The Lord of Life confronts Death at the gate of Nain

Condolences…  Please accept my deepest Sympathy…  I am so sorry…  My thoughts and prayers are with you.
These are words we use at a funeral.  When someone has lost a loved one.

But words don’t fix anything.  Especially with a sudden, tragic, or unexpected death as we have experienced in this church a few times.  Death never makes sense, but there are times when it really feels like it comes out of nowhere.  It blindsides you.  And it feels like the life of your life is taken away.  It feels like the period before the end of a sentence.

The Lord of Life confronts Death at the gate of Nain

Death

Compassion

Resurrection

Response

 

Death

11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him.  

Nain is a town about 20 miles southwest of Capernaum. Which means he had been traveling all day and was getting there in the evening, just in time to meet this crowd coming out of the city.  The boy had probably did that same day, because Jewish tradition would have said the body would be buried the same day.

12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.

As they come closer to the city you can imagine these two groups approaching each other.  The one led by Jesus, the other led by a widow who was on her way to bury her only son.  There is showdown.  The way of death meeting the way of life.

They were just on the way out of the city to bury a young man.  His body anointed and wrapped in cloth and put on a burial plank.  They were on their way to the burial, where the funeral would normally end with the words of Deut. 6:4-6 and then there would be thirty days of mourning.

And as Jesus drew near, “Behold!” “Look!”  What is coming there?  A funeral procession.  The cries could be heard a long way off.  You can imagine the crowd with Jesus becoming awkward.  What do we do now….

(Nie Afr. vertalings nie)  Behold!  Pay attention, says the text – this is not a normal funeral.  There is something terrible about this funeral.  This is an only son, of a widow – someone whose husband had died!  He must not have been very old, in fact Jesus later calls him “a young man”.

You can imagine the scene:  All she can think about are the moments she had with him, maybe the way he laughed, or the way he ate figs, or the sound of his voice when he was excited.  She looks back and weeps when she remembers the moments they shared.

But mingled with that is her laments over what will never be: no watching him fall in love, no grandchildren, no sitting on the porch on a beautiful summer evening.  The future looks empty. The past is gone forever. The future is empty.

Being without a husband or son may also put her in financial peril.  She is on the precipice between all that was and the future.  And it feels like there is no more future.  A widow. No sons, no husband.  No livelihood.  Left with nothing. Emptiness.  It is like an amputation.  It is horrible.

But death is horrible.  Death leaves us with nothing.  Takes that which is most precious to us.  Takes away what we most love.  Anyone that has been to a funeral knows the feeling. The Word wants us to feel this widow’s pain.  Her loss.  It’s real.  The Bible does not sugar coat it.

In fact, when the OT prophets tried to describe the ultimate sorrow they would use the words of the loss of an only son. For example, Amos 8:10 says, I will turn your feasts into mourning…; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.

v. 12, … and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 

This was customary for a funeral the crowd and mourners would have been greater because this was their only son.

Death always gathers a crowd.  Even today.  Many families never get together until someone passes away, and then everyone is there.  Why?  Because we know it is an end.  This crowd was formed by death.
The scene is all too familiar in our world.  A world which God entered into. For here comes another crowd not formed around death, but life – resurrection and life – Jesus Christ.

What is death?  It is the end result of sin, separation with God.  And there is only One who can unite God and man again – a Mediator – who can give life.  Do you see him coming down the road, beloved?

Spiritual death can often makes us feel like physically death. And often sin makes us feel this death inside before we actually ever physically die.  We feel empty.  No joy.  No future.  But this is why Christ came to save us body and soul.

 

Compassion

v. 13, And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 

They are almost within burying distance when the hopeful word of our text reports that the Lord saw her.  Beautiful, “He saw her.”  Jesus sees the pain.  Sees the agony.  Sees the heart wrenching hole that death leaves behind. He understands more than we can imagine.

You can imagine the crowd with Jesus, trying to avoid eye contact, maybe silently wanting to shuffle on past.  Not Jesus.  He stops.  He looks.  He sees. 

But it was not just Jesus who saw her, but for the first time in the gospel Luke calls Jesus, “Lord.”  This is the king of heaven that sees.  The One with authority sees.

Needy people and needy situations can be all around us staring us in the face and yet, for some reason, we don’t see them.  We are too busy with our own business.  
But not Jesus.

He is not too busy to see your pain.  Jesus, the Lord, saw this mother. He saw her broken heart. He saw her dismay about tomorrow. The Lord saw her.

I hope you may leave this building today with the blessed assurance running over in your heart that the LORD sees you. He sees your hurts. He sees your hope. He sees your anxieties. He sees your fears. He sees your sin.  And he sympathizes.

He expresses deep compassion. This is a visceral reaction. This is his heart for sinner and sufferers. Compassion literally means to suffer with. To enter that suffering and experience it. When we are burdened, he is burdened.

And notice the specificity. Here he does not have compassion for the crowd.  He saw HER.  He had compassion on HER!

This is amazing, because the compassion of Jesus is not just comforting, but restorative. When he suffers with us, or better yet when he suffers for us it does something. Jesus’ compassion is not powerless like ours.

He can do something.  He will do something.

Some of you have been through inexpressible dark valleys. You have pain so deep, and sometimes that can alienate you, because no one understands – and you would rather not talk.

But there is someone that does feel, that does know, that can listen and speak words of comfort.  This is who Christ is.

This is not just about his compassion for one woman in Palestine.  But this is who Christ is.  Revealing himself.  CS Lewis says, “Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.”

Do not weep, he says.  Do not weep?  What do you mean, Jesus?!  It doesn’t make sense not to weep.  She has lost everything.  But here Jesus calls her to faith in him.  Believing before she sees.  You see, he does not raise the son first, he first addresses the woman.  Do not weep.  In order for her to stop weeping she needs to believe that he can do something to fill the hole in her heart.  Can Jesus offer more than just words?

