WEBVTT 00:00:00.270 --> 00:00:06.169 And as we turn to God's Word, we look today at 00:00:06.169 --> 00:00:10.330 Luke chapter 7. So I invite you to turn in your 00:00:10.330 --> 00:00:17.649 Bibles to Luke 7, 11 through 17. What we've been 00:00:17.649 --> 00:00:20.829 doing is studying some of the miracles of Jesus. 00:00:21.390 --> 00:00:24.429 So we're not just in one book of the Bible, but 00:00:24.429 --> 00:00:27.289 we're seeing the miracles of Jesus throughout 00:00:27.289 --> 00:00:31.859 the Gospels. We've been in John, we've been in 00:00:31.859 --> 00:00:36.159 Mark, and today we're in Luke chapter 7. And 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:39.200 today I want you to listen to this text, and 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:41.280 I don't believe this is the most well -known 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:44.979 of Jesus' miracles, but it's miraculous. And 00:00:44.979 --> 00:00:49.880 so I would ask you to hear this miracle as if 00:00:49.880 --> 00:00:52.140 you're hearing it for the first time. Indeed, 00:00:52.179 --> 00:00:55.479 that's kind of what I said last Sunday when it 00:00:55.479 --> 00:00:57.960 comes to the Christmas story, the birth of Jesus. 00:00:58.270 --> 00:01:01.350 I would pray that at this time of year, we've 00:01:01.350 --> 00:01:05.549 got all the reds and the greens and the lights. 00:01:06.329 --> 00:01:08.750 And yet, how wonderful would it be if we were 00:01:08.750 --> 00:01:14.049 able to hear the gospel with fresh ears, to be 00:01:14.049 --> 00:01:17.670 wowed by it all over again. And so I pray that 00:01:17.670 --> 00:01:20.689 this story, this truth of Jesus, this miracle 00:01:20.689 --> 00:01:24.230 that he performs would help with a wow factor, 00:01:24.810 --> 00:01:27.730 and that you would more and more trust Jesus. 00:01:28.269 --> 00:01:30.790 And so let's hear this word from Luke chapter 00:01:30.790 --> 00:01:34.269 7. Please give attention because this is God's 00:01:34.269 --> 00:01:39.750 holy word. Soon afterward, he went to a town 00:01:39.750 --> 00:01:43.689 called Nain and his disciples and a great crowd 00:01:43.689 --> 00:01:47.469 went with him. As he drew near to the gate of 00:01:47.469 --> 00:01:51.450 the town, behold, a man who had died was being 00:01:51.450 --> 00:01:55.510 carried out, the only son of his mother, and 00:01:55.510 --> 00:01:59.049 she was a widow. a considerable crowd from the 00:01:59.049 --> 00:02:01.950 town was with her and when the Lord saw her he 00:02:01.950 --> 00:02:05.250 had compassion on her and said to her do not 00:02:05.250 --> 00:02:09.650 weep then he came up and he touched the beer 00:02:09.650 --> 00:02:13.469 and the bearers stood still and he said young 00:02:13.469 --> 00:02:17.729 man I say to you arise and the dead man sat up 00:02:17.729 --> 00:02:21.289 and he began to speak and Jesus gave him to his 00:02:21.289 --> 00:02:24.909 mother fear seize them all and they glorify God 00:02:24.909 --> 00:02:28.229 saying a great prophet has arisen among us and 00:02:28.229 --> 00:02:32.409 God has visited his people. And this report about 00:02:32.409 --> 00:02:37.069 him spread through the whole of Judea and all 00:02:37.069 --> 00:02:40.169 the surrounding country. The grass withers and 00:02:40.169 --> 00:02:42.650 the flower fades but God's word stands forever. 00:02:42.889 --> 00:02:45.750 Let's pray. Oh Father we praise you and we thank 00:02:45.750 --> 00:02:48.349 you for this word and we ask that you would help 00:02:48.349 --> 00:02:51.719 us to hide it in our hearts. and to know that 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:55.199 Jesus is the promised Christ who has come once 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:57.580 and will come again. Would you grant us understanding 00:02:57.580 --> 00:03:05.400 as we look at this in Christ's name, amen. Have 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:09.819 you ever ridden in a funeral procession before? 