Articles
"Child, Arise"
Reading: Luke 8:26-56
A man oppressed by a legion of demons. A woman plagued by an unrelenting disease. A father devastated by the impending death of his daughter. These three individuals encounter Jesus in their unique seasons of suffering, and he drastically changed each of their situations for the better. We could examine how these miracles demonstrate the extent of Jesus’s divine, authoritative power. We might consider how factors like time or onlookers influence each account. But for this moment, let’s note the posture of each person as they fall before Jesus.
The demons fall down in fear before the Lord while occupying the demoniac (v. 28). After his exorcism, the man is found sitting at the feet of Jesus, made well (35). Jairus falls at Jesus’s feet to implore for his help (41). The woman stooped to touch the fringe of Jesus’s garment (44), and then fell down before him to declare her actions and intent (47). This is a posture of submission, of desperation, of dependence. It is from this position that Jesus calls each child of God to arise and go forward in new life—witnessing to God’s power, experiencing His peace, and holding fast to the hope only found in the Lord.
Life will bring us to our knees. So when we fall, let us fall at the feet of Jesus, bringing all our cares to him and knowing that he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). Then, in his own appointed way and time, he can say to each of us as he said to Jairus’s daughter, “Child, arise.”
