Luke 7:11-17 (4)

********** Start Timer **********

-Invite to turn to Luke 7.

Going to be looking at verses 11-17.

In these verses, we have a notable increase...

…in the attesting signs that Jesus’ had been performing.

Not an increase in amount (per se)...

…but an increase in power and gravity.

As far as I can tell...

..this is the first time (recorded)...

…that Jesus raised someone from the dead.

Needless to say...

It is a very important event.

Let’s read about it together:

Luke 7:11–17 (ESV)

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

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

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

14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”

15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”

17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Click Off

Pray

It's been almost a month since...

…we’ve been in Luke’s Gospel...

And given the fact that verse 11 begins the way it does...

…I think it would be wise for us to...

…be reminded of what had taken place...

…prior to this.

-In chapter 6, Jesus had delivered the S.O.M.

After having spoken with such authority...

...He went down to Capernaum and began to prove...

...that He did, in fact, possess it.

The first post-S.O.M. attesting sign He performed...

…was the healing of the Centurion’s servant.

Remember that the focus in Luke’s account...

…was on the fact that Jesus:

Only had to “say the word!”

This was a clear demonstration of His divine authority.

-I believe that it is with the same purpose in mind...

…that Luke records this morning’s event.

Look at the way He connects it sequentially in:

Luke 7:11 (ESV)

11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain...

From what I can gather, Nain was:

A small village

20 miles SW of Capernaum

A few miles South of Nazareth

Only mentioned here in the NT.

But, don’t overlook the fact that...

…its size and obscurity would make this event, either:

Easily verified...

Easily discredited...

…for Luke’s 1st century audience.

If you’re going to fabricate lies...

…you need to either:

Avoid specifics

Make them take place in a vast area.

Luke does the opposite...

…because he has nothing to hide.

He tells the name of the small town...

…AND shows that it was filled with eyewitnesses!

To begin with, he tells us:

Luke 7:11 (ESV)

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

And, not only that...

…look where the encounter took place...

…within the town:

Luke 7:12 (ESV)

12 As he drew near to the gate of the town...

Remember that, at this time, the gates of a city:

Served as their town squares

The most populated part.

And a small town like this...

…would likely only have one gate.

So, here’s Jesus, with a great crowd following him...

…walking up to the town square....

on a day...

at a time...

…when most of the town was present.

Here’s why:

Luke 7:12 (ESV)

12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out . . . and a considerable crowd from the town was...

So, in the providence of God...

…Jesus and His entourage...

…enter the town at the same time...

…that a large funeral procession is leaving it.

Remember:

Graveyards were usually located outside of the city...

...for the sake of ritual cleanliness...

Because dead bodies...

…were ceremonially unclean for the Jews.

-Now, that’s setting the scene from a historical perspective.

But, Luke sets the scene in another, more personal, way.

Look at what He tells us about the man:

Luke 7:12 (ESV)

12 ...the only son of his mother, and she was a widow...

This is a very sad scene...

One that’s hard for us to fully relate to:

Mike McKinley explains:

This woman was in dire straits; not only was she enduring the grief of loss, but as a childless widow in that society she would have no one to provide for her needs in her old age.

All her hopes and all her security had died with her son. — McKinley

Click Off

Now, as an Israelite woman...

…she had more hope than most...

…because of God’s provisions for the destitute in the Law.

But still, she has lost all hope of “the good life” . . .

...Or, so it appeared.

In the kindness of God...

…she meets up with Someone whose power...

…surpasses the power of the grave!

Look at:

Luke 7:13 (ESV)

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

Notice, first of all, that Luke refers to Jesus as “the Lord!”

Kurios

Sovereign

The One with Authority

And, how did the Sovereign of all respond?

With Compassion!

The word means this:

σπλαγχνίζομαι (splanchnizomai). vb. to have compassion, pity, deep empathy. . . This verb is similar to what is expressed in modern language as a feeling in one’s “gut” or “heart” of deep empathy for another person. — LTW

Click Off

What Luke is describing is:

Real,

Human,

Emotion.

Without setting aside his Sovereign Majesty...

…The God-Man is moved by her misery.

(we ought to be the same way, men!)

This was consistently Jesus’ nature.

And it shouldn’t surprise us at all...

…if we consider the constant OT teaching...

