Luke 7:11-17: The Lord of Life

Have you ever heard of the irresistible force paradox? Have you heard the phrase ‘the unstoppable force meets the immovable object?’ Maybe you have heard it in the context of sport where two powerful rugby teams are going to compete. Technically it is an impossibility for an unstoppable force to move an unmovable object, or vice versa because then the object would by definition no longer be immovable, or the force unstoppable. Nevertheless, ‘the unstoppable force meets the immovable object’ is a way in which several commentators have described the next section we are looking at.

In this section the Lord of life meets the enemy, death. Death is the universal reality we must all submit to, it is the one foe none of us can conquer, as far we are concerned it is the immovable object. In desperation some have turned to cryonics for the hope of a resurrection by advanced science in the future. Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona is a non-profit organisation that will freeze your head for $80 000, or your whole body for $200 000. You can become a ‘cryonaut’ with the promise of the possibility of science being able to revive you. But it is Christ and not science which is the unstoppable force of life, He is the God-man, He is the Messiah with the Spirit without measure. In this section we will see Christ come into our pain and sorrow filled situation with His compassion and power and give us a taste of the Kingdom where death will be no more. We will look at this section under two headings: Christ’s compassion, and then His power.