God Running is a place for anyone who wants to (or even anyone who wants to want to) love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.
In our last post from the book of Acts we discovered an important reason why Paul went to the extraordinary effort to travel the known world to share Jesus. If you’re interested you can learn more here: “The 3rd Reason Paul Traveled the World to Share Jesus (and fasting from YouTube for Lent)–Acts 20:5-6”.
At the time of this writing, it’s just a few days before Easter. Which is interesting. Because in today’s post we’re going to celebrate a resurrection (and talk about the hope of resurrection, in this life, and in the life to come).
Acts 20:7-12
On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
Acts 20:7-12
Paul was leaving the Jesus followers at Troas the next day. So, whatever he had to say, he had to say it that evening. And during Paul’s later (and perhaps longer) than usual teaching, the young man Eutychus fell asleep. Apparently he was perched on a window ledge because he fell down from the third story window and was believed to be dead.
Paul took him up in his arms and said: Don’t be alarmed, his life is still in him.
Full of faith in our Father for the care of Eutychus, Paul shares a meal with his brothers and sisters there, and they talk all the way to daybreak.
Meanwhile the young man Eutychus was found to be alive, and they “were not a little comforted.”
Eutychus Alive
Straight from the text we see how Paul says the life of Eutychus is still in him. So Paul could mean that Eutychus was unconscious and appeared to be dead, but still alive. Or Paul could be speaking figuratively the way Jesus did when he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”
And Jesus’ disciples said, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”
So they didn’t get it. They didn’t understand Jesus was saying, Lazarus is dead, but I will bring him back to life, I’ll resurrect him. In the same way it could be some of us don’t understand that Paul is saying, Eutychus is dead, but Jesus will bring him back to life.
We simply can’t know for sure one way or the other. But if you’ll indulge me, for the purposes of this blog post, I’ll call what happened to Eutychus a “resurrection”.
Jesus’ Resurrection
Thanks to Gabe, I’m reading the book Pensées by Blaise Pascal. (Thank you Gabe for such an amazing gift!) And in that book Pascal shares the following:
The immortality of the soul is something of such vital importance to us, affecting us so deeply, that one must have lost all feeling not to care about knowing the facts of the matter. All our actions and thoughts must follow such different paths, according to whether there is hope of eternal blessings or not, that the only possible way of acting with sense and judgement is to decide our course in the light of this point, which ought to be our ultimate objective.
Pascal, p. 128
A few nights ago I was listening to a man who previously did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus. But at a certain point in his life he realized he hadn’t really investigated whether or not it was true. He just assumed that because we don’t see human beings dying and coming back to life, that Jesus’ resurrection was only a myth. So as Pascal put it, this man at this certain point in his life recognized the “vital importance” of the question. And he investigated.
After some intense research he said he found that it was uncontroversial among historians (including historians who aren’t Christian) that groups of people, including Jesus’ disciples, believed they saw him alive, after his crucifixion. (If you’re interested in such things, you can learn more here: “The Historical Jesus: 17 Minutes of Straight Facts”.)
And he went on to say, if one person believed they saw Jesus alive after the crucifixion, that person might genuinely believe it, even if it wasn’t true, for reasons that could benefit them, reasons that might exert an influence on their subconscious mind.
But when dozens or hundreds of people believe they saw the resurrected Jesus, and they refuse to deny this assertion, even to the point of their own torture and death, then what makes the most sense is that Jesus was indeed resurrected.
And when he came to that realization, he became a committed Jesus follower. Jesus became his Lord and his God.
God is in the Resurrection Business
So Jesus was resurrected.
And Lazarus was resurrected.
And Jairus’s daughter was resurrected.
And the young man at Nain was resurrected.
And Tabitha was resurrected. (see John 20:26-28, John 11:38-44, Mark 5:41, Luke 7:14, Acts 9:36-42)
There seems to be a pattern here. It would appear that God is in the business of resurrecting people.
If you’re a regular reader of God Running you know I’m involved in a place called The Jesus Table. On Tuesday nights, at 6 pm, anyone who wants to can come and be served a good meal and enjoy a warm welcoming environment.
One of the best things about The Jesus Table is that it attracts people who have been “resurrected”.
Single moms who have been resurrected from drug and alcohol addiction and who are now holding down full time jobs and watching their kids grow into stable successful adults. People who have been resurrected from unemployment. People who have been resurrected from homelessness to a stable living situation.
Of course, as Pascal says, our great hope is in the resurrected Jesus, that through him we too might be resurrected. Because we’re Jesus followers, we have the hope of life in him. We have “the hope of eternal blessings”.
But also, in this life, we can remember that our God, our Father is in the business of resurrection.
And He can resurrect anything:
He can resurrect your marriage.
He can resurrect the life of your prodigal son or daughter.
He can resurrect your heart and mind from depression.
He can resurrect your faith and trust from anxiety.
He can resurrect your career.
He can resurrect your health.
God can resurrect anything. I’ve seen it at The Jesus Table. I’ve even seen it in men who were despairing in prison, but now they’re free from drugs and alcohol and stable in their job and in their relationships.
Our God lives.
Jesus is alive and he’s alive because he’s been resurrected.
You have hope.
You have hope in Him.
He is risen.
Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
John 20:26-28
Blaise Pascal, Pensées, (originally written in 1658), 1995, Penguin Classics, p. 128
Public Domain Image of the resurrected Jesus via arystockbridge617, getarchive.net
Available on Amazon! Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus) Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others. Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:
- Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
- How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
- The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
- How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
- How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
- How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
- How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
- How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
- How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.
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A life of loving like Jesus. (Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon.)
