Luke 7:11-17


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Introduction:

Death on earth is physical, but the spirit lives on.
Text: Luke 7:11-17
Verses: 11-12

Verse 11 is one of those verses in the Bible that are very easy for us to look over without thinking about much. But there’s actually something pretty interesting about this verse.

Nain is about 25 miles – as the crow flies – from Capernaum. Out of curiosity, I plugged in Capernaum to Nain in MapQuest – both towns still exist today, by the way, – and found that on today’s roads its 32 miles away. Roads today are more common and able to cut through mountains, so if anything the distance was greater back then. But 32 miles is significant because we begin to see the kind of loyalty and followers that Jesus was developing. Jesus’ disciples and a great crowd of people followed him for at least 32 miles. Can you imagine walking 32 miles? I know a couple people in here who have run marathons, and you probably don’t need them to tell you that 32 miles is a lot.

That was not extremely unusual at the time – people didn’t have cars back then. But walking 30 miles then didn’t happen any faster than walking 30 miles does today, much less when you are carrying food and provisions with you. And they weren’t able to grab a helicopter to take them back after that 30 mile walk. They had to trudge on back the same way that they came.

So verse 11, small as it might appear to us, actually shows us that the effect of Jesus’ teaching and miracles at this point had become so strong that large segments of Capernaum and surrounding towns were willing to uproot themselves, put aside their jobs and doings for a bit, pack up stores of goods, and travel great distances – all just to be able to be around Jesus some more, hear His teachings more, and see His miracles more.
Application:

Does your commitment level to Jesus look anything like this? This verse could describe what a lot of missionaries have literally done – traveled great distances to follow Jesus – but it won’t necessarily look the same in our life.

But I would say walking 32 miles, impressive as that might seem, is a relatively small commitment compared to what following Jesus often looks like. Jesus calls us to follow Him our whole lives in self-sacrificing service.

Link: These people who have chosen to walk this great distance to be with Jesus certainly won’t be disappointed by what they will get to see Jesus do in the town of Nain.

As Jesus and His crowd of followers approach the town, another crowd is leaving from the town. The crowd following Jesus was probably glad and celebrating, but the one coming out towards Him now was mourning.

They had good reason to mourn as disaster has just struck. Most translations here put “a man” but the NIV is probably better here when it says “a dead person.” The Greek text doesn’t specify the age of the person in verse 11, but it does say in verse 15 that he was a young man. This poor mother is now without a husband and also without a son. Her heart must be broken and she’s now become vulnerable – most money was earned by males at this time and we know that women were often taken advantage of around this time. She has lost her two primary means of provision and care. It was a bad situation. The size of the crowd attending this funeral shows that people thought well of her and her son, and were concerned about her.

Link: And Jesus had concern for her as well…
Verses 13

Jesus’ command to the woman “do not weep” is not a command against grieving. It’s anticipating the miracle that He is about to perform to fix the situation. Jesus Himself wept when a friend of His passed away. The shortest verse in the Bible says “Jesus wept” and it was in response to the death of a friend. So He’s not intending to tell her not to mourn over tragic loss. Instead He’s about to show her that He is going to reverse the tragic loss and restore her circumstances.

He said “do not weep” not out of a cold, indifferent heart – but because He has deep compassion for her and her troubles. He tells her “do not weep” because He is about to do something about it.

Take note: Jesus is not an emotionless deity. He has care and compassion in His heart and He acts on it.

 

Application:

When we approach Jesus in our prayers, we should be cognizant of Jesus’ compassionate heart. Jesus is concerned about us when we are hurting or facing disaster. He does care.

Sometimes our prayers are answered. In those situations He says “do not weep.” He gives us reason to rejoice as He delivers us from our troubles. But other times our prayers are answered with a “no.” We don’t know why disaster comes some times and not others, but we have to trust that Jesus does care and weeps with us.

Whatever burden we are faced with, we should take it to Jesus, our compassionate friend.

Link: He cared for this woman and the trouble she was facing, and He decided to do something about it.
Verses 14-15

This is Jesus’ greatest miracle performed thus far. The greatest of all will be His defeat of death and personal resurrection, but up till now it is the greatest. Jesus has now done two things that had never been done before by any prophet. Others like Moses and Elijah had healed the sick and performed various wonders, but nobody had done it over a distance and nobody had caused someone to rise from the dead.

And again, notice how Jesus does it. Jesus doesn’t say “may God raise you from the dead” or “may an angel come and raise you from the dead.” When Moses or Elijah performed miracles, it was really God working through them.

