Lessons From Lesser Knowns: Finding God In Overlooked ScriptureSýnishorn

Off Script 

Everyone knew what they were supposed to do. 

They’d make way for the boy’s funeral procession as it passed through town, maybe pausing to watch the wailing mourners or quietly murmuring dismay at the widow’s misfortune. But they wouldn’t interrupt.

Jesus knew that His reaction would shock the crowd: “When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. ‘Don’t cry!’ he said. Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. ‘Young man,’ he said, ‘I tell you, get up’” (Lk. 7:13-14, NLT). Jesus didn’t just interrupt the funeral; He completely stopped the procession. 

And then He touched the coffin! 

Any respectable rabbi would carefully avoid touching anything contaminated by death, since it would make him ritually unclean. But Jesus intentionally put His hand on the dead boy.

What do you think ran through the townspeoples’ heads as they witnessed this? What’s this rabbi thinking? How rude of Him to interrupt this funeral, and even worse, to touch the coffin! And why is He telling a dead child to get up? 

The people had heard that Jesus was powerful. Not long before this event, He’d healed a Roman officer’s servant from a distance. But this kind of behavior was almost unthinkable.

Until the boy sat up.

In one stunningly off-script move, Jesus boldly displayed two things: His love for a woman marginalized by her widowhood and His authority over death. With a simple gesture that defied human tradition and a few short words that denied natural law, Jesus transformed loss and questioning into life and worship. The people walked away that day knowing that God had been among them.

Jesus now invites us to follow Him off-script—to stop unexpectedly in our tracks, offering His stunning compassion and astonishing healing to people who need to know that God is among them.

Chew On This:

• What are some other ways Jesus went off-script during His time on earth? Do you see any patterns in the situations where He defied people’s expectations?
• In what ways do you think Jesus would challenge our current cultural norms and traditions?
• Think about a place in your life where God may be asking you to set aside your own expectations to do what He’s called you to do. How can you step out of your comfort zone to show Jesus to someone?