“Divine Power” (Luke 7:14-15)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/16/2026 8:26 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  “Divine Power”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 7:14-15

            Message of the verses:  “And he came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt.  And He said, “Young man, I say to you arise!”  The dead man sat up and began to speak.  And Jesus gave him back to his mother.”

            This morning because of time concerns I will quote from John MacArthur commentary. 

            “Christ’s acting with divine purpose, providential arranging of contingencies to bring about God’s plan, and compassion for those who suffer all lead to the conclusion that He is God.  His stunning display of power, however, directly demonstrates His deity.

            “That Jesus cam up and touched the coffin revals His power over sin.  According to Numbers 19:11-22, anyone who touched a dead person or anything associated with that person became ceremonially unclean.  But Jesus, as holy God incarnate, was not defiled by touching the dead man’s coffin (or stretcher); He remained ‘holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens’ (Heb. 7:26).

            “The incident also reveals Jesus’ power over people.  Normally, attempting to halt a funeral procession and touching the corpse would have produced outrage and the person who did so might even have been physically attacked by the angry mourners.  But because of the Lord’s commanding authoritative presence, the bearers came to a halt.

            “But most significant, Jesus demonstrated His power over death.  As the creator (John 1:3) whose spoken word called the universe into existence (Ps. 33:6-9), He merely said, “Young man, I say to you arise!” (cf. 8:54-55; John 11:43).  At that moment life surged into the dead man’s body—just as it will for all the dead on that day when ‘all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment’ (John 5:28-29).

            “It should be noted that since no one asked Jesus to raise the dead man, this miracle was not contingent on anyone’s faith.  Faith is not a prerequisite for God’s power to operate; God sovereignly activates His power in accordance with His will.  Some of Jesus’ healings involved faith, others did not.  But to view human faith as the operative principle instead of God’s sovereign will is an egregious even blasphemous error.  Faith was always present in salvation, but not all  miracles.

            “At Jesus’ command the dead man sat up and began to speak.  As was always the case, Jesus healed instantly and completely.  There was no prolonged period of post-resurrection therapy for this man.  He was immediately restored to full strength and Jesus gave him back to his mother.”

8/16/2026 8:46 AM