Luke 7:11-17 "The Widow's Son Raised"

Let’s Pray!

Good Morning, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Today is Palm Sunday… the traditional day that Jesus triumphally entered Jerusalem marking the beginning of Holy Week…

Next Sunday is Resurrection Sunday and we will have an Easter Service… to remember our Risen Savior… and to proclaim “He is Risen!”

There will be no Older kids class next week… the older kids will join us for Easter service… and this will be at our normal time… 10am.

Well, let’s open our Bibles to Luke. Luke 7:11-17 today.

Upon closing out the Sermon on the Mount in Luke 6… and entering Luke 7… we continue looking at the narrative of Jesus’ second year of ministry.

Beginning in Chapter 7… Luke records Jesus performing two miracles...

The Centurion’s Servant healed… and the dead raised…

Which leads up to V18… where John the Baptist’s disciples ask Jesus, “Are You the Coming One [the Messiah], or do we look for another?”

To which Jesus healed many more and said to John’s disciples in Luke 7:22–23 “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. 23 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.””

The Coming One… the Messiah was prophesied by OT prophets… and it was foretold that He would perform miracles and preach the Gospel… all of which Jesus did.

And today… we look at the account of “The Widow’s Son Raised”… our message title today.

Too bad today’s message in Luke was not next week… I could have made it work for Resurrection Sunday.

Maybe next year.

Well… lets’ now read this account… and in reverence for God’s word, if you are able, please stand as I read.

Luke 7:11–17 “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.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

Our account today is only recorded in Luke’s Gospel… and takes place in a city called “Nain.” (let’s pull up our map)

Jesus was in Capernaum when He healed the Centurion’s servant… and the the next day… as we read in V11 “the day after”…

Jesus and “many of His disciples” (so the Twelve plus more) AND a “large crowd” (looky loos… who are curious but are not yet following Jesus)…

… they all travelled about 25 miles southwest… about a two days journey.

While Jesus and His disciples may have made this journey in one day… with such a large group (which would slow them down)… they perhaps stopped at Cana or Nazareth… on their way to Nain.

Though with a group this size… they may have just camped on the way… as a large group would provide safety from potential robbers (who were common in that day).

Nain is a city which still exists today… and there is a Catholic Church there called the “Church of the Resurrection of the Widow’s Son”… and it is dedicated to this miracle of Jesus.

The name Nain means “green pasture”, “beautiful or lovely” perhaps because it overlooks the plain of Esdraelon, also known as the Jezreel Valley…

But… it’s name can also mean “afflicted.”

And somewhat parallel to the name of this city…

Our account today deals with affliction or severe distress as we read of the death of the only son of a widow…

But then we behold the beauty of what Jesus offers… resurrection life.

Death is one of the most bitter experiences common to mankind.

Resurrection to life, however, is a promise unique to believers in Jesus Christ.

And we are going to discuss both of these topics today.

As we simply journey through the word of God… there are many theological topics that are brought front and center.

Topics we may not like to discuss (like death)… topics that are not popular with the culture (which is most of the Bible)… and even topics that many Pastors and Christians today simply neglect.

But when you teach from Genesis to Revelation… verse by verse… you will be blessed to understand what’s important to God… as inspired in His word.

So… we’ll see and explore this topic of death today… which is NOT our end… we are promised resurrection to eternal life.

More on that in a moment… but back in Luke… let’s continue our narrative in Nain.

V12 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.

Jesus, His disciples, and the large crowd approach the gate of the city Nain…

And another large crowd of a funeral procession… is seen exiting the city.

Luke writes “behold”… a strong word meaning “Look! or See!”

A dead man was being carried out of the city.

There is a certain feeling when we see a funeral procession today… and even more in ancient times.

This was not a line of cars… this was people carrying a body. It was more personal.

It was more audible… as friends and family would customarily wail.

And this was an especially grievous funeral… as this was the “only son” Gk. mon-og-en-ace´ (Lit. “only begotten”… the one and only son of this widow.

When a woman’s husband died in that culture… if she had no one to care for her… this created a desperate situation… and often resulted in the woman experiencing injustice and poverty leading to destitution…

… because land and wealth typically passed from father to son leaving widows without financial support.

In 1 Kings 17… Elijah came to the gate of the city Zarephath and saw one such widow gathering sticks.

He asked her for some water and a morsel of bread, but had no bread to share. She only had a handful of flour and a little oil… which she thought would be her final meal.… she was totally destitute.