00:03:11.860 --> 00:03:14.979 The line of cars that maybe leaves from the church 00:03:14.979 --> 00:03:19.319 or maybe leaves from the funeral home. Maybe 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:22.020 you can remember that. Maybe you've even ridden 00:03:22.020 --> 00:03:26.979 in the first car, the second car, a sad black 00:03:26.979 --> 00:03:30.419 limousine. Maybe you can remember being in a 00:03:30.419 --> 00:03:33.360 funeral procession that left out of here and 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:37.460 turned to the right and headed towards the cemetery, 00:03:38.419 --> 00:03:42.199 that long walk to the cemetery gates. Have you 00:03:42.199 --> 00:03:44.680 had that experience? I believe that probably 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:52.150 many of you have. And it's sad. And it's overwhelming, 00:03:53.550 --> 00:03:58.669 right? Now, imagine you're in that procession, 00:03:58.750 --> 00:04:01.490 that line, be it the line of vehicles or the 00:04:01.490 --> 00:04:04.289 walk. What if somebody had jumped out and said, 00:04:04.729 --> 00:04:11.550 stop. Stop the cars. Stop the walk. Just stop. 00:04:12.770 --> 00:04:14.669 We would say, that's terribly disrespectful. 00:04:14.849 --> 00:04:17.310 Get out of the way. We'd say, that's callous. 00:04:17.430 --> 00:04:20.610 What are you doing? This is a solemn. We are 00:04:20.610 --> 00:04:26.370 grieving. What are you doing? But what if that 00:04:26.370 --> 00:04:29.949 person could raise the dead? Now, that would 00:04:29.949 --> 00:04:33.670 be a different story altogether. That would be 00:04:33.670 --> 00:04:38.449 miraculous. That's what Jesus does here. This 00:04:38.449 --> 00:04:41.449 is the first recorded resurrection miracle that 00:04:41.449 --> 00:04:44.550 Jesus does. And as we look at this text, you'll 00:04:44.550 --> 00:04:47.410 notice the person that is raised and the woman 00:04:47.410 --> 00:04:51.009 grieving over her son. These are not somebodies. 00:04:51.670 --> 00:04:54.709 We're not given their names, right? These are 00:04:54.709 --> 00:04:57.990 probably not people of great influence. Probably 00:04:57.990 --> 00:05:01.889 not too many people cared. Maybe just those within 00:05:01.889 --> 00:05:07.430 the town. But we see Jesus care. We see the incredible 00:05:07.430 --> 00:05:13.250 compassion of Jesus within this text. Jesus takes 00:05:13.250 --> 00:05:15.810 note of this woman. She's fraught with grief 00:05:15.810 --> 00:05:19.350 and he shows her compassion. And because of what 00:05:19.350 --> 00:05:22.910 he does, you see what the people exclaim. God 00:05:22.910 --> 00:05:27.709 has visited us. This is truly a miraculous miracle. 00:05:29.110 --> 00:05:32.129 We said last time and in previous weeks, the 00:05:32.129 --> 00:05:35.850 miracles of Jesus showcase his compassion and 00:05:35.850 --> 00:05:38.990 they also showcase his authority. Jesus doesn't 00:05:38.990 --> 00:05:42.189 perform miracles to show off. You remember how 00:05:42.189 --> 00:05:45.250 Jesus turns the water to wine. You remember how 00:05:45.250 --> 00:05:48.480 Jesus. casts out the demons you remember how 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:51.600 Jesus touches the sick and they are healed Jesus 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:54.959 doesn't do this to show off he does this such 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:57.279 that you would see these things read these things 00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:00.660 know these things and believe in Jesus that's 00:06:00.660 --> 00:06:04.939 that's the point and yet we know this from other 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:08.000 historical writings that others were able to 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:11.899 perform healings there were even others who at 00:06:11.899 --> 00:06:17.720 the time of Jesus could cast out demons of this 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:23.060 miracle. Now we're moving into nearly uncharted 00:06:23.060 --> 00:06:25.560 waters. And I'll explain what I mean by nearly 00:06:25.560 --> 00:06:30.639 in a minute. This is off the chart. Jesus now 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:36.399 is raising the dead. As we look at this, I think 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:40.879 we see three unexpected actions of Jesus. And 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:44.100 so I'm going to go through these. The first unexpected 00:06:44.100 --> 00:06:48.680 action of Jesus is that he stops that processional, 00:06:48.860 --> 00:06:54.720 right? I began this week to think of famous funerals, 00:06:55.060 --> 00:06:58.120 famous processions. I thought of Abraham Lincoln 00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:02.860 and the procession as his body was moved by train 00:07:02.860 --> 00:07:06.519 and by horse -drawn carriages and things across 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:10.139 many states to go from Washington D .C. to Springfield, 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:14.259 Illinois. And as Lincoln was taken along, people 00:07:14.259 --> 00:07:17.680 would line the tracks, lighting fires to let 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:21.680 the train know where to go. Incredible amounts 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:23.839 of people went out for that. Or maybe you remember 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:27.879 Princess Diana and the procession at her funeral. 