Lots of other religions talk about hope.  But there is only One who gives hope.

 

Resurrection

Can Jesus offer more than just words?  Yes, He can!  The way of life meets the way of death.  He proves the truth of his words of comfort. 

14 Then he came up and touched the bier,

Every time the words “he came up” or “approaches” is used of Jesus  it precedes his acting with authority.  Jesus ignores the ritual uncleanness of the dead body (Nu. 19:11, 16) in approaching the bier.  You can see everyone stop the moment he touches it!  Most probably shocked that this rabbi would make himself unclean!  No priest, no Levite would do it.  He was taking on himself the uncleanness that death brings!  But the crowd does not yet know that.  You can see everything stop.  And the bearers stood still.

v. 14, And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 

He addresses the man through the veil death. This is amazing. For anyone else talking to a dead man would be either humorous or deeply tragic. But not for Jesus. He calls to the man on his own authority. He does not say in the name of God I say to you arise. He simply talks to him and say, “Arise!” Gods word is live giving.

It is effortless.  It is done with one word.  This is in contrast with the OT prophets.  Elijah stretched himself three times over the boys to raise him from the dad.  Elisha touched a child with his staff and later laid one him.  But for Jesus death is powerless.  A word.  ARISE!  And he gets up.

Three things happen.

First. 15, And the dead man sat up.

The dead man sat up.  Does that make any sense?  Have you ever seen that? A dead man moving.  And we are meant to pause and be shocked.  And the only other time this word for sit up is used is when Peter raises Tabitha in Acts 9:40.

Second: and began to speak,

I would have loved to hear those first words. Can you imagine. Communication – it is the first sign of life. Communication is relationship. This proves that he was alive.

And third: Jesus gave him to his mother. 

This is word for word the same as Elijah did to the woman in Zarephath. He gives her back her life. Her future. This is the greatest of the three, and the reason for resurrection – relationship. Real living embodied relationships. Here you go dear mother – here is your son.  (One greater then Elijah is here).

When we think of the resurrection of a child we so quickly think in terms of biology. How would it have been, how does it work?
But I guarantee you that widow was not thinking  about that moment.  She was thinking about restoring relationships. We are not just supposed to be amazed at the biology of the resurrection, we are supposed to stand in awe of the hope of the resurrection!  She doesn’t care how it happened, she cared that it happened.

You can imagine the woman holding her son. His face in her hands, crying in awe, and gratitude. She is not thinking of the biology of the resurrection. She is thinking about the relationship. The future she has been given. The past memories, come alive, and the future longings fuflifllied.  Life does not end in death.  In Christ life is eternal.  The future is not over… no it has begun again.  Life has conquered death.

Jesus gives her not just the moment, but a future. Jesus make a dead future alive. God awakens the dead. [If you trust him your sins are forgiven and given eternal life. We don’t need to be revived, we need resurrection. All of us!

And this is what the Lord Jesus Christ does with each one of you, beloved, when he calls you from death to life.  He says “arise!”  He gives the dead life.  He is the Lord of life.  He gives a future where there was no future.  He gives hope where darkness reigned!  He gives life where death held sway.

What should the response be?

 

Response

v. 16, Fear seized them all, and they glorified God,

They recognize the power a prophet – and the power of God within that prophet. There is an awe mixed with fear. They are seized with fear. When you see someone that you know is dead start walking around – what would you do?

It happened right in front to them! Here was a man with power over death.  Only God has this power. So what do they do – they glorify God! This is the end of all of Christ’s work! That they may glorify God!  God gets all the credit. The woman cant take credit, the man who died can’t take credit, he was dead.

His miracles wherewere a sermon to the eye.

This is a metaphor for salvation. Salvation is by grace. We were dead. But he made us alive. And the end of salvation is not just an individual glorying in God, but a community! That rejoices! He saw her, but they glorified God!

Do not read this from a distance.  Do not read this as an historical fact, for this man – our Lord is a present reality.  He lives. This prophet from Nazareth who with one word undoes death speaks to you and I today.  His word is life giving.  And one day this word that he speaks to the young man will be spoken to all who have died believing in him! And the dead will be raised imperishable!  And the victory cry of the church will resound!  Where, o death, is your sting?

O, may this man and his work fill us with  a sense of awe – of a holy fear of his power, and greatness.  One greater than Moses is here!  God has visited his people.

v. 16, … saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 

Yes, and I tell you, more than a prophet!  Here is the Word of God himself!  They were in the presence of real power. They were in the presence of someone who was filled with the Spirit of God!  They knew that and they bowed down!

This is the One in before whom you appear this morning, beloved.  God has visited his people!

Visited…  This word is used when God comes to his people in judgment and in salvation!

Or better yet judgement through salvation! You may ask where is the judgement here? Well, that person died because he was a sinner. Death was the judgement of sin. For Christ to resurrect a this man and give himus life, means someone would have to bear the punishment for that sin.

He himself would have to carry the judgement of Gods wrath.

To save this only begotten son of the widow, he as the only begotten son would have to die.  The father and he would have to feel the pain of loss that this woman felt to a far deeper infinite degree! There is judgement that brings salvation!  The cross is the victory over sin, the resurrection the victory over death!  God has visited his people.

The last verse, v. 17, And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Once again, the news spread. God has come, have you heard. Have you heard a prophet has come who raises the dead! That is me and you were dead in our sins and trespasses, but God made us alive! 

The miracle that happened that day is much like the miracle of those here to whom God has given new life.

Eternal life! And that live points toward a eternal flesh and blood, material new creation!

That is our hope.  That is our future!  Believe it!  And may the surrounding area be filled with news of him!

Amen.