Luke 7

Luk 7:1
After he had finished speaking in the hearing of the people,
he entered into Capernaum.
Luk 7:11
It happened soon afterwards,
that he went to a city called Nain.
Many of his disciples, along with a great multitude,
went with him.

As I am reading through Luke,
the thought occurs to me
that Jesus doesn't seem to have a plan.
He has no real agenda.
It seems like he just walks around,
wherever life leads him,
teaching and doing good works.

Even if I don't announce my intentions
or publish my schedule,
I always have some kind of "to do" list
in the back of my mind.
Could I imagine actually living in the moment,
not taking any responsibility for doing
whatever, whenever?
Just letting life unfold around me, however?

NOPE!

-=-=-

Changing the subject,
another thing in this chapter is making me think too hard.

Luk 7:14
He came near and touched the coffin,
and the bearers stood still.
He said, "Young man, I tell you, arise!"
Luk 7:15
He who was dead sat up, and began to speak.
And he gave him to his mother.
Luk 7:16
Fear took hold of all, and they glorified God,
saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!"
and, "God has visited his people!"

I can't remember if I wrote about this
back when I was reading about the same events
in Matthew and Mark,
but the raising of the dead seems so out of place to me.

If Jesus walked the earth fully human,
why was he given power over the dead?
I would have an easy time understanding this ability
AFTER he was resurrected,
but not as a human.
I know, you are saying to yourself
"Well, he was both human AND divine".

But WHY did he raise people from the dead?
I wasn't like those were special people
that needed to be alive
to fulfill some piece of the puzzle.
Was it just to gain the attention of the people
that he was really sent from God?
So they would listen to the message?

If other people could have this power
I'm sure we would have heard about it, right?
I mean, there have been a LOT of very devout
people down through history,
and you would think SOME of them
had their hearts in the right place,
and would pray in the proper way,
and would be able to do these types of things
if the conditions warranted.

But we don't find that to be the case.

In our entire history
was it only Jesus who had this ability?

So I'm guessing it was a sure sign to announce
or illuminate
that
HE IS THE ONE
to anyone and everyone around.

That's the only reason I can think of
for using such power.