Jesus said, "Rise" Luke 7:11-17

Jesus' ministry began to attract great attention; not because of his teaching at first; but because of the miracles. The miracles drew in the crowds who would be willing to listen to him teach. The miracles were proof of Jesus authority.

Sickness, sin, and the daemonic were not too much for Jesus. He healed, forgave, and exorcised. But there's another great enemy that we humans can't conquer on our own: death. In this story we see Jesus take on death. He reacted in sympathy to a widow who watched her son's body carried out for burial.

It happened fast. Jesus stepped in front of the funeral procession. Jesus turned to the mother. "Stop crying" He touched the bier that held the body and said, "Young Man, I say to you, arise." The man rose.

The crowd was stunned. They'd seen this son of a carpenter step in between a dead man and the procession to his grave. They's seen something big happen and the news of the man's healing spread.

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Throughout history rational thinkers have been drawn to Jesus as a prophet. Thomas Jefferson, famous for his presidency and role in the establishment of the republic known today as the United States wrote the The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. The book is all about Jesus; but saddly Jefferson's book makes little mention of the miracles. Without them Jesus had no authority as a teacher and would have had no crowds to listen. With them Jesus made it clear that he had power to act; not just wisdom to share.