“Raising the Dead”
Luke 7:11-17
A sermon for 6/13/21
Pastor John Bright
Luke 7 “11 Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. 12 And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.
16 Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.” 17 And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.”
No - this sermon is not about trying to wake Dad up and get him out of the recliner when it’s time to go to bed. That might actually be harder than what Jesus did here – just kidding😊
Getting Dad out of the chair might be easier than getting him to lead family devotions and family prayer. This is God’s design for the family and we see it carried on today in Jewish homes. Each Friday evening, part of the time of worship is the father laying his hands on the head of each child and praying this prayer:
“The Lord spoke to Moses saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: This is how you shall bless the children of Israel, saying to them: 'May the Lord bless you and watch over you. May the Lord cause His countenance to shine to you and favor you. May the Lord raise His countenance toward you and grant you peace.' They shall bestow My Name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them."
[For a son:] May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.
[For a daughter:] May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.
I bring up prayer today because this account of Jesus raising a young man from the dead causes us to ask questions about God and His role in healing those we love. It’s a hard conversation to have if you are grieving right now, but we need to make sure our loss does not lead us to question God’s compassion for our suffering.
Jesus on the Road
“11 Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. 12 And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her.”
I read an interesting description of the setting written my Dr. Ralph F. Wilson – “I picture Jesus leading the way, except for an eager child or two running on ahead. Clustered around Jesus on the narrow road would be a few of his disciples engaged with him in conversation, and a few from the learners in the crowd who couldn't get enough of his words. Strung about behind them for perhaps a quarter of a mile along the road were hundreds and hundreds of others, walking, following, expectant at what Jesus would do at the next stop.” http://www.jesuswalk.com/luke/022-nain.htm
Jesus is making a trip of 20-25 miles on foot. Back then, this was getting to the limit of how far folks would travel in a day. We can safely assume it would have been getting later in the day, maybe even the evening. That would have been a normal time for a funeral procession. In that day, it would have happened on the same day of the death. As work ended for the day, villagers would join the funeral procession and men would carry a wooden plank or wicker platform on their shoulders. On this would be the body of the young man, covered with a cloth. They would travel out of the village and go to the caves where bodied were laid until later they collected the bones. I’m explaining this because we see the word “coffin” and start to think of our modern-day funeral rituals, but what we do is very different from what they did back then.
A Divine Encounter
“13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.”
There’s a lot going on here. We have a widow and that was a tough row to hoe back then. She would have to rely on her children for support. We are told this is her only son. If this was her only means of support – the situation was hopeless for her.
Then we hear Luke, the Gospel writer, use the name “the Lord” for Jesus. This is the first time he does this so it jumps out at Bible scholars. We will see it more and more as we go along in Luke’s Gospel. This account of resurrection is going to shine a bright light on the true identity of the Wandering Miracle Man they call Jesus.
We also get insight into the inner life of the Trinity here. We are told that Jesus has compassion for the plight of this widow. I get so tired of reading books and websites that tell me that “Jesus must have felt this emotion because He was thinking this or that.” Only one problem – none of that is in the verses being discussed. Here we see compassion – that is one of God’s attributes, so we say He is Altogether Compassionate. Here are a few verses where we discover this attribute:
Exodus 33:19 “And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”
Psalm 103:8 “The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.”
Joel 2:13 “And rend your heart and not your garments. Now return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness
And relenting of evil.”
The longer I keep serving as a Pastor, the more and more I notice that folks want to define God based on their circumstances. And not just their circumstances – they define God based on their particular perspective on their circumstances in the very moment. If you can’t already see the problem here, let me explain. Circumstance’s change – every day – sometimes circumstances change multiple times in a day. Last Saturday, I was going fishing early on Saturday morning and driving over the pond, a deer ran in front of me. The Sunday before, it was a flat tire. Both times, my view of the circumstance could have ruined my day. I found a blessing in both – but I went looking for that blessing and it changed my perspective. Why are ever changing circumstances and perspectives the problem here? Because God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and until the end of time when there is a New Heaven and a New Earth. God is just as compassionate in our day as Jesus was that day on the road – never doubt that.
