Young Man, Arise!
Notes
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Introduction
Introduction
[CIT] Through an amazing display of divine compassion and power, Jesus comforted a grieving mother and proved that he was God.
[INTER] How do you comprehend Jesus? How do you understand him?
There are, of course, many ways to comprehend Jesus.
Some comprehend him as enemy.
The scribes and Pharisees understood him this way because he challenged their religious self-righteousness.
Likewise, we might understand him as enemy when he commands us to repent of sins we love.
Some comprehend him as friend.
[ILLUS] George Whitefield is considered by many to be one of the most effective and faithful evangelists in Christian history.
Ben Franklin was astounded by the effects of Whitefield’s preaching on the people in his day. He tried to measure the amazing power of Whitefield’s booming voice. He even published Whitefield’s sermons so they could be read by the masses.
But for all Ben Franklin’s friendliness toward Whitefield and his ministry, it seems he never embraced the gospel that Whitefield preached.
Jesus encountered many people like that in his day. He still encounters them in our day.
People astounded by his teaching and power; eager to hear what he might say next; eager to see what he might do next.
People who don’t consider him an enemy like the scribes and Pharisees. These people are friendly with Jesus.
They respect Jesus, and think he has something to offer the world.
But being friendly with Jesus isn’t enough.
[PROP] If you want the enduring hope and eternal life that Jesus offers, you must comprehend him as God.
[TS] That’s how Jesus is presented to us in .
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
#1: Notice the CROWDS ().
#1: Notice the CROWDS ().
‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’
[EXP] Nothing happens by accident, coincidence, chance, or happenstance with God. Everything happens by the sovereign, providential orchestration of God.
Sovereignty means that God’s will reigns supreme in creation, and providence means that God is personally at work in creation carrying out his will.
That’s why God can promise in his word that he will work all things together for good to those that love him and are called according to his purpose ().
Unless God is absolutely sovereign—unless he providentially works all things according to the
counsel of his will—that promise in and all the other promises of the Bible mean absolutely nothing!
Here in this passage we see God-Incarnate, Jesus of Nazareth, providentially work the counsel of his will in the lives of a grieved widow woman, her dead son, and the crowds that surrounded them.
Not only did Jesus resurrect this woman’s son, but through it, he also revealed himself as God in the flesh so that she might believe on him and be brought from death to life herself.
He did the same this for those in the crowds as well.
And he in fact gave many other people that same opportunity on this day. Notice that there are two crowds mentioned in this passage...
We’ll call the crowd mentioned in v. 11 “the Jesus crowd” because that crowd came with Jesus and his disciples as they came to this little town.
The other crowd we’ll call “the funeral crowd,” and you see it in v. 12, which says, “and a considerable crowd from the town was with her.”
The Jesus crowd is described as “great.”
The funeral crowd is called “considerable.”
There was a lot of people present on this day as Jesus resurrects a dead man with a command and thereby claims to be God.
And in God’s sovereign providence—that is, in Jesus’ sovereign providence—not one person in those crowds was there by accident.
He had sovereignly orchestrated it so that these people on this day were there to see this miracle.
[Illus] right place, right time vs. wrong place, wrong time
If you don’t believe that, just ask yourself whose idea you think it was to go down to Nain?
It wasn’t Peter’s!
[APP] Do you realize that Jesus has sovereignly orchestrated it that you’d be here this day to see this miracle in this passage of Scripture?
He didn’t bring the crowds in together to be entertained.
He hasn’t brought you to this passage to be entertained.
He didn’t bring the crowds in so that they could feel better about themselves.
He hasn’t brought you to this passage to feel better about yourself.
He didn’t bring the crowds in together so they could witness a heartwarming reunion.
He brought these crowds together so that they would recognize him as God in the flesh.
And that’s why Jesus—in his divine sovereignty—has brought you to this passage this morning.
These things were not done in a corner
[TS] ...
#2: Notice the COMPASSION ().
#2: Notice the COMPASSION ().
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. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”
[EXP] Nain was a little town 25 miles southwest of Capernaum, the name of which meant “pleasant.” But on this occasion this pleasant place had become very bitter for this widow who had lost her only son.
The Bible tells us children are a gift from the Lord and every parent should love every child they have like that child is their only one.
But this actually was this lady’s only son.
And she was a widow.
The sorrow of having her only son on that bier was increased by her anxiety about her own future.
Who would provide for her?