And God cared for that widow… multiplying her flour and oil…

And after that when her son died from sickness… Elijah cried out to the LORD three times and he soul returned to him.

God has been called a “defender of widows” in scripture…

Psalm 68:5 for ex… “A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation.”

He is tender hearted toward the fatherless (orphans) and widows.

A theme which plays out in our account today.

Today… believers are to care for widows… 1 Timothy 5:16 “If any believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows.”

The first responsibility falls on a Christian man or woman who has a widow in their family.

They are called to care for her, and not put the responsibility on the church.

The church steps in for what Paul titles “real widows”… on who has a good reputation on the vertical and the horizontal, no relatives, and cannot re-marry.

Paul devoted 13 verses in 1 Tim 5 describing the criteria for a woman who is “really a widow”…

Much like the character for Bishops and Deacons… widows also had character qualifications and expectations in ministry for the church to support them.

This widow in Nain… seems well favored on the horizontal as “a large crowd from the city was with her.”

It would seem as if she had friends… as if people in the city thought well of her… for they were there during this trial of the death of her son.

Which is something no parent should have to experience. It’s tragic.

It feels unnatural and like robbery.

We don’t know the details of how her son died, but in scripture of Old and here in the New… we do see how God sees the widow…

V13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”

Jesus… the Lord… “had compassion on her.” Repeated elsewhere we read that Jesus was “moved with compassion.”

Which is not surprising considering that Jesus created all things…

Hebrews 1:1–2 “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;”

John 1:3 “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

Colossians 1:16 “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth...”

Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

Jesus has been so intimately connected to His creation since the beginning of time… and He has never disconnected from creation… He promised “… lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:20)

And He is not absent… He presently seated at the right hand of the Father praying for us… “He always lives to make intercession for them.” [believers] (Heb 7:25)

The compassion He felt for this widow in her loss… is the compassion He feels for us in our trials… in our suffering… in our loss.

When Lazarus died… his sister Mary wept… and when Jesus saw her “He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.” (John 11:33)… V36 states, “Jesus wept.”

For death and suffering were NOT part of God’s original design… it grieves God that we are in a fallen state.

And His plan is that death and suffering will once again be purged from Eternity for all who believe… for all those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life…

Revelation 21:4 promises… “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

The bodily aches and pains… physically, emotionally, psychologically… will be no more in eternity.

All the nations who are saved shall walk in the light of eternity… but sin shall not exist in eternal heaven…

Revelation 21:27 declares, “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”

The frustrations… and injustices… and evil of this present age… will be no more in eternity.

And Jesus knew it in this scene with the Widow and her son. He knows it today…

He was personally living out the difficulties of the human experience… He can sympathize with the difficulties of loss.

It’s thought his earthly father Joseph had died before Jesus entered ministry. He knows loss.

Temptation and sin was presented directly to Him by Satan himself.

And pain we cannot fathom during His passion and crucifixion…

… not just the physical pain of torture by various soldiers…

… but the betrayal from His own people… His own creation…

… and then taking on the sin of the world where He would cry out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted [same Gk word for tested] as we are, yet without sin.”

When we read the words in Luke 7:13 “When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.””

This is not a surface level consolation… this is not a pat on the back to simply comfort and say, “there, there”…

… because we don’t have the words, but are willing to sit with our loved one in their grief (which IS a blessing and needed).

Jesus’ compassion holds a depth that we cannot comprehend…

It’s deeper than even the compassion a mother has for her own child…

… she is connected to the child carrying the baby for 9 months and then birthing the child… and raising the child…

But life is breathed into the child by God. God told the prophet Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

David wrote, Psalm 139:13–14 “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.”

Jesus so often walks onto the scene in the Gospels and He sees the person with the greatest need and has compassion on them … for He is the Creator… and a loving God.

In our midweek study… we just read through Gen 16… and Hagar was in great distress…

And what seems to be Jesus in an OT appearance says to her “the LORD has heard your affliction.”

And she called God “El Roi”… not the classic "down-home" name “Elroy”…

… but “El” meaning “God and “Roi” meaning “that sees.”

She calls Him “the God Who Sees.”

He sees us… He hears us… He created us… He was tested like us…

… therefore He can sympathize with us and has compassion for us…

And He forever makes intercession to strengthen us…

… and has promised us that the future will be glorious for ALL who believe.

“Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.” (Ps 30:5)

Whatever bands of sorrow that are binding you now… let them snap… for this life is but a vapor… and we have an eternity of joy ahead.

