Jesus Christ Raising Daughter Of Jairus by Carl Bloch
About a year ago I officiated at a funeral for a retired, former Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. Being a veteran myself it’s always an honor to officiate at a fellow veteran’s funeral. The service was very meaningful as this man, aside from his Navy service, had participated in a wide variety of experiences throughout his life. During the service several people came up and shared about the impact that he had on their lives, and how he was such an inspiration despite the numerous health challenges that he faced towards the end of his life. All in all, it was a wonderful service.
After the service at the funeral home, those in attendance were invited to attend a graveside service at the cemetery. With it being a military funeral, the graveside service had all of the pageantry to go along with it; the folding and presenting of the flag, a twenty-one-gun salute, and then finally the playing of Taps.
Taps has been played at military funerals since the Civil War and is arguably the most heart tugging musical piece that a person can hear. So, as the bugler began playing, people were gazing at the ground, and wiping away tears while hearing this haunting musical piece. But after about twenty seconds of playing the bugler suddenly stopped.
It’s hard to explain the tension in the air at that moment as people slowly raised their eyes from the ground and turned to see what had happened with the bugler. At this moment everyone present was silently wondering what was going to happen next? By the time I looked over to the bugler, dressed in his crisp white, dress uniform, he had calmly put the bugle under his left arm and remained at attention as if there was nothing wrong.
That moment of what is next is something we see many times in the life of Jesus.
Imagine yourself in a house full of people where Jesus is talking and suddenly you hear rustling on the roof above you. Pretty soon pieces of the roof start to fall on your head and slowly a hole opens to reveal faces peering down upon you. Pretty soon the people above you start to lower their paralyzed friend right down in front of Jesus. In that moment everyone was wondering what Jesus was going to do next? (Matthew 2:1-12)
Or perhaps you are holding a rock along with a crowd of a hundred other rock holders, about to carry out the sentence of death upon the woman who is cowering in front of you. Jesus is amongst this crowd and as he squats down to the ground all eyes are on him wondering what is he going to do next? (John 8:1-11)
Or you find yourself part of a crowd that has gathered at the local synagogue leader’s house. Inside lies his daughter who has just died. Wails of grief fill the small house as Jesus arrives and instructs the crowd to wait outside. As Jesus makes his way to the little girl everyone wonders what is he going to do next? (Matthew 9:18-25)
It seems that whenever Jesus arrived somewhere there was an expectant tension in the air. After all he had a reputation for displaying other worldly acts that seemed to defy the normal, natural state of our existence; things that no mere human could do. These supernatural acts garnered the attention of both the common folk, and the Pharisees who followed him from a distance wherever he travelled. They would stand in the shadows and wait to see what Jesus was going to do next. As their hope was to catch him doing something that went against their rigid belief system
This idea of what is next is something for all of us to cling to, remembering that whenever Jesus shows up things happen. And not always how we might expect.
I hope that you are like me and wonder what Jesus is going to do next in your life.