“What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you?” Time and time again the Jews asked Jesus to perform miracles as a sign of his power and as proof of his claims. They implied that they would put their faith in him if he did a miracle at their request. But to those who wanted to see miracles with no intention of listening to his message our Savior said, “4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign.”
We can understand Jesus’ reaction when we remember the purpose for his miracles. He did them to confirm whom he was and the message he was sent to speak. When driving out demons, healing the sick, or raising the dead started getting in the way of his message Jesus usually stopped doing those things. However when those miracles were serving to convince people that they should listen to him he kept on working such wonders.
In our Old Testament lesson for this morning we have an example of a miraculous sign confirming a message from God. We heard about Elijah raising a widow’s son from the dead. When she saw that demonstration of God’s power it confirmed for her who Elijah was and more importantly the message he had been preaching.
In his letter to the Romans the Apostle Paul stated that, “everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” This miracle is recorded in God’s Word for our learning and our encouragement. How does it apply to us? Well, think of all the times we have been slow to believe what God says. And also think of all the times we have demanded some miraculous sign from God. We might have said, “Lord, prove you are out there by giving me a sign! Show me a miracle! Prove your power! Prove that you love me by doing this or that for me!” But we know that God doesn’t work that way. Oh, he definitely can and does perform miracles for us. However he doesn’t do them at the snap of our fingers. And most of all God wants us to put our faith in what he says. God’s desire for us is that we trust his Word with or without miracles.
Understanding that we also can’t overlook the miracles that God has performed in our lives through his Word. In his wisdom God puts his power in the Scriptures. By connecting this account of Elijah raising the widow at Zarephath’s son to your life may the Holy Spirit enable each of you to:
“RECOGNIZE GOD’S POWER IN YOUR LIFE”
I. As he replaces death with life
II. As he replaces doubt with faith
You may know some of the background behind these verses. Under the leadership of King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel God’s people were worshipping idols. The majority of the people were also living immoral lives contrary to God’s Commandments. Because of this Elijah, a prophet for the LORD God, pronounced a curse on the land saying that there wouldn’t be any rain or dew for several years. This made Elijah a hated and hunted enemy of King Ahab. So Elijah went into hiding. For a time God provided food and water for him along a brook. After the brook dried up because of the drought the LORD sent Elijah to a widow’s house in a town called Zarephath—outside of Israel. You may remember how God used a miracle to feed his prophet and the widow and her son. He caused a jar of oil and a jug of flour to never be used up.
But then God allowed tragedy to strike the house where his prophet was staying. The widow’s son became sick. In time he died. Both the widow and the prophet wondered why God let that happen. But through that time of testing God revealed his power. He showed his power by replacing death with life and doubt with faith.
I.
“17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, ‘‘What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” Holding her dead son in her arms the widow speculated about why it had happened. Had the “man of God” caused this? Did he do it to punish her for a sin from her past?
Elijah didn’t let the widow’s speculating go on for very long. “19 ‘Give me your son,’ Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the LORD, ‘O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?’ 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, ‘O LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!’ 22 The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.” Elijah was reminded that God can do more than just control the weather! He has power over death itself. He has the power to replace death with life.
In an attempt to apply these verses to our lives we might be tempted to say, “Well, if God worked a miracle like that for me I would never doubt his power. But I have never seen him raise someone from the dead.” That would be a superficial way of looking at this miracle. When you looked in the mirror this morning you saw someone who has been raised from the dead. And as you look around the sanctuary this morning you see many others who have been awakened from death. The Scriptures tell us that every one of us was born spiritually dead, destined to die physically, and condemned to die eternally. But God has raised us from the dead in a number of ways through the power of the gospel. Our Savior Jesus has changed the end of our physical lives into a sleep. He will transform our mortal bodies so that they are like his glorified body. And out of the fiery grave of hell to which we were headed God has also raised us. We are no longer condemned to die forever separated from God. May the Holy Spirit always remind us of God’s power in our lives. He has replaced death with life.
In our Gospel lesson for this morning we heard about Jesus raising a young man from the dead. Do you think that widow from Nain ever forgot the day she saw God’s power. “Young man, I say to you, get up!” With that command Jesus broke the grip that death had on the widow’s son. Jesus has directed a similar command to each of us. He has called us out of spiritual death so that we can serve God in righteousness and holiness. Jesus said, “25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” That has happened to us. We are now alive spiritually because of God’s power. The voice of our Savior will also call us out of physical death and welcome us into eternal life. Hebrews 2:14-15 reminds us of what Jesus did to conquer death, “14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” I pray that we never forget God’s power but that we always recognize it in our lives.
Perhaps it goes without saying but recognizing the power God has to replace death with life will serve to remind us that he can take care of everything else in our lives. Truly whether we live or die we are under his powerful care. He can handle the things we face at home or at work. Through all the difficulties and challenges in life God’s strength is sufficient to meet all our needs. A.W. Tozer, a Christian author stated it well, “Anything God has ever done, he can do now. Anything God has ever done anywhere, he can do here. Anything God has ever done for anyone, he can do for you.”
II.
Although not nearly as dramatic as the miracle of a dead person being raised to life we see another miracle in these verses. It too is a testimony to God’s power. “23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, ‘Look, your son is alive!’ 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.’” The widow’s doubt was replaced with faith because she saw a demonstration of God’s power. The miracle confirmed that Elijah was a prophet of the true God and that his message was true.
But how could the widow have doubted that Elijah was a prophet and that what he spoke was the truth? Every time she went to bake bread she witnessed a miracle. Her jar of oil and jug of flour never ran out. What was wrong with her? Aside from the fact that she was holding her dead son her faith was weak. She was obviously troubled by some sin in her past. She had doubts about the message that Elijah was preaching. But then her living son removed her doubts about the word of the LORD she had been hearing from the mouth of Elijah. God’s power replaced doubt with faith.
Unfortunately we are all too familiar with what was going on in the widow’s head. Even though God has declared his love for us we frequently question whether he loves us or not. When something bad happens we may speculate whether God is getting back at us for something we have done or reminding us of a past sin.
And yet God does not leave us in our state of doubt. Every time we hear his Word it replaces doubt with faith. Whenever we witness a baptism or hear the words that Jesus connected to the water in baptism we are reminded of the love God has shown us. Frequently we hear Jesus’ words connected to the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. In Bible class and Sunday school, in our worship, in our private meditation on God’s Word our doubts are replaced with faith again and again. Romans 10:17 gives us a reminder of this, “17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Through the power of his Word he confirms once again that he loves us. He assures us that we are forgiven. The word of the LORD has the power to replace doubt with faith.
“What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you?” Jesus’ enemies had rejected his Word so even a miracle wouldn’t convince them to listen. So Jesus didn’t do what they asked. He had shown them his power and he had established that he was the promised Savior many times.
What miraculous sign does God give us that we may see it and believe him? If we are expecting him to do what we demand we will be waiting for him for a long time. But with the eyes of faith we can see the miracles God does in our lives. It is a miracle that we are alive spiritually now and will live eternally. We experience a miracle whenever we hear his Word. That Word replaces our doubts with faith. Friends in Christ, may we recognize God’s power in our lives through the miracles he has done and those he continues to do. Amen.
