“And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.” (Luke 8:56 KJV)
Are you kidding me? You bring a twelve year old girl back to life! Our only child! And you mute me about it? Don Francisco wrote an incredible song about this back in 1979 called “Got to tell somebody” and it hits at the heart of what may be a dare to try and not tell everyone about what Jesus really has done for me. Great song and worth your while to listen to it if you can find a copy still around. Back in Isaiah 55:11, we learn that what God speaks will not return void. We live in a world that looks more like Ecclesiastes 1:2 where everything seems to be vain. What happens when we discover that something that we thought was somewhere between pure silliness and a preposterous possibility turns out to be true? If this story was a story that these parents were told not to share, then whose story was this? I would certainly love to hear what the girl had to say! I bet that her few minutes in heaven brought back a realness that we would all love to hear. Yet, I think this was actually someone else’s story. Let’s go back to this question… Take a hard look at verse 53. Have you ever laughed at someone to scorn? Have you ever thought for certain that the “horse that someone was kicking” was dead? What happens when we, perhaps in time, figure out that we were wayyyyy off and that the one that we were scorning was actually in the right? Who has a story to tell now?
Jesus has this habit of drawing just that thing out of us that gives us a story that we now have an unshakable confidence in sharing. I know some people can make laughing at their own hardness, bitterness, or their embarrassments better than others, but like how you got there or not, who has a story to tell now? There is a reason that it’s really hard to argue with a person’s testimony! Once Jesus has given you a story of how he has changed you to tell, it’s a uniquely made key for the lock that has been undone. You now know beyond a shadow of a doubt something about Jesus really is true, and who has a story to tell now?
“And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” (Luke 19:40 KJV)