What do Jesus healings mean? Luke 7: 11-17

 

I am so pleased that we have been able to hear from Tom and Sikumbuzo about the work of Umthombo among the street children of Durban this morning. Imagine. Imagine for a moment what our world would be like if every street child, in every country, had access to the love and care and support which Umthombo is providing. Then ask, ‘Why not?’ What are we going to do about it? Please turn with me to Luke 7 and let us find our motivation from Jesus. The story contains three scenes. Three conversations.

 

“Don’t Cry” : The Widow’s Distress (Luke 7:11-13)

“Get up” : The Lord’s Compassion (Luke 7:14-16)

“God has come” : The Crowd’s Response (Luke 7:16-17)

 

1. “Don’t Cry” : The Widow’s Distress (Luke 7:11-13)

“Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” (Luke 7:11-13)

 

Nain is about 20 miles south west of Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee and 6 miles east of Nazareth, near Mount Tabor on the edge of the Valley of Jezreel. It was normal to bury the dead toward the end of the day they had died. So it is likely that Jesus and His disciples arrived at the city gate late in the afternoon.

 

In this opening scene we see two large crowds meet. Luke says there was a large crowd following Jesus and there was a large crowd following the widow and her dead son. Jesus and His disciples were probably in animated conversation, but the widow and her friends were lamenting the death of her only son. The wailing would have carried in the air as the two large crowds drew closer. Perhaps the crowd with Jesus fell silent as they heard the crying grow louder. The wooden bier being carried with the dead sons body, visible from a distance.

 

The widow recognizable from her clothing and by the absence of a husband mourning beside her. The whole community would be following, sharing in her grief. There is deep pathos in this scene. One large crown weeping and wailing. The other silent, empathizing. Jesus was heading for the city while the mourners were heading for the cemetery. Just outside the town, they meet and stop. Luke says, “When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” (Luke 7:13). Jesus takes the initiative. Not only was she in sorrow, but she was now left alone in a society that did not have resources to care for widows. All funerals are mournful but it is difficult to imagine a funeral more mournful than the one described here. It was the funeral of a young man, and that young man was the only son of his mother and that mother was a widow. What would happen to her?

 

Jesus felt the pain that sin and death have brought into this world, and He did something about it.  Luke’s account suggests that His help was neither asked for nor expected.

Yet in love He took the initiative. He addresses her with words of tender compassion, “Don’t cry” and then a few seconds later the meaning of his words became plain. Interestingly, this is the first time in Luke that he refers to Jesus as ‘The Lord’. The other gospel writers wait until after Jesus own resurrection, but Luke cannot wait to declare his faith.  Can you? Spiritually speaking, each of us is in one of these two crowds. Which one? If you have trusted Christ as your Lord, you are heading for the city - the heavenly Jerusalem (See Hebrews 11). If you have yet to trust in Jesus, the Bible says you are “dead in sin,” already in the cemetery and under the condemnation of God (See John 3:36; Eph. 2:1-3). You need to trust in Jesus Christ to be raised from the dead (See Eph. 2:4-10).  “Don’t Cry” : The Widow’s Distress.

 

2. “Get up” : The Lord’s Compassion (Luke 7:14-16)

“Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.” (Luke 7:14-15)

 

If in the first scene we see two crowds meet, in the second, we observe how two sons meet. One was alive but destined to die, the other dead but destined to live. Two crowds, two sons.

 

And also, on the edge of that cemetery, two enemies meet. Death and life.  Death entered our world in a garden and here death met the One who said “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25). Jesus, the Lord of life, faced death, “the last enemy” (1 Cor. 15:26). When you consider the pain and grief that it causes in this world, death is indeed an enemy, and only Jesus Christ can give us hope of living after we die (see 1 Cor. 15:51-58; Heb. 2:14-15). Notice Jesus touches the bier - not an enclosed coffin but a simple wooden stretcher on which the body was laid, wrapped in cloth. Just as you see in the news reports from Gaza and other Middle East countries today.

 

By touching the bier, Jesus defiled himself, but did so perhaps in identification, perhaps to stop the procession. For me, probably the most moving images of Lady Diana were of her touching HIV victims in hospital. An act of compassion, of identification.

 

Then Jesus addresses the dead man directly and calls upon him to get up. Something that would have been a farce or tragedy were it not Jesus. The phrase, “I say to you” speaks of Jesus unique and personal authority. Three simple statements mark this healing. “The dead man sat up.” Luke uses a medical term which describes a patient sitting up after being incapacitated by illness. “[he] began to talk” indicating a return to life. “and Jesus gave him back to his mother”. A clear parallel with 1 Kings 17:23 - a hint to Luke’s readers that what Jesus does here parallels a similar miracle wrought by Elijah. But where as Elijah has to stretch himself upon the boy three times and call upon the Lord before he revives, Jesus merely speaks and the boy is raised to life and health.

