Jesus Raises A Widow’s Son | Week 25

Good morning, church. It’s great to be back here on another Sunday.

For those that don’t know me, my name is Mike and I serve here on staff helping with the small groups.

If you’re visiting here at the building or you’re visiting online, we’re so happy that you decided to spend your Sunday morning with us. And of course, we’re extremely happy to be worshiping with our brothers and sisters from the Spanish ministry this morning. Give it up for the Spanish brothers and sisters. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to get right into the text because we have a lot to cover. And just to let you know up top, most of this talk will be educational and then the remaining time will be application for our lives. So please stick with me as we explore this amazing yet humbling story of Jesus pushing back against the power of death. If you need a title just because that’s helpful for some people, the title of today’s talk is Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son. Now, if you have a Bible, you can go ahead and turn to Luke, chapter seven, verse eleven. Otherwise the passage will be up on the screen. Luke, chapter seven, verse eleven says, soon afterward, he, as in Jesus, went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him.

Okay, circle two words if you’re taking note. Circle afterward. And then circle Nain. A quick word on each. First off, why does this story start with the word afterwards? Well, Jesus was set up the day before in Capernaum, and where he had his exciting homebase ministry.

And the reason I say exciting is because it’s in Capernaum, where Jesus was met, as usual, with a ton of requests to work miracles.

And at this time, the request came from a commander in the Roman army and what this commander wanted more than anything was for Jesus to heal his servant. And so, since this commander had such great faith, jesus decided to do exactly what he wanted him to do.

Jesus ended up healing his servant. And as a result, as you might expect, Jesus ended up attracting a huge crowd. And so this is where the word afterwards makes the most sense.

This story is taking place after the famous healing of the servant in Capernia. After this miracle, Jesus and his new followers set out on a day’s journey to a town called Nain. Now, Nain was about 20 miles south of Capernaum, and really, there’s not a lot that can be said about Nain except that when Jesus came to the town that day, he did not arrive at a joyous moment. He arrived in a time of great grief and mourning.

Ironically, I in Hebrew, the name Nain means beauty. Before Jesus stepped into name that day, there was absolutely no beauty present that day. Death, misery, sorrow and grief had invaded that town.

And what that place needed now more than anything was an encounter with Jesus. And that’s exactly what this place got. Verse twelve. As he, Jesus drew near to the gate of that town, behold a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother. And she was a widow. And a considerable crowd from the town was with her.

Now here’s the setting at this point in the story. You have two crowds at the entrance to the city. One crowd is following Jesus, celebrating life. The other crowd is following a widow morning death. A procession of life comes face to face with a procession of death. And that procession of death was huge. Now the reason this son’s funeral was huge is because just like today, friends and family were expected to attend the funeral. But not only did friends and family attend, but it was also custom to hire paid mourners to join in as well. And so as you would imagine, these processions were loud and a little chaotic. People would be tearing their clothing and throwing dust up. There will be a lot of commotion and wailing. And on top of that, according to Jewish burial laws, the widow would have to bury her son outside the city on the same day of death. Basically, the picture here is that this widow would have to plan this rushed, chaotic funeral, as she is still processing her only son’s death. I can only imagine the thoughts that are racing through her head.

Thoughts like, what will happen to me now? I already lost my husband. How will I survive without my son? These thoughts would have been legitimate thoughts, because in this culture there was no welfare or assistance available to widows like her. It was up to a woman’s, children, especially her sons, to see that she was cared for in her declining years.

And so this story is extremely tragic because she has no one left to care for her.

She’s all alone, helpless and destitute. She has nowhere to go and nowhere to turn. She has nothing to look forward to except poverty and despair. And yet when she probably felt the most neglected in her life, verse 13 says, when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her. Before this widow was able to see Jesus, she was actually seen by Jesus.

And when he saw her, he not only saw what she looked like physically, but he also saw what she looked like emotionally. And based on what he saw that day, he was moved to act.