…concerning God’s heart for the destitute, in passages like:

Psalm 68:5 (ESV)

5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

Isaiah 63:9 (ESV)

9 In all their affliction he was afflicted . . . in his love and in his pity he redeemed them...

Look at how frequently Jesus is described this way:

Matthew 9:36 (ESV)

36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Matthew 14:14 (ESV)

14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Mark 1:41 (ESV)

41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.”

Matthew 15:32 (ESV)

32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

Matthew 20:34 (ESV)

34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

John 11:33 (ESV)

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

John 11:35 (ESV)

35 Jesus wept.

-Brethren, He really and truly sympathizes with our sorrows.

And we should take great comfort in that...

But… We mustn’t let that be the only thing we take away from this.

Consider Philip Ryken’s Observation, here:

Jesus had more to offer the widow of Nain than merely his sympathies.

He told her not to go on weeping, but if that were all that he had done for her, it would have been extremely insensitive. Why shouldn’t she weep? She had just lost her only son, and tears were the appropriate overflow of her grieving soul...

But Jesus had good reason to tell this woman to dry her tears, because he spoke in the expectation of a miracle. He went beyond caring for her grief to doing something about it, conquering the death that caused her sorrow. — Philip Ryken

Look at Verse 14:

Luke 7:14 (ESV)

14 Then he came up and touched the bier (beer — similar to a stretcher), and the bearers stood still...

Don’t forget:

Numbers 19:11 (ESV)

11 “Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days.

Here this Rabbi comes forward in front of:

His followers

Many others...

…and places his hand on the dead man’s stretcher.

But, unbeknownst to them...

…He had no intention of becoming unclean:

In an even greater display of authority:

Luke 7:14 (ESV)

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

For a second, this may have seemed:

ridiculous, (speaking to a dead man)

even blasphemous...

…to the onlookers.

Not since the great prophets:

Elijah

Elishah

…had anyone been raised from the dead!

And even then...

…they had to pray and ask God to heal.

This man said:

“I SAY to you, arise!”

I believe that this is because...

…standing before them was:

Romans 4:17 (ESV)

17 ...the God . . . who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

Remember what Jesus said in:

John 5:21 (ESV)

21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

As far as I know...

…he did a similar thing every time he raised someone from the dead!

Luke 8:54 (ESV)

54 But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.”

John 11:43 (ESV)

43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”

In both instances, the divine command is obeyed

Look at how the dead man responds...

…to the divine command in:

Luke 7:15 (ESV)

15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak . . .

No tricks

No illusions

No sleight of hand

No partial healings...

Just unbridled power...

…that produced a complete restoration!

His body fully functional

His mind fully intact

The JFB Commentary says this:

What mingled majesty and grace shines in this scene! The Resurrection and the Life in human flesh, with a word of command, bringing back life to the dead body;

Incarnate Compassion summoning its absolute power to dry a widow’s tears! — JFB Commentary

Look at the last part of Verse 15:

Luke 7:15 (ESV)

15 ...the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

What this shows us...

…is the genuineness of his compassion.

He wasn’t only proving his authority.

He was certainly doing that...

But his compassion for her was:

Real

Heartfelt

John Peter Lange observes this:

It is remarkable how the Saviour immediately after their restoration, manifests a visible care as to the dead raised by Him.

To the daughter of Jairus He causes food at once to be given; Lazarus He causes to be relieved of his grave-clothes. — Lange’s Commentary

They weren’t merely objects to be used to display his power

He cared for them holistically

-Now, the next two verses show us how the witnesses respond:

Luke 7:16–17 (ESV)

16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”

17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

They were so close here.

They were expecting a final eschatological prophet to come:

Deuteronomy 18:18–19 (ESV)

18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.

You can see this expectation in places like:

John 6:14 (ESV)

14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

Click Off

It appears to be in this capacity...

…that they say that “God has visited them.”

But, this wasn’t just:

Elijah Re-Incarnated

This was God-Incarnate who stood before them.

Indeed, their eschatological visitation had come.

-Now, we need to be mindful of the fact...

…that all three of the people Jesus raised from the dead...

…as far as we know...

…went on to die again.

Only Jesus (Himself) has risen...

…never to die again.

And His Resurrection is the Quintessential proof...

…that He has authority over death itself.

Herein lies our hope, brethren:

John 5:25 (ESV)

25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

John 5:28–29 (ESV)

28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice

29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

All will be summonsed by the Lord of Life...

…to stand before Him and give an account.

Even death cannot prevent His Judgment.

But, we have this hope, Believer:

John 11:25–26 (ESV)

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”