Would she end up destitute?
Would she starve?
In a male dominated world where women without family had little hope, these were very real possibilities.
She certainly wished that she was on that bier instead of her son.
And if she couldn’t take his place, she would’ve settled for being on that bier with him.
[ILLUS] That’s what Jacob wanted when he thought Joseph, his favorite son, had been killed.
Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.
That’s how this grieving mother in felt.
She mourned the son she had taken care of as a boy and worried about having lost the man who was to care for her in her old age.
[EXP] Verse 12 says that many had come from the town to mourn with her.
In our culture it is customary to “pay our respects.” This usually involves going to the visitation, viewing the body of the one who passed, hugging, and whispering quiet condolences to the family members.
But in the culture of the NT era, it was customary to not just “pay respects” but to mourn. This was a much louder exercise in grief.
[ILLUS] In , the Lord called his people to mourn for themselves. It’s was to a mourning led by skilled mourners; a mourning best described as weeping and wailing.
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider, and call for the mourning women to come; send for the skillful women to come; let them make haste and raise a wailing over us, that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids flow with water.
Outwardly, this is the kind of mourning we see here in .
Nain was a little town 25 miles southwest of Capernaum, the name of which meant “pleasant.” But on this occasion “pleasant” had become very bitter for this widow who had lost her only son.
[ILLUS] In , Jesus came to resurrect a dead girl and these skillful or professional mourners were present when he arrived.
And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion,
[ILLUS] refers to these professional mourners as “skillful in lamentation.”
In the Bible, mourning is expressed by...
[EXP] In the Bible, mourning is expressed by...
...weeping ()
…loud lamentation (; ; )
…the rending of clothing (, ; )
…wearing sackcloth (; )
…sprinkling dust or ashes on oneself (; ; )
…shaving the head and plucking out the hair of the head or beard, which was forbidden pagan practice but one still sinfully used by God’s people (; ; , ; )
…neglecting care of one’s self in terms of hygiene or dress (; ; , ; )
…fasting ()
…covering the upper lip (i.e., placing the hand over the mouth) (; )
…cutting the flesh ()
…sitting in silence (; ; ; )
…and food brought by friends since it could not be prepared in a house in which someone died because it was considered unclean ()
[ILLUS] is an example of this mourning as David and Israel grieved for Abner. It was big, loud, and dramatic.
Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner.” And King David followed the bier. They buried Abner at Hebron. And the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. And the king lamented for Abner, saying, “Should Abner die as a fool dies? Your hands were not bound; your feet were not fettered; as one falls before the wicked you have fallen.” And all the people wept again over him. Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was yet day. But David swore, saying, “God do so to me and more also, if I taste bread or anything else till the sun goes down!”
Although not on the same scale as David’s mourning for Abner, the mourning for this son in was also big, loud, and dramatic.
[EXP] When Jesus saw this grieving mother in the midst of this emotional chaos, v. 13 says, “he had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’”
When someone dies, we usually have the visitation and funeral within a few days. We will of course be grieved for much longer than that, but the period of public grief is over after no more than a week.
But in the Bible, the period of public grieving lasted weeks if not months.
Jesus is not opposed to weeping.
Leaders like Aaron (), Moses (), and Samuel () were all mourned for 30 days.
[ILLUS] When Mary and Martha wept over their brother, Lazarus, who had died (), Jesus also wept ().
Jesus hurt with the hurting, but he also knew that he was the one who could wipe away every tear by giving new life to the dead, so he said, “Do not weep.”
The Egyptians mourned for Jacob for 70 days ().
[EXP] But think on Jesus’ compassion for a moment. I guess Jesus could have healed this woman’s son and astounded the crowds without compassion, but he had compassion on her.
He had compassion on her because her loss was not just an object lesson in Jesus’ ministry.
This was a real person who was really hurting, and Jesus hurt with her.
s death were not just object lessons
Jesus hurt with her because he was God in the flesh, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, God the Son.
As such, he was compassionate because God is by nature compassionate.
The OT tells us that God is compassionate.
Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate.
Psalm
Jesus is God so we see him as compassionate in the Bible.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
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 15:
Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.
Matthew 20:
Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
[APP] Do you realize that Jesus, God the Son, very God of very God, looks at you with compassion?
The only people on whom Jesus had no compassion were the self-righteous, those who thought themselves better than the rest.