What I mean is, Jesus basically decided to walk up to a funeral that he was not invited to and allow himself to feel compassion for her. Now, the English word for compassion comes from Latin and it’s two words. Calm, which means with, and passi, which means suffer. And so compassion literally means to suffer with.

Compassion is seeing hurt and stepping towards it. It means to enter into someone’s sorrow and pain.

So when Jesus saw this widow in her pain, he decided to feel it with her. He had compassion for her. Now, in the ancient world, compassion was a commodity and scarce supply because in Rome, it was all about raw power and force and dominance. And even the philosophers of the day thought emotions showed weakness. And yet, what we see from Jesus is that his agenda is to step into human suffering because he is compassionate.

Despite how tired Jesus may have been from a full day’s journey, he saw his widow as his priority.

She was the reason why he left Capernaum the day before to travel over 20 miles to get to Nain that day. He was at the right place at the right time to meet her deepest need. You see, despite what our culture says, Jesus has never been a passive observer or spectator as some suggest. Jesus has always been about compassion. In Matthew, chapter nine, verse 36, we see after Jesus had been traveling from town to town, the passage says, when he saw the crowd, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. In Matthew chapter 14, verse 14, we learned that Jesus had just got the devastating news of his cousin’s death. Yet in verse 14, it says, when Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Matthew 15:32, we see that after a few grueling days of ministry, it says verse 32, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I have compassion for these people. They have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way. And finally, in Matthew 20, verse 34, we learn that two blind men were crying out for Jesus, desperate for their sight. Here’s how Jesus reacted. Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes immediately. They received their sight and followed Him.

You see, time and time and time again, we see a God who doesn’t ignore his people or overlook his people, or abandon his people, but we see a God who has compassion for his people. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this question, but Jesus compassion for the hurting makes me wonder, how do you react when you see people who are hurting? Do you lean in and try to help? Or do you avoid and try to run? You see, I ask this question because if we’re honest with ourselves, we can sometimes get annoyed when we have to go out of our way to help people. We can look at people and see problems, while Jesus looks at people and sees opportunities. What if you and I started looking at people the way Jesus looks at them, deciding to not look at people with contempt, but deciding to look at them with compassion?

Now, I know that there’s a lot that can be said about how we can practice compassion.

But for now, what I want to help us see is that Jesus is willing to initiate compassion without being asked. I have said multiple times over the years that Jesus is a gentleman. He never comes in uninvited. And yet the more I look at the story, the more I realize how wrong I am.

In this story, Jesus did not wait for the widow to approach Him. He approached her. Jesus didn’t wait for an invite from her. He walked up to her. And when he walked up to her, Jesus says to her what might be a little shocking to some of us. Here’s what he says to her. Verse 13 and when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, do not weep.

Clio is the word that describes her weeping. And clio isn’t quite weeping. It’s more like wailing. As the widow is just standing there, bawling her eyes out, she hears these seemingly insensitive words from Jesus do not weep.

Now, Jesus was the only man on the face of the earth who can get away with telling a woman, stop crying. That’s all I’m going to say about that. But on a serious note, ancient philosophers often tried to console the bereaved by saying, do not grieve, for it will do no good.

What we’re going to see from Jesus is that his approach is entirely different. He doesn’t just say Stop weeping. He removes the cause of the weeping. Look at how he gets to the cause. Verse 14 he came up and touched the bier, and the bearer stood still, and he said, young man, I say to you, arise.

Now, before we get into how Jesus solved his widow’s pain let’s first talk about the boundary he crossed to get to this woman’s pain. If you’re taking notes, circle touched the bier. By the way, a bier looks like this. Now, in the law of Moses, touching anything that has come into contact with the dead person would make you ceremonially unclean and yet Jesus in his compassion is still willing to touch the bier that the dead man is lying on.

