Have you ever paused to think about what we know to be true? If you are the type of person who is quick to judge, as I am prone, then you know that sometimes we only think we know what’s true. Oftentimes we have only to wait a little bit to be given more information.
Something like this is happening in Luke 8. Jesus appears to be going non-stop from town to town healing people. In fact, for the people who lived this story out, that may have been the only detail they actually knew for sure.
In fact, He is on His way to the home of a dying girl, at the father’s request, when a woman intentionally touches Him and is healed. I say intentionally because it causes a scene.
If you can imagine the kind of roving mosh pit that was the crowd clamoring to be close to Jesus, then you realize many people would have been touching him. Because, you know, some people are close walkers.
They trip over your feet and accidentally bump you because of their proximity. Some people do it on purpose. Others are simply oblivious. But this woman intentionally touched Jesus, looking to be healed from her bleeding.
And it worked. But Jesus knew something happened. He knew healing power had left Him. He knew this touch was different than the others. In fact, because of her faith, this woman knew the same thing.
I’m focused on what Jesus knew because it’s about to come up again.
This crowd had been traveling to the home of a sick girl. But before they get there, servants come and tell the man his daughter is dead. They knew it. They had watched it.
But this doesn’t deter Jesus. Let me say it clearer.
Death doesn’t deter Jesus.
They get to the home where people are wailing. And I get it. We would all agree. Twelve year olds shouldn’t die. It’s too soon.
But the crying turns to laughing when Jesus tells them the girl isn’t dead. She’s sleeping.
The crowd laughed because they knew she had died. They knew it. Jesus wasn’t there. He hadn’t seen what they saw. The girl died. And we all know death is final. That’s what we know.
Now, I know what everybody is thinking about. Naturally you’re thinking about that scene in Men in Black where Agent K, played by Tommy Lee Jones, had this conversation with Agent J, played by Will Smith. I know, it’s crazy how alike we think!
People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Give hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone On this planet. Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.
It’s amazing how seeing something new will change what we think we know. We only talk about certainty. Death and taxes, right? We know what death looks like. We know it’s final.
But what do we really know? Because Jesus laughed right back by looking at the girl and commanding her to get up. And she did.
Well, what do you know?
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