 

The relationship between mother and son, broken by death, is restored by Jesus. The whole scene is a foretaste of what will happen when the Lord returns and we are reunited with our loved ones who have gone to glory.

 

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” (1 Thes. 4:16)

 

“Don’t Cry”: The Widow’s Distress.

“Get up”: The Lord’s Compassion.

 

3. “God has come”: The Crowd’s Response (Luke 7:16-17)

“They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.” (Luke 7:16-17)

 

The response of the people was to glorify God and identify Jesus with the Prophet the Jews had been waiting for (Deut. 18:15; John 1:21; Acts 3:22-23). The parallels with the miracles performed by Elijah (1 Kings 17) and also Elisha (2 Kings 4) were obvious. It did not take long for news of this miracle to spread. People were even more enthusiastic to see Jesus, and great crowds followed Him. Jesus is clearly the crucial figure of social history. Every person must decide where he fits. The crowds express an opinion and so must we.  For those with eyes to see, the lesson of this story is plain. This miracle testifies to the unique and central aspect of the Christian faith.

 

In Jesus Christ, God promises to restore to life those who come to him in faith. In Jesus Christ, God takes the initiative to redeem, to renew and to restore. And so in this miracle of Nain, we see a foretaste of what is to come.  This moving story teaches that ultimately God has control over death and life.

 

Lets bring it home to today. If you are under the age of 30 you will be familiar with the book, Word on the Street, originally published as the Street Bible. www.thewordonthestreet.co.uk  It is a vivid retelling of the entire Bible in modern English authored by Rob Lacey, actor and award winning author.  www.roblacey.com .  It won the Book of the Year award in 2004 at the Christian Booksellers Convention. Last year more than 200,000 people experienced his innovative storytelling and performance art during his tour.  During the writing of the book in 2000, Rob was diagnosed a second time with advanced bladder cancer. He wrote the paraphrase of the book of Job for the word on the street while in the midst of agonizing cancer treatments. On 1st May this year, Rob lost his courageous battle with cancer. The President of Zondervan, Doug Lockhart, said this, “"Rob's innovative approach and contagious energy, both through his books and his performance art, engaged a new generation, providing a fresh experience with God's Word,"  A friend, Paul Francis, wrote this, “He taught me that life can be unfair and yet to still know that you are held in the hands of a loving Father God.

 

Rob suffered much and he had many questions but he showed me that that was OK. He demonstrated through his life that God can be trusted and despite what we may feel, He is for us and loves us.” This is best caught by one of Rob’s poems.

 

His love endures for ever but we leak

His love endures for ever but we fade

His love endures for ever but we lose touch

His love endures for ever but we can’t take too much

His love endures for ever but we fall

His love endures for ever but we bounce

and he’ll pounce on any chance to prove that

His love endures for ever Though we disconnect

It’s still ultimately correct that His love endures for ever.

 

Whether a believer dies old after decades of faithful testimony, or dies tragically young, the hope of what the miracle of the widow’s son pictures, is still vibrantly alive. Death is not the end for those who know him. While the miracle reminds us of our frailty and mortality, it also shouts out to us about God’s power to raise and transform. Our Lord never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and for ever. His heart is still as compassionate as when He was on the earth. His sympathy with sufferers is still as strong. There is no friend or comforter who can compare with Christ. In all our days of darkness, and there will be many, let us first turn for consolation to Jesus the Son of God.  He will never fail us, never disappoint us. Secondly let us share the hope the Lord Jesus has given us, and be an encouragement to others. Paul writes:

 

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

 

No wonder the crowd who saw this miracle was filled with awe. We should be too. “Don’t cry… get up…. God has come.”  Jesus’ acts of compassion toward widows and orphans, surely motivate us to compassion also . For getting involved in Umthombo. For sharing the love of Christ for those without hope. The Lord Jesus lives, who made the widows heart sing for joy in the gate of Nain.

 

He lives, to receive all weary and heavy laden ones.

He lives to heal the broken hearted.

He lives to be a Friend that is closer than a brother.

And He lives to do greater things than these - one day.

He lives to come again as He will one day soon.

He lives to gather His people that they may weep no more.

 

He lives to wipe every tear from our eyes, “for there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4). What a prospect. “Don’t cry…. Get up… God has come.” This is our hope. This is our motivation. And until that day this is why you and I have work to do. Let us pray.

 

 

 

With grateful thanks to Darrell Bock and his two superb commentaries, Luke: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the NT (Baker) and Luke: The NIV Application Commentary (Zondervan), and also John MacArthur’s Commentary on Luke (Moody).