And by the way, his touch is much more than a simple touch. In the Greek, his touch is more like grabbing the bier and stopping its forward movement. And so what makes Jesus touch so significant is that despite what the law of Moses says, Jesus is never contaminated by touching unclean things. Rather, he decontaminates the things he touches. And so when the pall bearers recognize Jesus authority, they couldn’t help but, as verse 14 says, stand still. And when Jesus got the bearers to stand still, Jesus said to the dead son, young man, I say to you arise.

Now imagine the tension that must have been in the air at this moment. Can you imagine if you were at a funeral and a random man told the person in the coffin to rise from the dead? You’re laughing because we all will think that’s crazy, right?

And yet what we see is that Jesus looked at this young man and spoke to him as if he were alive. And when Jesus said to the young man, Arise. There was no long drawn out process needed, no magic incantation was needed, no abracadabra, really. All it took was for Jesus to say arise. And it worked. Verse 15 and the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

Now, prior to Jesus speaking to this man, he was for sure dead. As some people would say. He was dead, dead.

There was no life in him at all. His body had been prepared and was about to be placed in the grave. And at the command of Christ, death had to flee. Jesus literally brought life where there was once death. And the awesome thing about this miracle is that it was complete without rehabilitation. There was no post resurrection therapy. That gets Miguel every time. The man didn’t have to learn how to talk all over again. When Jesus showed up, the man began to speak. Now, of course, we don’t know what the man said exactly, but if I was at this funeral, I would be freaking out. But in this case, no one is freaking out. Everyone is speaking out. Verse 16 fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, a great prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited his people.

And it goes on verse 17. And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country. Again, everyone is speaking out when we probably would be freaking out.

The crowds are saying, a great prophet has arisen among us. This quote from the crowds is Luke’s way of saying, if you thought Elijah and Elisha’s resurrections for first and second kings were great, then you need to look to Jesus. Because unlike Elijah and Elisha, when Jesus arrived on the scene, no contact with the dead was needed. All it took was Jesus touching the bier and just like that, the dead man came back to life. You see, Jesus’s supremacy over the prophets inspired the crowds to say, a great prophet has arisen among us. And even more than that, they went on to say God has visited his people. In other words, the crowds recognized that Jesus is much more than a great prophet. He is God in the flesh.

And they realized that Jesus was God because only God can do the things that was done in this story.

Only God could arrive at a funeral procession at the perfect time with a huge crowd. Only God can intrude where no stranger ought to intrude. Only God can raise the dead with a simple command. Only God can interrupt the funeral to show the widow that she was not forgotten about.

Jesus’s ability to see this widow in her pain makes me wonder if Jesus were to look at you like he looked at the widow, what pain would he see you experiencing in your life today? I believe for some of you, he will see that you’re experiencing the pain of losing that job you really loved. He will see that you’re experiencing the pain of not getting accepted to that school you really liked. He will see that you’re experiencing the pain of not being married yet. He will see that you’re experiencing the pain of dealing with infertility. He will see that you’re experiencing the pain of healing from a divorce. He will see that you’re experiencing the pain of watching someone you love with terminal illness. He will see that you’re experiencing the pain of mourning the death of a loved one and all these things and so much more. You may feel like the widow that you’re following things that you care about out to the cemetery and you’re wondering in the midst of all that grief, if anybody cares. Brothers and sisters, I’m here to tell you today that Jesus cares.

He is concerned when you are concerned. He is moved by your being moved. He sees you, he hears you and he hurts with you. And just because you’re going through difficulty, it does not mean that Jesus has forgotten about you. You see, there will never be a problem you face that Jesus is unaware of or unconcerned about. There’s nothing that you go through that Jesus is not willing to get close to.

Now, I know a lot of us can hear this and feel a little jaded because perhaps you have a mental map of Jesus that isn’t fully true. You see, for some of us, our pictures of Jesus are often mashed with bad experiences. Bad experiences like church hurt, family wounds, trauma. Sometimes it’s even unmet expectations, disappointments, disillusionment. And really, the list can go on and on and on.

