LUKE 7: 11-17 [Mother’s Day]
MOTIVATED BY COMPASSION
[1 Kings 17:17-24 & 2 Kings 4:32-37]
MOTHER'S Day has come to be one of the most appealing and impressive days in the life of the American people. Today from the President in the White House to the humblest tenant in his apartment house, people pause, as they should, to pay grateful and loving tribute to the best loved person in all the world, their mother. The most beautiful sight in all this world is the picture of a mother with a baby in her arms. It is not any wonder that artists, painters, sculptors, poets and orators have summoned all their resources, to portray that scene in a worthy fashion.
When Jesus was dying on His cross, He paused there in the midst of His agony and revealed His love and care for His blessed mother. When Isaiah, the great prophet, thought of God, he also thought of his mother and said, "As one whom his mother comforts, so the Lord comforts His people." When President Garfield was inaugurated as President, it is not surprising that the splendid man, when he had taken the oath of office and had kissed the Bible, turned immediately and kissed his mother, to the delight of the watching thousands around him.
Let’s READ LUKE 7:11-17.
Dwight L. Moody's mother, Betsey Holton Moody, was a woman of remarkable strength and character. In 1841, when Dwight was just four years old, Betsey's husband Edwin was stricken with a sudden illness and died. One month later Mrs. Moody gave birth to twins, giving the youthful widow nine children to care for.
Despite severe poverty she kept the family together, and Dwight evidently loved his mother deeply. Her own faith in Christ was confirmed later in life, when in 1876, she stood for prayer in response to Moody's invitation after one of his messages. From that point until her death in 1896, Betsey Moody's compassion and influence for the Lord were deeply felt by those around her.
On this special day set aside to honor mothers, we want to look into compassion. Mother bring compassion into life, and the Christian community certainly needs more compassion. Here Jesus not only demonstrates His power over death but His tender compassion for a grieving mother. Although we don't often hear much about the WIDOW OF NAIN, her story was deemed important enough to be included in the Gospel, and thus it calls for our attention. This wonderful story especially deserves consideration on Mother's Day.
I. THE TWO CROWDS, 11-12.
II. THE TWO MIRACLES, 13–15.
III. THE TWO UNDERSTANDINGS, 16-17.
At this point in Jesus’ ministry the crowds saw Him as a prophet, but He is so much more. The crowd who has been following Him in verse 11 will have opportunity to obverse that He does so much more than proclaim truth. “Soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd.
Luke records this event to reveal Jesus’ concern for women especially mothers[, as well as the fact that this is one of three recorded times Jesus raised someone from the dead]. It had been approximately eight hundred years since Israel had seen someone, raised from the dead. The last case was wrought by Elisha the prophet (2 Kgs 4:14–37).
A large crowd went along with Jesus as He traveled southwest from Capernaum to Nain. Capernaum was about twenty-five miles into the Jezreel Valley to the city of Nain It was a good-sized town in Christ’s day. Jesus may have been in familiar territory, since Nain was only about ten miles from Nazareth.
Jesus’ crowd runs into another crowd in verse 12. “Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her.”
As the crowd with Jesus approaches the city gate they encounter a widow and a funeral procession weeping and mourning. The woman weeps over the loss of her only child. She is now all alone in a hostile world, with no family to care for her.
Notice that a large crowd was also with the funeral procession carrying the coffin of a dead young man. There was no doubt as to this man’s condition. He was plainly dead, the funeral was over, the funeral procession was en route to the place for burial. Luke records that the dead man was the only son of his widowed mother.
The sorrow of this mother for her only son must have been very raw since the Jews conducted their funerals within twenty-four hours of death. This woman probably had less than a day to come to grips with her son's death.
So there on the dust road outside of Nain, two groups of people met. One was going into the city rejoicing, the other leaving the city weeping. The group going into the city was rejoicing because they were traveling with Jesus. The group leaving the city was weeping, knowing nothing about Jesus.
