Listen

When Jesus went into the ruler’s house, he saw the flute players and the distressed crowd. He said, “Go away, because the little girl isn’t dead but is asleep”; but they laughed at him. After he had sent the crowd away, Jesus went in and touched her hand, and the little girl rose up. News about this spread throughout that whole region.

Matthew 9:23-26

Think

Honestly, I can’t blame the people for laughing in disbelief when Jesus tells them the ruler’s daughter isn’t dead. They were there to mourn a tragic loss, one that was right there in front of them, and here’s Jesus saying it didn’t happen. Grief wears us out, and makes us more sensitive to the other feelings that can bubble up. I wonder what the crowd was feeling when they did eventually leave the house. Were they just too exhausted to argue with Jesus? Were they hopeful that he was right? I imagine, if I was one of them, I might’ve been feeling a little bit of both.

It’s interesting, too, that Jesus sent them away in the first place. It seems that even though he was doing this miraculous healing, he didn’t want to make a show of it. Of course, the news spread anyway, but in the meantime the people there had to trust that God was at work even though they couldn’t see it right in front of them.

Allison Wehrung

Pray

God of mystery, help me to trust that you are at work in my life, even when your presence is harder to see.

Open my heart to feel your presence reassuring me when things are hard, when things are happy, and in the many moments in between.

Amen.

Go

We come to you, O loving Lord,
in our distress and pain,
in trust that through our nights and days,
your grace will heal, sustain.

Herman G. Stuempfle Jr. in “We Come to You for Healing, Lord” (2013)