The Power of One

And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise!" The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and, "God has visited His people!" (Luke 7:14-16 NASB)

Resuscitation, restoration, and reverence. It was quite a bit to happen as the result of one single word. That's the power of one word spoken by the Son of God, however. When Jesus touched the bier on which the young man's body lay and spoke "Arise!", he did more than resuscitate that young man. He changed that funeral bier into a sleeping cot. Those who were unclean because they had touched the dead body were suddenly cleansed because the body was not dead after all. He returned hope and joy to the grieving mother. Everyone in the crowd that accompanied the mother and everyone in the crowd that accompanied Jesus were gripped with a reverent fear that resulted in spontaneous praise and glory to God. One single word was all it took. 

There are several lessons to draw from this. The first is the power of a word well spoken. Our words can have far-reaching consequences and it is important to choose them well. Words can bring great healing or great harm, and caution is needed when handling them. 

The second important lesson is the impact that can come from the intervention of Jesus in the life of just one person. Not only can He stop the destruction of ongoing bad choices, He can bring healing to all those who love the one who has encountered Jesus, as well as those standing by and watching. In this instance, hundreds of people were affected by the young man's encounter with Jesus before his feet ever hit the ground. As soon as he sat up on the bier, lives began to change. Every single life has more influence than we realize. Every single encounter with Christ makes a difference we cannot begin to imagine or understand. 

My life, your life, the life of our loved ones all touch more people than we know. Is that influence for good or for ill?

Today, pray that our encounter with Christ would bring change and leave a lasting impact on all those with whom we have contact, especially our loved ones. Pray, too, for the believers who encounter our loved ones to be faithful to Christ and have a testimony of faith that is both strong and unassailable.  

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Link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/05/tupelo-tornado-giving-and-receiving.html