May I suggest that every single one of us is in one of these two crowds right now? Either we are traveling with Jesus to the City, or we are traveling without Him to the cemetery. If we’re traveling with Him, to what city are we headed? To the same one for which Abraham looked: the city which is solid and real, satisfying and eternal, the city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10). Abraham knew such a city would not be found in Mesopotamia, Babylon, New York, or Tennessee. He knew the city for which he longed would only be found in eternity. And with longing in his heart, he could head toward the city of God rejoicing in his calling. [Courson, Jon: Jon Courson's Application Commentary. Nashville, TN : Thomas Nelson, 2003, S. 336]
Jesus exuded such abundance of life that people loved to be with Him. Thus, He was called a winebibber and a glutton by His enemies (Luke 7:34). At the same time, He is the Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:3). He was not the Man of Sorrows because He was depressed about His own situation, but because He had such great compassion. That is, He carried the pain of others in His heart. [Courson S. 338.]
II. THE TWO MIRACLES, 13–15.
Jesus in verse 13 immediately recognized the situation and was deeply touched, moved with compassion for the widow. “When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.”
The first miracle is the miracle of compassion. Our story reveals Jesus’ as being moved with compassion, toward this mother and widow. The broken-hearted woman was now completely alone and seemingly unprotected, without a close male relative. [Her and her husband’s legacy had also come to an end. Taking notice of and helping widows is a major theme in both the Old and the New Testaments.]
Jesus’ heart went out to her. The verb “heart went out” translates esplanchnisthē, a verb used numerous times in the Gospels and was once translated as pity or sympathy. It is related to the noun splanchna, “inner parts of the body,” which were considered the seat of the emotions. Compassion is sympathy moved to action [and therefore is a better translation].
Compassion is your pain in my heart. It’s a quality sadly lacking in our society, but one Jesus exemplified constantly. He is called the Man of Sorrows because He took the pain of people into His own heart. And yet the irony is that Hebrews 1:9 tells us He was anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows. How could He be the Man of Sorrows and yet anointed with the oil of gladness above any other human being who has ever lived—radiating such joy that multitudes would be drawn to Him? These are two qualities that seem contradictory—until we remember the words He taught us when He said, “Blessed, or happy, are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). One of the keys of happiness is to allow sorrow to penetrate your heart.
EASTERN MYSTICISM totally rejects this viewpoint. A foundational principle of Buddha’s teaching was to avoid pain and sorrow, for if mankind would enter into the state of detached feeling, of nirvana, there would be no more jealousy or envy, no more wars and fighting. This thinking has affected us more than we know. Having permeated the ‘60s culture, it was Eastern thought that caused us to say, “I am a rock. I am an island,” as we sang along with Simon and Garfunkel.
Jesus, however annihilated that mentality by saying, “Happy is the man” not who detaches himself, but “who mourns,” who is heartbroken, for he is the one who “will be comforted.”
“Comfort” is an old English word containing the same root as that of the word “fortify.” In other words, Jesus said that the one who is mourning will also be the one who is fortified.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, so deeply was Jesus mourning that blood burst from His forehead. And yet Luke tells us that even as He was agonizing in prayer, an angel came and comforted, sustained, and fortified Him (Luke 22:43, 44).
When is the last time I have been at the place of being pained in prayer for someone else’s problem, someone else’s sin? Could it be that I am not comforted by the Comforter or the God’s presence because I am not doing what Jesus did? Blessed are they who mourn, who plunge into life and feel the pain of life. They shall be comforted.
Are you unhappy? Are you without Christian fortitude? Take seriously what Jesus said. It’s an irony. It’s a mystery. It runs crosscurrent to the thinking of our society. And yet the key to blessedness is to mourn for others, to carry someone else’s pain in your heart. [Courson, P. 333.]
Jesus' is moved with deep compassion for this grief-stricken mother. His comforting words to her, "Don't cry," remind us of His care for His own mother even in the middle of His agony on the cross (Jn. 19:25-27).
The woman and the crowd in the funeral procession stop at Jesus’ approach in verse 14. “And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!”
The pall-bears were likely carrying him on a [Jewish] stretcher on which the dead were carried outside the town for burial. To touch something associated with death brought ceremonial defilement which had to be removed by purification before entrance into a synagogue. By this means Jesus again displays His disregard for valueless ceremonial laws.
A widow in those days was in a totally vulnerable position if there were no male relatives to protect her. This particular woman had lost first her husband and now her only son. The only social security in those days was having some man provide for you. This woman’s future was bleak indeed.
