Hello, this is pastor gary from first baptist church of laplata. The coronavirus pandemic has been tragic and has claimed many lives; however, there’s a strange coronavirus story from Spain that has a happy ending. A family was informed that their 85 year old loved one had contracted the virus and was moved from her nursing home where she lived with her husband to a COVID care facility. While at the facility, her family was told that she had succumbed to the virus and passed away. Spain’s strict lockdown protocols do not allow family members to attend funerals, so the family grieved apart—including the deceased woman’s husband. The happy ending is that 9 days after the woman’s funeral, and unaware of her own death, she showed back up at the nursing home alive and well! There was no one more happy–or shocked–to see her than her confused roommate husband who had been mourning her death only to have her show up a week later. This was apparently a case of mistaken identity, and the health service has apologized profusely for the mistake. I think about people in the New Testament whom Jesus resurrected from the dead: they died once but would have to die once again. This may be one of the reasons Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus: Jesus knew he was going to bring Lazarus back to this old, sinful, corrupt world. Lazarus had finally escaped this world through death, but by divine providence and decree, he had to be brought back—no wonder Jesus wept; and though not recorded, I’m guessing that Lazarus wept, too.
Leave a Reply