Devotion - Thursday, November 10

In Matthew 9, Jesus is approached by a man, whose daughter has died. Jesus goes to the man's house. When he arrives, the "flute players" are already there - the community has begun to gather in order to mourn the child's passing, to prepare her body for burial, and to support the family in their grief. Jesus tells them they are premature, that "the girl is not dead but sleeping." They laugh at him.

Before I go on, I need to share a note from my seminary course on Matthew. It was a part of the culture at the time that the flute players showed up, uninvited, when a death occurred. They would play their instruments, and then then they would expect payment. So, when Jesus speaks of the girl not being dead, their laughter may have been somewhat motivated by the suggestion that they were going to be denied the opportunity to collect their coins. They were a part of the death ritual of the community, but they were there to profit from the death, not genuinely mourn the girl's passing. There is a lesson here - that not eveyone is sad to see a death; that some see death as an opportunity and they seek to exploit it.

Jesus knows that life is God's to give; Jesus knows that even where and when death is all that others can see - he finds life.

Think not so much about those in your family or circle of friends who have been buried. Think of those (perhaps even yourself) who continue to draw breath, but who have ceased to experience the fullness and the promise of the life God has for us. Think of those persons (hopefully not yourself) who fail to see the opportunities set before them but choose instead to face corners and remain tethered. They may not be there totally of their own choosing. Like the ancient flute players, there are persons in the world who look enthusiastically for those susceptible to the suggestion to be dead rather than to live. They attempt to keep us in the places where death is the choice to be made.

Into those lives (and into your own) Jesus comes to announce that life is there, that life is ours, that while others may see death his vision is one of the living.

In Matthew 9, there are no fancy words or actions, nor even a prayerful outcry. Jesus simply takes the girl by the hand, "and the girl arose." Simple, really.

Just as simply, Jesus takes our hand. Just as simply, from him and into us flows the life which is God's gift to us.