Traveling with the rabbi must have been a hair-raising experience at times.
“And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, ‘Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But taking her by the hand he called, saying, ‘Child, arise.’ And her spirit returned, and she got up at once.” Luke 8:52–55a
There’s something about the simplicity and familiarity of these words that is numbing, frankly. When you’ve grown up with this and other passages like it, it can become easy to read it quickly and move on.
Jesus raised another person from the dead. Check.
As risky as it is to try to create theatrical reproductions of these events (can they ever possibly do the scriptures justice?), well-made series like The Chosen can help to push us out of our hypnosis.
They can help us reconsider. Slow down the gospel narratives. Reimagine with fresh eyes. Put ourselves there in the presence of the rabbi.
These chapters in Luke are full of seriously stunning developments. It’s just one after another.
We have mass healings and exorcisms. We have a young man brought back from the dead. A crashing storm is calmed by his shout.
And in this chapter, yet another person is made alive again.
Resurrection.
Imagine being there. Any one of these supernatural events would have blown our minds, but another resurrection?
That’s hair-rising stuff. The kind of moment where “Oh my God!” can be exclaimed in absolute purity and reverence.
The air in the crowd must have been electric. This man, Jesus, can be no prophet.
He is either directly connected to divine power or He IS the divine power embodied.
And then, as icing on the cake, consider the counter-cultural nature of this miracle.
She was female. She was a child.
Not a strategic target for a stunning miracle. She was another non-factor for the religious elite.
And yet here Jesus was, rocking his audience not only by his sheer power but by his revolutionary posture and position.
He was showing his neighbors and all the world the shape of a radical new kingdom, articulated a few decades later by Paul in his letter to the Galatians:
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” Galatians 3:28–29
Welcome to the life of Jesus.
The Cascadian Christian 