And may our God of peace bring you peace and joy in this lifetime as well.

To this widow… he had compassion… literally he was “moved in the inward parts.”

And He tells her “Do not weep.”

And while He said these very human words “Do not weep”… He also would take away the cause of her tears.

vv14 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.”

From a Jewish perspective… to touch a corpse or a coffin meant ritual defilement… but Jesus never became unclean in these situations… the afflicted became healed.

Blind see… lame walk… lepers cleansed… deaf hear… dead raised… and the poor in spirit hear the gospel.

Jesus… had the Spirit upon Him… and was fully in tune with the will of God… so when He healed… it was God’s will… and it was God’s Spirit working through Him.

He touches the coffin… and those carrying the coffin stand still…

Was this the stillness of expectation… the stillness of anticipation of what’s to come?

And He spoke to the corpse…

Jesus so often will use touch or speech to heal… making the miracle very personal… and undeniable.

Three times Jesus raises the dead in the Gospels, and each time He speaks to the corpse…

To this widow’s son Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”

To Jairus’ daughter Jesus said, “Little girl, arise.”

Lazarus was in the tomb four days and Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.”

Augustine said, “If Jesus had not called forth Lazarus by name, all the dead people in the vicinity would have come forth at His voice!”

Jesus speaking to the dead demonstrates His divine authority over death…

In Revelation… Jesus proclaims “I have the keys of Hades and Death.” He who holds the keys… has authority to open the door…

And when He tells the dead to rise… because He has authority… He speaks gently, but with commanding words.

It’s not a big show… it’s not an emotional escapade… His spoken word goes forth… and death retreats.

Thus… Jesus often speaks of death as sleeping… as death has no final power… not to Him.

Since He is the source of life… to Jesus… raising the dead is like waking the sleeping.

He can just speak… like He spoke in the beginning “Let there be light”… and it was so.

His voice has the power to give life… and so He speaks to the dead, and the soul and spirit return to the body.

And the point of Jesus raising the dead… was not simply to bring them back to life (for they all would die again)…

These were signs to point to WHO Jesus was… they testified of His deity… and of His Messiahship…

… the One who defeats death completely…

… and they stood to help those who witnessed believe… especially His disciples.

When Lazarus was sick and Jesus heard the news… He said in John 11:4 “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.””

Jesus loved Lazarus, and his siblings Mary and Martha… but waited two days before going to Lazarus and Lazarus died.

But there was purpose… painful for all who witnessed Lazarus become sick and die… but this miracle would bring glory to God.

In John 11:14–15, Jesus said, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.””

Jesus used the opportunity of death… to instill belief in his disciples. He spoke to the Father directly in vv 41-42 of the same passage so that all who were present may believe that the Father sent Jesus.

We may not like God’s ways at times… they are mysterious… they take too long… and they can be painful…

They cause us to not rely on ourselves… and to cry out to Him… to believe in Him… to pray repeatedly to Him…

And when He moves… He gets the glory…

Our lives and the miracle testifies of God… and our testimony has a ripple effect that strengthens the faith of believers… and may even turn others from unbelief to belief.

When we are in heaven in glory… what we don’t understand now… will make complete sense to us.

But until then… if we walk by faith… with eyes on Jesus… we do so much better in our journey than if we walk by sight.

We observe some of this wrestling with Mary and Martha over the death of their brother Lazarus.

After Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days…

Jesus arrived and Martha said John 11:21-25 “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. [Wrestling… Mary fell down at Jesus feet and said the same words] 22 But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

And she did… Martha said, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Now… I want to take this opportunity as we are talking about death… and as Martha expressed faith in “the resurrection at the last day”… to answer the question, “What happens when we die?”

I could simply state ““we” enter the eternal state… whether that be heaven or hell depending on faith in Christ.”

But, the question is difficult to answer because it is NOT nuanced enough. It requires qualification. “Who is “we”?”

Are we talking about believers or unbelievers? And if believers… believers of what age?

OT, NT… and if NT… before or after the tribulation?

When Martha stated she knew Lazarus would rise again in the resurrection at the last day…

This is accurate… and the last day points to the end of this present age when Jesus returns and ushers in His Kingdom…

But there are distinctions… as to WHEN that resurrection occurs and when “we” get our glorified bodies.

So… let’s take a moment and put on our student hats… and get a little eschatological… not hysterical or cynical as the world may accuse us for discussing what happens after death…

But eschatological… which is the Doctrine of Last Things…

By def. Eschatology is “the final outworking of God’s purposes and activity, as well as human and angelic destiny, at the end of the present age and the dawning of the age to come.”