But on everyone else—the broken and battered, the harassed and helpless, the tax collectors and sinners, so long as they were repentant of their sins—Jesus was compassionate!
He’s compassionate toward you as you repent and re-repent of your sins.
He’s compassionate toward you as you struggle with doubt.
He’s compassionate toward you as feel swallowed up by anxiety.
He’s compassionate toward you as you pray desperately for that lost or backslidden son or daughter.
He’s compassionate toward you grieve the husband, wife, or child you’ve lost.
Too many times we think of Jesus as disappointed with us instead of compassionate toward us.
Brothers and sisters, he is compassionate! He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses because, although he was God, he was born in the likeness of men (; , )!
He took on flesh and walked among us rejoicing with us as we rejoiced and weeping with us as we wept!
I hope you can feel Jesus’ compassion toward you from this text this morning!
He is compassionate toward you because he is God!
[TS] ...
#3: Notice the COMMAND ().
#3: Notice the COMMAND ().
Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
[EXP] Jesus stopped all the commotion of this funeral procession with a touch. He raised this dead son with a word.
This is, of course, not the only person Jesus raised from the dead.
There was Jairus’s daughter in ...
Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”
And of course there was Lazarus in …
When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
In these two instances plus the one here in Luke, Jesus raises the dead with a word.
...Elijah, Elisha, or Paul who all raised different boys from the dead by laying on top of their bodies (; ; ).
He doesn’t do it like Elijah, Elisha, or Paul who all raised different boys from the dead by laying on top of their bodies (; ; ).
In , Peter raises a disciple named Tabitha from the dead with a word, saying to her, “Tabitha, arise” (), but before he spoke he had to pray.
Here in , Jesus doesn’t have to touch the body.
He doesn’t have to pray, calling on a power outside of himself.
He just says the word, and the young man sits up, begins to speak—and Jesus gives him to his mother.
That part of v. 15—“Jesus gave him to his mother”—is very similar to the wording of when Elijah raised a widow’s son. Elijah “delivered him to his mother” and the woman responded in 1 Kings 17:24...
And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
While that was totally true for Elijah, it would not express the whole truth regarding Jesus.
1 Kings
Not like Paul
He is not just a man of God, he is God!
He doesn’t just speak the word of the LORD, he is the LORD!
The proof is in his bringing the dead to life with a command.
[APP] It is a unique attribute of God to be able to accomplish all things by verbal command.
calls heavens and heights, angels and hosts, sun and moon and shining stars, highest heaven and water above the heavens to praise the Lord and tells us why…
Let them praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded and they were created.
If we go back to the beginning, we see in Genesis that God said, “Let there be light, and there was light” (), and on and on throughout , “God said… and it was so,” ().
Mere human beings cannot create in this way.
Scientists can clone animals, but they can’t speak them into existence.
Doctors do revive the dead from time to time, but never anyone as dead as this young man in or Lazarus in —and NEVER with a simple command!
You remember what the centurion said in , “But say the word, and let my servant be healed.”
Oh how right he was!
As God, all Jesus has to do is say the word...
...and servants will be healed...
...and the dead will be raised...
...and the lost will be saved...
...and the wandering will return to the sheepfold!
Oh how we should be praying for Jesus to say the word!
He is God, and his word has life-giving power!
Jesus:"I say to you"
[TS] …
Conclusion
Conclusion
#4: Notice the COMPREHENSION (Luke 7:16-17).
#4: Notice the COMPREHENSION (Luke 7:16-17).
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
[EXP] After Jesus gives life to the dead with a word, the people in the crowds (at least some of them) comprehend Jesus correctly. They say he is a great prophet, and that in Jesus, God has visited his people.
[EXP]
Jesus is of course more than a great prophet. He is the greater prophet that was to come after Moses; the one who would speak the very words of God, speak all that commands, and the one to whom people must listen or pay the price ().
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
God’s people had been looking for this prophet ever since the days of Moses, and I think at least some in these crowds in recognized him in Jesus.
And then Moses said in ...
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.
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. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.
Deuteronomy 18:18
God’s people had been looking for this prophet ever since the days of Moses, and I think at least some in these crowds in recognized him in Jesus.
God had indeed visited his people in Jesus (v. 16), but that statement is used in the OT to refer to God helping his people ( ESV; ; ; NASB). You might remember from in Sunday School not too long ago...
Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food.
But in Jesus, God is not just helping his people, he is actually visiting them! He is dwelling among them in the flesh!