As if there was not already a lot going on here – Jesus raises a young man from the dead. We know of two others – the daughter of Jarius in Luke 8 and Jesus’ friend, Lazarus, in John 11. This was a really huge miracle for this one who already had a reputation for miracles - healings and casting out demons. It would remind these Jews of the mighty prophets in the Old Testament. They all knew Elijah and Elisha had raised the dead. Now it is happening right in front of these two crowds meeting on the road.
This Miracle Impresses Everyone “16 Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.” 17 And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.”
Have you ever been in the presence of true miracle? If so, you never forget the feeling that sweeps over you as you realize the Hand of God is right there in that place and in that moment. I will never forget the night we were praying with folks at the altar of Epworth UMC in Thaxton, VA. A neighbor lady was there and realized she needed to forgive her mother. Her tears flowed over the altar for a long time. When she finally lifted her head, it looked like the weight of the world had been lifted off her. Then she stood up to walk back to the pews and stepped right out of her shoes. For years, she had suffered from swollen ankles and feet. That night – there was an immediate healing. A spirit of joy swept over everyone who was there and we praised God for “showing up and showing off!”
If you were not there you might have a hard time believing it. I think it’s the same for all of us who are separated from this man being raised from the dead by 2,000 years. Remember this – Jesus will raise two more and in the book of Acts both Peter and Paul are used by God to raise someone who is dead. Here and there, during the centuries of the church, there have been folks raised from the dead… even in the 21st century.
That day on the road, the people still don’t see exactly who this Miracle Man really is – The Son of God – The Christ – The Messiah - for whom they have been waiting and for whom they have been calling out.
This brings me to the topic of prayer.
Recently, I had a conversation with someone about their coworker who did not see any need to keep praying if God had already set all things in place. It is a fatalistic view that will always lead to a loss of hope. It flies in the face of God’s Word.
Psalm 18:6 “In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.”
Psalm 116
“1 I love the Lord, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
2 Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.”
These are just a couple of examples of something we see all throughout God’s Word. Our prayers reach God’s Throne of Grace. Paul wrote about this in Hebrews 4 “15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Can God move in your situation or any situation? God can and God will. Will He always answer every prayer exactly the way you want? Haha – ever know parents who gave a child whatever she or he wanted and never says “NO”? How did that turn out?
I need to remind you of a very simple but hard truth – you are not God. This is abundantly clear in
Isaiah 55 “8 For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts."
God gives us the privilege to join with Him – the created gets to join with the Creator. It’s like we are the crowd coming out of the village carrying the one we love and God is meeting us – as Jesus coming down the road toward out point of greatest need. God hears our cries and comes to us.
Of course, when it comes to prayer, there must always be an opening for God to change us. We live in this fallen world and are more likely to be seeking our own will rather than the will of God. Prayer is one of the means that God uses in the life of a Believer to change the mind, emotions and desires of the Believer.
So, I will ask you this morning – are you willing to pray, then let go and let God? Let go of “If God is __________” than He must do __________. (you fill in the blanks) Let God work on the situation AND you – He can multitask! When I pray for all of you - I keep praying with the hope for a miracle and then give God thanks for the way He chooses to answer. When I am praying for a desperate need here or on the other side of the world, I believe God hears my cries – God hears it when my heart breaks for the children who will never be born. I have prayed over and over for those unborn children to sit on the knee of a father and experience a love that I tried to give all my children. Last year, our family was blessed with a beautiful new child through adoption – because somebody prayed and a birth mother chose life.
God is altogether compassionate- that’s an indisputable fact because the Word of God declares it over and over. May the God of compassion hold all your prayers as His tender possession and it’s my hope that you will be blessed to see God make a way where there seems to be no way. Amen
