When Death Collides With Life - Luke 7:11-17
Gladstone Baptist Church - 3/7/05 am
Last week we spoke about an amazing display of great faith. Do you remember - Jesus healed the Centurion’s servant and the outcome was tremendous for all concerned ...
- The Slave lived
- The Centurion was honored as a man of Great faith
- Jesus was glorified and
- I’m sure that as word got out, the Crowds were amazed.
This was becoming a habit for Jesus in Capernaum. He constantly amazed people by his miracles.
Today, I want to look at the next recorded event of Jesus’ ministry in Luke 7:11-17
11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out-the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”
14 Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea a and the surrounding country.
We read that after a short stay in Capernaum, Jesus traveled on to a town called Nain. Nain was located about 8km from Nazareth or about 35km from Capernaum. It was a couple of days walk and we are told that accompanying him were his disciples and a large crowd. Jesus had quite a following of people now who had seen some of the things that he had been doing and were completely AMAZED by them. They had never seen such miracles and they were excited by them.
This crowd of people were buzzing with EXCITEMENT, wondering what this miracle worker would do next. They were jubilant, they were FULL OF LIFE, yes maybe a bit tired because they’d walked all day, but they were happy, full of ANTICIPATION AND HOPE. They were loving life.
But as this bustling crowd approach the gates of this town, they collide with another crowd which is completely different. The crowd accompanying Jesus is laughing and joking having a great time. They are full of life, but the crowd they collide with is just the opposite. This second crowd was part of a FUNERAL PROCESSION and they were CRYING, wailing, mourning and GRIEVING. Totally the opposite of the first crowd
We are told that a son of a widow had died. I don’t know about you, but while all funerals are sad, some are more tragic than others. Often, when an elderly person dies we are thankful for the long life they were given and for the fact that their struggle with old age has ended. But when someone in the prime of his or her life dies, or when a young person dies we are not nearly as accepting of it. A death of a young person seems unfair. We read here that a mother was burying her son. While we don’t know how old the dead son was, we can assume that he wasn’t that old. The Average Life Expectancy of people in the first century was about 40 years of age. This means that although it is possible for this woman was old and therefore her son was old too, it is likely that she was not very old and her son was YOUNG. Her son was probably too young to be married anyway because there is no mention of a wife or children, just his mother. And so there was great sadness associated with this funeral and it is likely that nearly the whole town were in this funeral procession to grieve with this widow.
The other thing that adds a measure of misery to funerals is the circumstances of those who were closest to the deceased. Their sadness and their future may also touch the hearts of those who are in attendance at the funeral. This mum, we are told was a widow and this was her only son. She was LEFT ALONE. She had already buried her husband some time ago and now she was burying her only son. This had several consequences for this woman. Firstly, the family name or blood line was now extinguished. And secondly, there was not a very bright future ahead for her. In the first century, there was no welfare system and it was not very easy at all for women to earn a living. Women were by and large dependant on the males in their families for support. This woman didn’t have any males left to support her and so she faced a short-term misery of the funeral and a long-term misery of trying to survive with no companionship and no financial support until the day she would be buried in that cemetery also.
This was the situation it was a miserable situation because of the loss of one so young and because of the predicament that placed his surviving mother in. This was what was foremost on the minds of the members of the second crowd that was involved in the collision. These two crowds could not be more different ...
„« The crowd coming in to the city had witnessed a wonderful HEALING. The crowd going out of the city had witnessed a horrible and untimely DEATH.
„« The crowd coming in to the city were EXCITED. The crowd going out of the city were DEVASTATED.
„« The crowd coming in were HAPPY - laughing and smiling, The crowd going out were SAD - crying and mourning.
„« The crowd coming in were LONGING for the future, the crowd going out were FEARING the future.
„« The one leading the crowd coming had huge POTENTIAL. The one leading the crowd going out had NO POTENTIAL.
„« The one leading the crowd coming had great POWER. The one leading the crowd going out had NO POWER.
Two very different crowds. I wonder which crowd you associate best with today. Some of you are going to be positive and upbeat about life. Some of you are feeling as though you have had your hearts ripped out of you. Which crowd are you in today?
Two very different crowds. And they collide at the city gate.
And when they collided Death was confronted by Life . Jesus looked and saw this grieving widow and the bible says that his heart went out to her and said “Don’t cry”. Nothing had to be said to Jesus to show that this woman was hurting - Jesus saw the pain. Nothing had to be explained - Jesus KNEW the circumstances.
Often when we are in the midst of pain, grief or suffering, we don’t think that God understands. But the Bible tells us that he does. Jesus understood what this woman was feeling. He knew her deepest fears. He saw the pain and loneliness she was enduring, even though it had only been days since the death of her son.
Ps 55 Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea;
2 hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
3 at the voice of the enemy, at the stares of the wicked; for they bring down suffering upon me and revile me in their anger.
4 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me.
5 Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest-
7 I would flee far away and stay in the desert; Selah
16 But I call to God, and the LORD saves me.
17 Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.
18 He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me.
22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.
23 But you, O God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of corruption; bloodthirsty and deceitful men
will not live out half their days.
But as for me, I trust in you.