Presently we are in the “Last Days”… which end with the rapture of the church.

The “End Times” begin after the rapture of the church, encompass the Seven Year Tribulation and end at Jesus’ Second Coming.

Believers of the Church Age will not experience the End Times… “For God did not appoint us to wrath” 1 Thes 5:9.

Jesus promised the faithful church in Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

So while we live in the Last Days… we will not see the End Times.

And if I might suggest a book on this topic… that is surprisingly easy to read…

Check out “What Lies Ahead: A Biblical Overview of the End Times” by Dr. J.B. Hixson.

Feel free to take a picture of that slide… and the next two for your personal side studies.

J.B. spoke here in 2024… and was just at the Prophecy Conference in Lafayette this weekend.

I’m going to borrow some of the charts from J.B.’s book as we enter this discussion.

Let’s go to our next slide titled “The End Times”… for a quick overview of what does lie ahead.

What’s not on this slide is the Old Testament… From Eden to John the Baptist… was a group of people who lived under the Old Covenant… they lived in one of five different ages…

Which are different from today… as we live in the “Church Age.”

If they believed in God and His promises… namely of Messiah to come… they were righteous and believers of any age… upon death… while their physical bodies to the grave… their soul and spirit enter heaven.

Which the Bible sometimes calls Paradise or Abraham’s Bosom…

And this is the same for Church Age believers and Tribulation believers who die… the material (physical body) goes to the grave… the immaterial (soul (intellect/conscience) and spirit to to heaven.

What we do see on this slide… is the Church Age (the “You are Here Now” “X” on the map)… which ends at the Rapture of the Church…

1 Thessalonians 4:17 “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

Caught up in Gk is harpazo… in Latin Raptus… in English Rapture. Jesus doesn’t touch down on Earth, but meets the believers in the clouds ushering them into heaven… which Revelation Chapters 4-5 display.

If you’ve missed our Revelation study on Wednesday nights… the recordings are on our app and website… and are a great tie in to this discussion.

Back to The End Times chart… after the Rapture… there is a preparation period… (which is likely not very long, but we don’t know)…

And then the Seven Year Tribulation begins. This is Seven Years of God’s Wrath… thus it is called the “Day of the Lord’s Wrath” Zeph 1:14-18.

It’s a time characterized by God’s judgment being poured out on earth to fulfill Daniel’s 70th Week (spoken of in Dan 9)…

69 Weeks of Years have been fulfilled and one more is to come.

It is a time for Israel to Nationally believe in Messiah finally, but it will be a difficult time, thus it is called the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” in Jer 30:7.

We just looked at Revelation 6 this past Wednesday… which is the first 3.5 years of the tribulation with the Seal Judgments.

The Trumpet and Bowl judgments fall in the final 3.5 years which is called “The Great Tribulation.”

During these Seven years of Tribulation… there will be people who missed the Rapture… but come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Some of them will refuse the mark of the beast and be “beheaded for their witness to Jesus” in Rev 20:4.

These are called the Martyred Saints.

But some of these people who believe during the Tribulation will not be killed during the seven years.

At the end of the Seven Years… Jesus returns physically to earth with His saints… in what’s called His Second Coming…

And He will judge all the Gentiles who remain alive on earth in what’s called the “Judgment of the Gentiles” or the “Sheep / Goat Judgment”…

Which Jesus spoke of in Matt 25:31-46.

Believers are Sheep and Unbelievers are Goats.

Unbelievers (goats) will be cast into “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels”… what the Bible calls ‘Hell.’

What Jesus calls “everlasting punishment” in Matt 25:46.

But, believers (sheep) will enter the Millennium… and ultimately “eternal life.”

After the Sheep/ Goat Judgment… Jesus sets up His Kingdom on earth for 1000 years.

This marks the final age… the Kingdom Age… which begins with Jesus’ Millennial reign…

… His 1000 year reign on earth… where saints will rule and reign with Him.

This will be and eternal Kingdom governed by Jesus Himself… a Theocracy…

The purpose of these 1,000 years is to demonstrate the mankind’s utter depravity.

Even with Jesus visibly reigning… under the most ideal conditions…

As the Prince of Peace reigns… there will be no national wars.

There will be no natural disasters.… and many conditions of Eden will be restored.

