"Wake Up"

Wake Up

“Young man, I say to you, ‘Get up!’” (Luke 7:14)

I am a morning person. I always have been. I enjoy getting up early, going to my quiet place to spend time with God before I get going with the day’s agenda.

In our reading from Luke 7 today, we see a remarkable awakening. A young man has died. Jesus sees the funeral procession, and his heart goes out to the young man’s mother, who is also a widow. He walks up to the funeral stretcher and says, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” Jesus uses a Greek word here that literally means “wake up.” Jesus treats the young man as if he is not dead but asleep. And when he wakes up, the young man starts to talk, which seems like an odd detail to include. Maybe the young man is a morning person!

Later in the passage, the same word is used again. The crowd that had seen this miracle declared with awe, “A great prophet has appeared among us.” More literally, this can be translated: “A great prophet has awoken among us!”—meaning that the people could see they were in the presence of someone specially sent by God. They didn’t know much about Jesus yet, but they would soon learn.

I don’t know if you are a morning person or not, but here is a helpful prayer we can offer anytime: “Jesus, please awaken me!” Just that simple. Ask the Lord to wake you up to see and care about the people around you.