Showing human tenderness and compassion toward the weeping mother, Jesus touched the open casket and said: “Young man, I say to you, Arise!” This miracle is an example of the extraordinary compassion that Jesus demonstrated throughout His ministry to the disenfranchised, the outcast, and the poor.
In His compassion for the widow, Jesus restored her dead son to life. Jesus can do so much more than just empathize with us. He turned the would-be funeral into a happy reunion when He raised the young man back to life and restored him to his mother. Jesus' authority over death is our hope for resurrection life and an eternity of joy with Him in heaven.
Do you know why Jesus look directly at the dead youth and spoke the words, ““Young man, I say to you, arise!” directly to him. Because if he had of said arise to one and all, all the dead of all the ages would have arisen along with the young man. So Jesus spoke just to this young man. But one day he will speak to all mankind, and all mankind will come alive.
In verse 15 the dead son hears the command of Jesus. “The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
At Jesus’ command the previously dead man sat up and began to talk. The object of recording that the young man spoke after arising was to give solid evidence that he was really alive.
The Gospels give us three accounts of Jesus raising [resuscitating] the dead. One of the times it was Lazarus, raised after being dead three days. Another is the daughter of Jairus, who is presumed to have died on her sickbed. In verse 22 we read that “the dead are raised up” is one of the authentic marks of the Messiah. [See 7:18-23.]
[This story has antecedents in 1 Kings 17:17-24 and 2 Kings 4:32-37. As in 4:16-30, Luke again looks to the ministries of Elijah and Elisha to present Jesus, not only in what Jesus did but in the way the story is told. “He gave him to his mother” is verbatim from 1 Kings 17:23 in the LXX.]
III. THE TWO UNDERSTANDINGS, 16-17.
Verse 16 indicates that fear seized all those who witnessed this event. “Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!”
As a result of the miracle the people were all filled with awe (fear-phobos; 1:12). Throughout the Gospels, this was a common reaction when Jesus demonstrated His messianic powers.
They praised God. Most of the two crowds thought that Jesus must be a great prophet (thinking, no doubt, of the ministries of Elijah and Elisha),
Others though proclaimed that it was “God” who had “visited His people” (Isa. 7:14). Those with a better understanding of Scriptures would see these miracles as messianic blessings being extended to the weak and the out casts (1:68, 79; 19:44). The people were experiencing a divine visitation (Luke 19:44) from God Himself. But most of those in the crowds who saw the miracle would miss seeing the Messiah. What about you? Are you all about praising the blessings, the miracles, or about recognizing the Messiah and praising the Messiah?
Whatever their decision was about Jesus as verse 17 says, they spread it. 17 “This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.”
The report spread throughout the surrounding region and even south into Judea. They made public their individual impressions of Jesus.
As we CLOSE,
Jesus’ ministry is about compassion. Jesus impacted the life of this mother because He had compassion for her. If your mom has taught you, given you an understanding about compassion, shouldn’t you demonstrate it to others? Who knows what miracles God could do through your compassion for someone?
If you can’t be moved with love and compassion for you mom, it’s unlikely you’ll be moved to love and compassion for anyone else. Today would wonderful time for you to declare publically your love for your mom, if you still have her, or give thanks to the Lord for her if she is no longer with you. Show her in some tangible ways how much you love her and how much she meant or means to you. Visit her or call her. Send her a letter, alive with gratitude and love, and send her the token that she ought to have from the child she has borne and raised.
If your dear mother has passed within the veil, as many of our mothers have, rededicate yourself to the high ideals and standards that she upheld, draw nearer than ever today to your mother's Savior and Lord, and let it be a "Mother's Day" of recommitment and rededication to the highest things in life.
As we remember Mothers, be sure to thank the Lord for the influence of godly mothers in the home, the church, and society. And if you have been blessed with a mother who walked with Christ, offer a prayer of praise for this priceless gift.
Also, let's remember two special groups of mothers today. single moms who face additional challenges to pay the bills and raise their children, and mothers who have lost a child.
Dear reader, if you do not have a personal relationship with God; this prayer is for you:
Dear Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that I am a sinner in need of forgiveness. I believe that You died on the cross to take the punishment that I deserve for my sins and that You were raised from the dead. Please forgive me of my sins and come into my heart and life as my Savior and Lord. From this day forward, please be glorified in and through me. Thank You for Your amazing grace. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