People will live in prosperity… in joy… and have good health and long lives… a child that dies at 100 years will be considered young.

The curse of sin will be removed from believers… but there will be those born in the Millennium who will not believe.

And sins by unbelievers will be dealt with…

Ideas from Isa 65 indicate that death in the millennium will only be from capital punishment… for the most egregious sins.

But there will be no injustice… as Jesus will reign with perfect justice.

And there will be no spiritual deception as Satan will be bound the 1000 years…

But, at the end of the 1000 years… Satan will be unbound… and a great number of people on earth will reject Jesus and make war with him. (They lose by the way).

And while this 1000 years will be drastically better than the age in which we live… it will not be perfect.

Perfection comes AFTER the Millennium… and the Great White Throne Judgment…once believers enter Eternity… or the "New Heaven, New Earth, and New Jerusalem” (Rev 21-22).

But, the Millennium stands as the final opportunity for mankind to trust in Jesus Christ under the most ideal conditions.

So… with these various ages in mind… let’s go back to our question, “What happens when we die?”

Not only is “We” nuanced depending on belief and unbelief… but also belief in the age in which we live and die or are raptured.

So let’s look at the next chart… “What Happens to a Person at Death”…

How are we all doing? Are we feeling eschatological… or more hysterical??

It’s a lot to take in.

Hopefully this next chart will really clear up any confusion for you… and will drive you deeper into trusting in God’s promises.

OR… it will just totally overwhelm you… even more than already… but let’s just go with it.

What easy to see on this chart… all the way to the left… is the “We.”

There are four categories of believers:

OT believers,

Church Age believers,

Tribulation believers (the Martyred Saints of the Tribulation),

And, Millennial believers (believers who survive the tribulation and enter the Millennium AND those who are born during the Millennium and believe)

The fifth category is unbelievers… of all ages.

For OT believers, Church Age believers (those who died during this age or who are raptured), and the Martyred Saint (Tribulation believers)…

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The physical body goes to the grave… and the immaterial Soul and Spirit go to heaven.

Believers who enter or who are born in the Millennium… have physical bodies, but are preserved from physical death during the Millennium… and will enter into Eternity after the Millennium.

Unbelievers of all ages… their material bodies go to the grave… and their immaterial soul and spirit go to hell.

Which is called Hades at present, and the Lake of Fire in the eternal state.

The third column on this chart speaks of the “Resurrection” which is the resurrection of the body… when “we” (depending on who “We” is… receives a glorified body)…

These glorified bodies for believers will be physical and real… and we will have them forever.

The glorified body is “raised in incorruption,” “raised in glory,” “raised in power,” and is “a spiritual body” rather than a natural one. (1 Cor 15:35–49)

Jesus declared, “… the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father...” (Matt 13:43)

We can think of Moses or Jesus… when they were on the mount… they reflected the glory of the Lord.

Adam in Eden could stand in God’s presence… many think he had a glorified body… that he was unclothed with in the fall.

These glorified bodies will resemble the resurrected body of Jesus, which was real enough to be touched, having flesh and bones. (Luke 24:39)

Jesus had a physical body that carried some scars, it could be touched… He could eat…

But He also could pass through walls… and He was different… not initially recognizable to His disciples… until they spiritual saw.

It’s a body prepared for glory… a body that can never die… and very much LONG for.

So, when do “we” receive this gift… when are the physical bodies of believers resurrected?

Well… for OT Saints… this takes place at the Second Coming. (Dan. 12:2; Isa. 26:19–21). So… after Jesus returns after the seven year tribulation.… and they will take part in the Millennial Kingdom.

For Church Age believers… the resurrection of bodies will take place at the rapture (1 Thes 4:13–18)… which is the BEST and earliest of scenarios…

Yeah for us! The church is a very unique and privileged in God’s plan.

Even Church Age believers who have died prior to the rapture will be resurrected at the rapture.

1 Corinthians 15:51–52 pictures this… “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

For Tribulation believers who die… Martyred Saints (who we just spoke about in our Rev 6 study on Wed)…

They seem to get some sort of temporary body in heaven during the tribulation… for in the fifth seal they are given a white robe… (that has to hang on something… and a Spirit is not material)…

But their glorified body is given at the Second Coming of Christ just like OT Saints… according to Rev 20:4-5.

Those who enter the millennium… those who survive the Tribulation… be it Jew or Gentile who believe in Jesus after the Rapture…

They will enter the millennium in their earthly physical bodies.