[APP] Perhaps some in the crowds saw Jesus raised the dead with a word and comprehended that Jesus is God.
But their comprehension of Jesus matters very little to you and me this morning.
What matters is how we comprehend Jesus.
[INTER] In light of this passage, how do you comprehend Jesus?
We love to talk about Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead and rightly so.
But Jesus is MORE!!!
But do you understand that, unless Jesus is God, his death on the cross was meaningless?
Some say that Jesus did die on the cross and did rise from the dead but only as a perfect man—not God.
But if Jesus is not God, he cannot reconcile God and man! He cannot be the mediator between God and man!
If Jesus was not God, he could not pay the infinite price that sin against an infinitely holy God requires.
The only was he could pay the price for our sin is by being infinitely holy himself—and the only way he could be infinitely holy is if he were God in the flesh!
Praise God he was as has been proven to us in this morning, and praise God he still is!
That’s why Jesus brought us here this morning so that we might comprehend him as God!
But maybe you already understood that, so maybe Jesus brought you here for somebody else this morning.
Maybe there’s someone in your life that needs to comprehend Jesus as God, and God brought you here this morning to be equipped to show them the divinity of Jesus in this passage.
If that’s you, I hope you took good notes. If you want my notes, you can have them and you’ll have my prayers and any other help you need!
[PROP] Let’s all spend the rest of our lives telling people about the enduring hope and eternal life found in Jesus alone, but only if we comprehend him as God.
If you want the enduring hope and eternal life that Jesus offers, you must comprehend him as God.
--------------------
Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him.
Nain
Nain
NAIN (Nān) Place-name meaning “pleasant.” Village in southwest Galilee where Jesus raised a widow’s son (Luke 7:11–15). The ancient town sat on a hillside overlooking the Plain of Esdraelon.
NAIN—(from Heb. nain, “green pastures,” “lovely”), the name of a town near the gate of which Jesus raised to life a widow’s son (Luke 7:11–17). It is identified with the village called Nein, standing on the north-western slope of Jebel ed-Duhy (=the “hill Moreh” = “Little hermon”), about 4 miles from Tabor and 25 southwest of Capernaum. At the foot of the slope on which it stands is the great plain of Esdraelon.
This was the first miracle of raising the dead our Lord had wrought, and it excited great awe and astonishment among the people.
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.
We are told to rejoice with the rejoicing and grieve with the grieving. This is compassion.
But this actually was this lady’s only son.
Every parent loves every child they have like that child is their only one. But this was this lady’s only son. And she was a widow. The sorrow of having her only son on that bier was increased by her anxiety about her own future. Who would provide for her? Would she be destitute? Would she starve?
She certainly wished that she was on that bier instead of her son. If she couldn’t have that, she would’ve settled for being on that bier with her son.
And she was a widow.
The sorrow of having her only son on that bier was increased by her anxiety about her own future. Who would provide for her? Would she end up destitute? Would she starve? In a male dominated world where women without family had little hope, these were very real possibilities.
She certainly wished that she was on that bier instead of her son.
If she couldn’t take his place, she would’ve settled for being on that bier with him.
[ILLUS] That’s what Jacob wanted when he thought Joseph, his favorite son, had been killed.
Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.
This grieving mother mourned the son she had taken care of when he was a boy and worried about losing the man who was to care for her in her old age.
Verse 12 says that many had come from the town to mourn with her.
Verse 12 says that many had come from the town to mourn with her.
for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him.
In our culture it is customary to “pay our respects.” This usually involves going to the visitation, viewing the body of the one who passed, hugging, and whispering quiet condolences to the family members.
And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.
Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
But in the culture of the NT era, it was customary to not just “pay respects” but to mourn. This was a much louder exercise in grief.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,
played their part because their culture expected them to were likely more socially pressured to mourn rather than personally grieved.
Hebrews 11:
Verse 12 says a considerable crowd from the town was with her. In our culture it is customary to “pay our respects.” This usually involves going to the visitation, viewing the body of the one who passed, hugging, and whispering quiet condolences to the family members. But in the culture of the NT era, it was customary to mourn, which was a much louder exercise in grief. It was also an exercise in community responsibility. Many in this considerable crowd were likely more socially pressured to mourn rather than personally grieved.
An example of this is in ...
Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner.” And King David followed the bier.
David apparently has to command everyone to mourn for Abner, something they weren’t personally moved to do.
