Calling Life from Death
‘When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.’ Mark 5:38-42
As an amateur plant grower and general nature lover, I have a group of broad beans growing on my window sill. They have reached a good height since first poking their tender new leaves above the ground in search of sunlight, and I hope that one day they will return on my investment of care and nurturing by producing some tasty, wholesome beans. These wonderful creations are quite miraculous, having sprung from something that in all appearances seemed dead and lifeless not two weeks before. I had previously grown a crop of broad beans, but this was 3 years ago. Optimistically but not with great expectations I had set aside a number of beans, thinking that the next year I would try planting them. They were thoroughly dried out, and kept in a dark dry space, ready and waiting. But it wouldn't be next year that they would get their moment, or the two years after that. They would have to wait 3 years before their time of glorious unveiling.
These seemingly lifeless little beans, placed in the right conditions, given some moisture, soil and sunlight, actually hold the potential for new life! Everything required for that little plant to start it's growth in to the world is contained within. It's just waiting for the right moment. For all intent and purposes this bean could be considered 'dead'. And yet my broad bean plants are growing strong, very much alive. And not only are they growing tall, they will hopefully go on to flower, and produce bean pods, continuing the cycle of new life. Amazing!
When Jesus sees the little girl in Mark 5, who to everyone else in the room is now considered dead, He doesn't see a corpse but an opportunity to extend love and the power of His kingdom. Even as others mock, Jesus states 'She is not dead, she's only sleeping'. He reaches out His hand and tells her, in the famous Aramaic words 'Talitha koum" which translated means "Little girl, get up". Jesus sees through the eyes of heaven, past the physical circumstance and in to the spiritual; He sees the potential for life, He sees the opportunity for the kingdom to break in, and He declares life!
Just as those 'dead' beans are holding all the potential for life, they just need the right conditions, so we as image bearers of God hold within us all the potential for NEW life, life in the spirit, life connected to the God-head. We may have been separated from God at the fall but His image is still within us, lying dormant and just waiting for the right conditions, the right moment to spring to life. Each of us must have that moment, an encounter with Jesus, just as the little girl did, where the Lord says to us "Rise up!" For we agree with Peter when he says in John 6:68, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” As this Jesus, Son of God, author of salvation, is made real to us in our own lives, that which has laid dormant is raised to life.
And Jesus doesn't stop at salvation, He wants to bring new life to every part of our being! Jesus is in the room, reaching out to dreams that may lie in the dust, prayers we feel have gone unanswered, parts of our character or personality that have been lost over the years, and He is ready to speak LIFE. Just as God gives life to the dead, and calls in to being things that were not (Romans 4:17), as He gave Abraham and Sarah a child even though their bodies were considered as good as dead (Romans 4:19), so in your life God is wanting to speak new life in to 'dead' things. Where we may see only disappointment, let downs and hopelessness, God sees the opportunity and potential for new life. HIS life in us! Those lifeless beans are now growing strong, the little girl rose up at Jesus' words, Abraham and Sarah went on to birth a nation, and each of us can see that same new life.
As BORN AGAIN children of God, we are raised to new life with Christ as our old selves are laid in the tomb. And as new creations, we have the opportunity to reach out, just as Christ did to that little girl, to those around us who do not yet know this new life to declare "Rise up!" Today, we can extend the kingdom to those we meet, and in declaring the truth through our words and actions, we will see that which has laid dormant in others rise to new life.