Jesus said “He who endures to the end shall be saved.” (Matt 24:13)… saved there meaning “delivered out of” the Tribulation and into the Millennial Kingdom.

These believers will be preserved from physical death during the 1000 years… but they must receive glorified bodies to enter Eternity… as “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 15:50)

Thus it’s thought they will be translated from earth to the New heaven and New earth… receiving their glorified bodies at the end of the Millennium.

Finally, for unbelievers… they are resurrected, but do NOT receive a glorified body.

They are resurrected at the Great White Throne Judgement (Rev 20:11-15)… and being that they are judged by their works… and their name are not in the Lamb’s book of Life…

They experience a second death… a spiritual death… and are cast into the lake of fire… where Satan, the Anti-Christ and False Prophet will be.

All believers of all ages will go to heaven after a final judgment… but unique to believers in the Church Age… we will stand before the Bema or Judgment Seat of Christ…

For our faithful works during this lifetime to be rewarded…

Or for works done with the wrong motives to be judged and burned.

This is a judgment of works… not of Salvation… and for rewards in Eternity.

Key Verses for the Bema Seat 1 Cor 3:6-15… and 2 Cor 5:9-10.

One final chart… which I am not going to discuss, but encourage you to take a picture of… This is a comparison of the Millennium vs the Eternal State.

Again this is from Dr. J.B. Hixson’s book “What Lies Ahead”…

And you can see while the Millennium will be great… it’s not the perfection of Eternal Heaven that will not admit anything sinful… and has no end.

I’m sure that was a lot to take in… especially if you’ve never studied Eschatology, but stick with it.

It’s good to understand what Scripture teaches about the end.

And the book of Revelation is the only Bible book that promises a blessing to those who read, hear and keep the things written in it; for the time is near. (Rev 1:3).

Hopefully… through this discussion of death… and resurrection life…

… you have a better understanding of where believers and unbelievers of various ages go when they die… and when they will receive their resurrected and glorified body.

Well back in Luke… Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”

And our narrative continues in V15 So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.”

The young man who was dead sat up and began to speak….

I wonder what he said? If he was in heaven… maybe he complained. “No… I don’t want to be back here on earth… it was so much better in heaven.”

If he was in hell… I’m sure he was relieved.

But, he is presented to his mother… which would absolutely change her reality in that day…

The possibility of destitution would dissipate… as her son was returned… the heir was given back by the only One who had authority to do so.

Such tenderness of Jesus.

She lost her son to death and Jesus gave her her son back from death.… as He has the keys to hell and death. 

Through faith in Jesus Christ… the sting of death is removed.

This mother… and all believers today can cry out, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”

“… thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15)

Closing out… the response of the people…

The many people who had travelled with Jesus… those of the funeral procession.… His disciples… safe to assume them all…

vv16-17 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.”

The people responded appropriately… they were gripped by fear…

Biblical fear of God is an “awe-inspiring reverence”… and a respect for who God is as judge… Sovereign Lord… Creator… Savior… and so forth.

Many who recognize being in the presence of God… even by vision… fall to their faces and feel a sense of anxiety…

And consistently the righteous are told, “Do not fear.”

And here… the multitude has this same reverential awe towards Jesus… which testifies of His deity.

The people conclude that “A great prophet has rise up among us...”

Jesus was this and much more. To recognize Him as prophet, but to fail to see Jesus as Messiah and the second Person of the Godhead… is the mistake those in cults make.

But… they probably were looking back on their history… and thinking back to a city just near in the valley below called Shunem.

In 2 Kings 4… Elisha raised the Shunammite’s Son from the dead in the city of Shunem.

So naturally some minds are drawn to that account which happened just near.

Others proclaim, “God has visited His people.”

Which may be a general expression of God’s visitation and help (c.f. Ruth 1:6).

But, if one concluding that Jesus was Immanuel (meaning “God with us” Isa 7:14)… this was a response most appropriate.

(worship team please come)

These responses are quite normal… as an encounter with Jesus leads various hearts to various responses.

Some believe with child like faith… some hearts are on the journey to truth… and some hearts are harder.

But we don’t read that any dismissed the miracle before them… and in V17… news went out all over the region about Jesus.

And that what we are commissioned to do in this day… spread the news about Jesus.… be witnesses for Jesus… and make disciple of Jesus.

And I pray you have many opportunities in the week ahead to share the word about Jesus.

Let’s pray!

If you need prayer, we will have people on the sides to pray with you as we close in song.

“The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’”

God bless you as you go.