Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day, Ages 3-6): Stronger Than Death
- thebetterpart
- 5 minutes ago
- 3 min read
This Sunday is a special day. We think in a particular way about people who died. We know a little bit about dying. We know that seeds fall to the ground and die. New life grows out of the death of those seeds. So we know that death is part of life. But what does Jesus know about death?
As Jesus approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out.
Where are the people going with the man who died? When someone dies, people bury the body in the ground because a person who died no longer needs their body. They cannot walk anymore. They cannot talk anymore. People think that death is the end.
He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow...
The man who died has a mother. She is a widow. That means that her husband died, too. This is the second time someone in her family died. Now she is alone.
When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’
The mother weeps. She cries. Why? What does she know about death? She knows that death makes her miss her family—her husband first, and now her son. She cries because now she is alone. She does not like being alone. We do not like being alone either.
When Jesus sees the mother, he has compassion for her. What does that mean? He feels what she feels. She misses her family—her husband first, and now her son—and it hurts to be alone. Jesus hurts with her. He knows she does not like to be alone. He knows we do not like to be alone either.
Why does Jesus tell her not to weep, not to cry? What does he want her to know? He knows that she thinks death is the end. What else does he need her to know?
Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
What has happened? Jesus tells him to rise and the man who died sits up and speaks. Dead people cannot do this. The man has life again. Why? It must be Jesus' voice. His voice is stronger than death. He speaks the man back into life.
Jesus gives the man back to his mother. Now she is not alone.
But wait.
Already she was not alone. When she was hurting, Jesus came to her and felt her pain with her. He shared her pain.
What does the mother know now?
Now she knows that when she hurts, Jesus comes and shares the hurt. She is never alone.
Now she knows that Jesus' voice is stronger than death. Death comes first, and then Jesus' voice brings life.
The mother will remember this. The son will remember this, too. We will remember this, as well. Everybody dies. Death is a part of life. Jesus knows this and we know it, too. Jesus comes to us and shares our hurt.
One day, when the mother is old, she will die. The son will grow old and die, too. Because everyone dies. Death is a part of life. Death comes first. And then Jesus will come again and say,
"Young one, I say to you, rise!"
And because his voice is stronger than death, Jesus will speak each of us—not back into our old life—but into new Risen life with him. Never alone. Never to die again.
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