Jesus’ word choice here is very significant, as well as God the Father’s apparent acceptance of it. Look at what happened in Numbers 20:10:

“Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, ‘Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?’ And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.’”

Moses and Aaron worked hard. They served hard. They obeyed God faithfully in such hard circumstances and when so few did. But look what happened when they claimed to perform a miracle by their own power. God came to them and said “You do not get to see the Promised Land. Period.” No second chances. No do overs. God is not pleased when someone steals His glory. If God would react so strongly to such men as Moses and Aaron, then we know that He doesn’t take people stealing His glory lightly. If God did it, you had better give Him credit for it.

But look what Jesus says: “Young man, I say to you, arise.” He doesn’t mention God the Father at all. For anyone else, that would have been blasphemy. But Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is very clearly saying that He is the healer. This is all the more clear after Luke 7:1-10, where the Centurion states that Jesus has authority to give commands to heal and it will happen. Jesus said “what amazing faith!” and the Centurion’s servant was healed. And now here Jesus is giving a command that this young man rise from the dead. These two things take place back to back for a reason. Jesus is giving an authoritative command, just like the Centurion was talking about.

Now, that is really something to try to wrap your mind around. This miracle is performed by Jesus as an authoritative command to be obeyed. What lies before them all is a corpse, the Bible clearly calls the young man dead, and the young man obeys His command by coming back to life and rising up.

I cannot think of a more miraculous display of unfathomable power than to merely speak to a corpse and the corpse returns to life once more. The deed lacks any medicine, procedure, or hocus pocus of any kind. He simply tells the dead young man to come back to life, and the dead young man obeys Him. How can the dead obey and come back to life? Wow!

This is possible because there is an afterlife. Although what lies before Jesus and all of these people is a corpse, that doesn’t mean that the young man has ceased to exist. The body has ceased to function and so it is dead, but the spirit of the young man is still able to respond and does.
Application:

I think this can bring comfort to those of us who have experienced the loss of a loved one. What lies before the people is a corpse, unable to respond at all, but Jesus doesn’t say “Corpse, I say to you, arise.” He says “Young man, I say to you, arise.” From our earthly perspective, life has ceased. But really, life has not ceased to the degree that we think it has. And in some sense, for those who have been saved, life has really just begun. The young man is still alive and is probably in a place of rest along with all of the other Old Testament faithful. Believer’s today go to be with Jesus.

The tragedy here was not that the young man had ceased to exist. The young man is evidently actually fine. And notice who Jesus had compassion on. Jesus’ compassion is not for the young man but for the mother. This resurrection is not for the sake of the young man, but for the young man’s mother who needs him.

Link: The young man’s spirit still lives. Jesus calls out to the man commanding him to return to life once more, and the man obeys.

When he does so, he sits up and begins to speak. Man! I wish I could know what he said and I’m sure I’m not alone in that! Was he aware of where he had been? Was he able to say anything about it? Or was it like he was waking from a dream? How did this whole resurrection by command thing work? Was he resting in Sheol and heard a loud voice which compelled him to leave? We don’t know. But we know he is definitely alive once more and we see yet again that this deed was done for the benefit of the young man’s mother, when Jesus returns him to his mother.

Link: And, as I said earlier, these people who have dropped everything to follow Jesus for miles and miles are not disappointed by the decision. They have just seen the most amazing and yet frightful thing of their lives.
Verses 16-17

Their response is great. I think they were just a little behind in saying “a great prophet has arisen among us!” considering that Jesus performed this miracle on His own authority, unlike the prophets did. But, hindsight is 20/20 and I doubt I would have put two and two together either. Nobody else around that time seemed to. But, anyway, that they were seized by fear might be a bit surprising at first – this is a good thing, why should they be afraid! – But really, I think I would also be terrified if I saw a resurrection performed. I might even run away shouting.

This is new, very unexpected, and this kind of power is actually frightening if you think about it. I would be terrified of someone who has the power to command the dead.

But it is not fear only. They recognize that, though what has just happened is frightening, it is really a wonderful thing and so they glorify God. In the midst of their fear, they feel highly privileged and excited to have seen this miracle. They are living in prophetic times. A great prophet is among them! God is working amongst them!

 

Application:

  • There is an afterlife
  • Jesus has the power to raise the dead
  • Jesus has authority over us in the afterlife
  • Commit yourself and your soul to Jesus for safekeeping.
  • It is not a tragedy for a person who’s faith is in Jesus to die. Grieve instead for those who have suffered loss.
  • We should make much of Jesus. He is awesome and powerful.