One of the ways I believe we can counteract these bad mental maps of Jesus is by hanging on to our prayer life. Now, I know to the skeptics in the room this can sound really cliche, but I really do believe as first Peter five alludes to, that the more we cast our deepest needs onto God is the more we can trust that God cares for us. And the reason I say trust is because trust is the choice to believe that Jesus is good even when he doesn’t seem good. Trust is to continue to ask, maybe even beg, when it seems like he’s silent.

Now in my life, I’m not asking you to do something that I haven’t already been doing. God has really been challenging me on this, because for the last few months, it’s been hard to trust God. Because, as some of you know, my wife and I have been on the search for our first home. My wife over there said mm-mm, you don’t have to translate it. No translation. Here the reason I bring this up, because, as I’m sure you already know, buying a home can be really stressful. And from our experience, it seemed like the more we prayed, the more our offers and contracts fell through. Throughout this process, I’ve been tempted with the thought that Jesus does not care about this journey and that’s something that deeply matters to us doesn’t matter deeply to Him. Heartbreak and disillusionment have been plagued in my heart.

And as of this past Wednesday, it felt like our chances of getting the house that we had desperately prayed for was slim to none. But late Thursday night changed everything. We got the news that I certainly wasn’t expecting. Late Thursday is when we got the news that we can officially plan on closing on our home next month. Shout out to the Tzus. They are our realtors. Now, I know a lot of our stories don’t end this way and for some of you, you are still waiting on an answer from God. But I will say, as you wait, continue to pray. Or start praying. Even if the need you’re putting before God seems too big, keep on praying. Because I really do believe that the things we do do something to us. In other words, prayer can literally shape the people we become. Speaking of who we could become, what if we used this year and, dare I say this week to become people of prayer? What if we ask God what was closest to our hearts? What if we trusted that he has the perfect wisdom to always do exactly what is best for us? And of course, the widow knew this better than anyone, because one of the best things Jesus did for this widow is meet her in her pain. You see, I’m convinced as long as there is a God, we can always count on his compassion. Now, as I come for a close, I just want to point out that not only are we met, and we can count on his compassion, but we can also count on his grace. You see, if you’re a Christian here today, remember that Jesus did for you what you couldn’t do for yourself. Just like Jesus saved the widow’s son from the grave, Jesus also had to save you from your grave. Now, if you’re not a Christian here today, you are spiritually dying. And unless you are rescued like the widow’s son, you are dead. But the good news is that even if you’re not where you need to be today, God’s love for you can meet you right where you are today.

Ephesians Chapter two, verse four and five says it this way but because of his great love for us, god, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. In other words, Jesus offers you his best even when you’re at your worst. The Bible says even when you’re dead, you can be made alive. So that means as long as you have breath in your body, you are never too far away or too far gone from God’s love. Whatever your spiritual condition is today, you can be spiritually resurrected.

The same way this widow son was raised, you can be raised. And one of the ways you can start your journey towards resurrection is to let someone here in the Church open the Scriptures to you. I want to challenge you if you’re not a Christian here today, agree to sit down for a Bible study. I beg you. Don’t remain dead in your sins when you can be made alive in Christ.

Let someone show you the one who has the power and the authority and the compassion to raise the dead. Now, as we prepare for communion, I’m reminded from this story that Jesus doesn’t just make promises with his words, but he shows it with his actions. You see, the cross is God’s most tangible expression of compassion. Because God doesn’t only care for human suffering, but he willingly subjugates Himself to it on the cross. On the cross is where Jesus shows that he’s not only a God who suffers with us, but he’s also the God who suffers for us. So let’s keep that in mind as Miguel prays for communion.

Father in heaven, thank you so much for the opportunity of being together. Thank you for the opportunity of worshiping you in a country that allow us to do that. Father, we pray for our authorities. Give us the gratitude of being together. Give us the gratitude to open our Bible’s. Father, you know the thousands of people that are in our hearts. Father, please move them. Move them to open the Bible.