We can trust in God because he sees what we are feeling and he will act to help us, even before we ask. This woman didn’t have to ask for help - Jesus OFFERED it out of compassion. He helps us out of compassion also.
I think it is interesting that Jesus didn’t try to understand the circumstances behind this death before giving compassion. I know that as God, he would have known, but there was no questions to demonstrate to the crowd that this woman deserved compassion. Who knows? Was his death due to illness, violence, suicide, an accident? We don’t know. Maybe he had been killed as a criminal? We don’t know and Jesus doesn’t ask the questions either. He just offers compassion to one who is hurting. And that is the model for us. We shouldn’t try to figure out who is really hurting or who deserves our sympathy. If someone is hurting, we give them love and care for them. Why? Because love is given out of GRACE - none of really deserve it. You don’t deserve God’s grace, I don’t deserve it, this woman didn’t deserve it, but Jesus gives it to us all through grace.
Where are you at? Are you hurting and in pain. I want to reassure you that Jesus knows what you are feeling. He has sympathy, for you but he also wants to offer help and do something practical and show you compassion. He wants to help you through the painful times by giving you hope even though we don’t deserve it.
In his words, “Don’t Cry” he offered this widow COMFORT AND HOPE. When you think about it, this is really quite a strange thing to say to a person who is grieving isn’t it. “Don’t Cry.” But tears are needed for emotional healing aren’t they. Yes, but Jesus was about to remove the need for emotional healing - he was going to remove the cause of the tears all together. He wasn’t going to just show sympathy, he was going to act and so show real compassion.
And his actions were AUTHORITATIVE. The dead boy was neatly lying on what we call a bier. It was a wooden frame, partly resembling a coffin. Pope John Paul was lying on a bier when he was lying in state. The bier that this boy would have been lying on would not have been quite so large or ornate. He would have been arranged on it with his ankles bound together so his legs didn’t flop off. His arms would be crossed over his chest and a shawl thrown over his face. Sometimes the biers even hade canopies made of freshly gathered palm branches woven together.
As Jesus approached the coffin, everything would have grown quiet. No-one except the men carrying it would have touched the bier because to do so would have resulted in ritual defilement. You weren’t supposed to touch dead things.
But Jesus reached out and touched the bier. He wasn’t afraid of defilement. His action was an authoritative action almost in contempt of these laws. And said “Young Man, I say to you, get up!” And the dead son sat up and he began to talk.
When the two crowds collided, DEATH lost out. The life that Jesus offered is enough to defeat death because he has the authority from God. Last week we saw that the Centurion’s faith was great because he humbly trusted in Jesus’ authority. Here Jesus illustrates the ultimate benefit of that authority - even defeating death. Jesus had authority over death because he was acting under God’s authority who controls life and death.
Heb 2:14-15 (CEV) 14 We are people of flesh and blood. That is why Jesus became one of us. He died to destroy the devil, who had power over death. 15 But he also died to rescue all of us who live each day in fear of dying.
Jesus had power over death and that is why he could speak directly to the dead man.
Rom 14:9 - For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
Jesus through his death has absolute power over death. That is why he was able to Martha, who had just lost her brother Lazarus Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26.
When Death collided with Life, Jesus revealed his power and there was life.
You know it is not recorded that Jesus ever went to a funeral. It is recorded that during his ministry he came into contact with 3 dead people and he brought them back to life - Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter, and the widow’s son all brought back to life. But their new lives were only temporary. Each of these three are now dead. Even the widow’s son died eventually. Jesus’ actions in bringing them back to life was only a postponement of the inevitable.
One day we will all die, like Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter and this widow’s son. Jesus did not come to indefinitely prolong our physical life here on this earth. This earth is corrupt, these bodies are corrupt, God has something better in store for us than keeping us alive on this round blue planet. It is in God’s will that we die physically so that we have the opportunity to live eternally with him in the spiritual realm. This doesn’t mean that death has the ultimate victory though. Jesus came to die and through that gain an everlasting victory over death. He offers us eternal life in heaven with him.
In one respect we are all in the crowd coming out of the city. Death is a reality for us all and it is not a pleasant thought for many people. But when we meet Jesus, he brings hope for new life. He holds the key to resurrection from the dead. Not just physically, but more importantly spiritually. And he wants to offer that to everyone because he notices our plight and has compassion on us.
This is the heart of the gospel message isn’t it. We were lost in sin that leads to death - an eternal death of separation from God. Jesus came into this world and died for us and in doing so, gained not just the authority, but the right to claim victory over death for us. He now has the legal right to give us the gift of eternal life. He knows our needs and wants to help us, but unlike the dead son who had not choice in the matter, we have the choice of whether we want to accept Gods’ gracious gift of life.
When the people in the two crowds saw what Jesus did,
Vs 16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
The people were reminded of Elijah raising the son of a widow 900 years earlier, in a town that was just the other side of the hill Nain was located on. They compared Jesus to Elijah, the great prophet and exclaimed “God has come to help his people.” They were right on this account. God had come to help his people, but not in the way they expected.
God sees our needs and has compassion on us. He recognises when we feel pain and when we hurt and he is there to comfort and help us through those periods. But more than that, he has the power and legal authority to meet death head on and when he does, we can say with paul...
1 Cor 15:49 “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