[ILLUS] In , the Lord called his people to mourn for themselves. It’s was to a mourning led by skilled mourners; a mourning best described as weeping and wailing.
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider, and call for the mourning women to come; send for the skillful women to come; let them make haste and raise a wailing over us, that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids flow with water.
Outwardly, this is the kind of mourning we see here in .
[ILLUS] In , Jesus came to resurrect a dead girl and these skillful or professional mourners were present when he arrived.
And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion,
Matthew 9:23
[ILLUS] refers to these professional mourners as “skillful in lamentation.”
Other Scriptural examples of professional mourners include...
they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—
Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord: “In all the squares there shall be wailing, and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They shall call the farmers to mourning and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,
In the Bible, mourning is expressed by...
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
Zechariah
In Scripture, mourning is expressed by...
...weeping ()
…loud lamentation (; ; )
…the rending of clothing (, ; )
…wearing sackcloth (; )
…sprinkling dust or ashes on oneself (; ; )
…shaving the head and plucking out the hair of the head or beard, which was forbidden pagan practice but one still sinfully used by God’s people (; ; , ; )
…neglecting care of one’s self in terms of hygiene or dress (; ; , ; )
…fasting ()
…covering the upper lip (i.e., placing the hand over the mouth) (; )
…cutting the flesh ()
…sitting in silence (; ; ; )
…and food brought by friends since it could not be prepared in a house in which someone died because it was considered unclean ()
[ILLUS] is an example of this mourning as David and Israel grieved for Abner. It was big, loud, and dramatic.
Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner.” And King David followed the bier. They buried Abner at Hebron. And the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. And the king lamented for Abner, saying, “Should Abner die as a fool dies? Your hands were not bound; your feet were not fettered; as one falls before the wicked you have fallen.” And all the people wept again over him. Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was yet day. But David swore, saying, “God do so to me and more also, if I taste bread or anything else till the sun goes down!”
Another difference between the mourning we read about in the Bible and the mourning in our day is the length of time spent in mourning.
When someone dies, we usually have the visitation and funeral within a few days. We will of course be grieved for much longer than that, but the period of public grief is over after no more than a week.
But in the Bible, the period of public grieving lasted weeks if not months.
Leaders like Aaron (), Moses (), and Samuel () were all mourned for 30 days.
The Egyptians mourned for Jacob for 70 days ().
Leaders like Aaron (), Moses (), and Samuel () were all mourned for 30 days.
Consider that God says his people will mourn for Christ whom they crucified.
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
Another difference between the mourning we read about in the Bible and the mourning in our day is the length of time spent in mourning.
When someone dies, we usually have the visitation and funeral within a few days. We will of course be grieved for much longer than that, but the period of public grief is over after no more than a week.
But in the Bible, the period of public grieving lasted weeks if not months.
Leaders like Aaron (), Moses (), and Samuel () were all mourned for 30 days.
The Egyptians mourned for Jacob for 70 days ().
And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”
Jesus was compassionate.
And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.
Matthew
Jesus on weeping.
And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.”
:
Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”
Bier
Bier
5049 σορός (soros), οῦ (ou), ἡ (hē): n.fem.; ≡ Str 4673—LN 6.109 bier, ancient coffin, i.e., a plank or stretcher for the processional carrying of the dead to internment (Lk 7:14+)
David put Abner on a bier...
An example of this is in ...
Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner.” And King David followed the bier.
Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner.” And King David followed the bier.
David apparently has to command everyone to mourn for Abner, something they weren’t personally moved to do.
2 Samuel
Arise
When Jesus says arise, you arise.
But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.”
Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”
Jesus can say “arise” in different ways like when he says to dead Lazarus, “Lazarus, come out!”
When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
Peter raises the dead by the power of Jesus’ arise...
But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.
And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
This resurrected man is no moaning zombie, he sat up and began to speak.
Jesus giving this man to his mother is reminiscent of Elijah.
And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.”
Then he summoned Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, “Pick up your son.”
Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
Luke 7:16
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”
An encounter with Jesus is an encounter with God, which leaves us praising God.
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.
When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Acts 11:
And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law,
All that we do ought to bring glory to God.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.
Luke 13:
“A great prophet has arisen among us!”
They may have been thinking about a great prophet like Elijah, but Jesus was a greater prophet. He was the prophet Moses prophesied about.
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
“God has visited his people!”
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people
And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
Luke 7:17
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