opportunities God places in front of me each day and that my ears would be open to what he has to say. I don’t want to miss what he is doing.