00:07:28.019 --> 00:07:31.319 Maybe you remember pop stars or even popes, hundreds 00:07:31.319 --> 00:07:35.339 of thousands of people attending such funerals. 00:07:36.819 --> 00:07:42.180 This one is not that. Jesus doesn't show up to 00:07:42.180 --> 00:07:45.240 this funeral because he heard it on the news. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:49.300 Jesus is here because of the providence of God. 00:07:50.660 --> 00:07:53.699 The providence of God has Jesus in this town 00:07:53.699 --> 00:07:57.279 that's called Nain. This is somewhere southeast 00:07:57.279 --> 00:08:00.040 of Nazareth. It's probably not that big of a 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:03.610 town, and yet because of the crowd following 00:08:03.610 --> 00:08:06.410 Jesus. Suddenly there's an influx of people there 00:08:06.410 --> 00:08:10.029 and the people following Jesus approach the city 00:08:10.029 --> 00:08:13.329 gates and they see the scene before them, the 00:08:13.329 --> 00:08:16.810 funeral procession coming towards them. But before 00:08:16.810 --> 00:08:19.790 we see what Jesus does, before we see the unexpected, 00:08:19.930 --> 00:08:22.490 we need to understand this woman. We need to 00:08:22.490 --> 00:08:25.269 understand what she is going through. This woman, 00:08:25.370 --> 00:08:29.230 according to the text, has lost her son. He's 00:08:29.230 --> 00:08:33.730 probably a grown man. But notice the text also 00:08:33.730 --> 00:08:39.190 says that she is a widow which means this poor 00:08:39.190 --> 00:08:44.870 woman has walked this sad and lonely road before 00:08:44.870 --> 00:08:49.169 She has walked out of those city gates before 00:08:49.169 --> 00:08:52.750 She is she's heard the mourners before she's 00:08:52.750 --> 00:08:55.350 seen the casket before and she is thinking to 00:08:55.350 --> 00:08:58.070 herself self How is it possible that I have to 00:08:58.070 --> 00:09:01.289 go through this all over again with each step? 00:09:01.289 --> 00:09:03.769 towards the city gates, it becomes more and more 00:09:03.769 --> 00:09:07.309 real to her. And the reason for going outside 00:09:07.309 --> 00:09:10.889 of the city gates is because of Jewish cleanliness 00:09:10.889 --> 00:09:14.549 laws, that those who are being buried would have 00:09:14.549 --> 00:09:17.389 to be buried outside the city gates. And so for 00:09:17.389 --> 00:09:25.210 her, those gates represent death. They do. Perhaps 00:09:25.210 --> 00:09:28.230 as you look at the cemetery, or perhaps when 00:09:28.230 --> 00:09:30.409 you go by a place where a loved one is buried, 00:09:30.700 --> 00:09:33.320 That's what those tombstones, that's what those 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:37.259 gates represent to you. You've all perhaps experienced 00:09:37.259 --> 00:09:42.820 that, the grief of death. I myself have had to 00:09:42.820 --> 00:09:45.659 do the funerals for both of my grandfathers. 00:09:46.779 --> 00:09:50.340 And I can remember the feeling of just trying 00:09:50.340 --> 00:09:53.799 to hold it all together. I think of my grandfather 00:09:53.799 --> 00:09:58.860 in Connecticut who was buried on a slope of a 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:02.700 Pennsylvania Cemetery with a cold mist following 00:10:02.700 --> 00:10:05.460 and just trying to be able to hold it together 00:10:05.460 --> 00:10:10.480 to get through the service. That's this woman. 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:17.840 She's just trying to hold it together. But it's 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:20.360 there. It's in the back of her mind, something 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:24.779 else, as she has already lost her husband. And 00:10:24.779 --> 00:10:27.809 now she loses her son. It has to be there in 00:10:27.809 --> 00:10:31.309 the back of her mind. Who's going to care for 00:10:31.309 --> 00:10:35.450 me? Who is going to take care of me? She doesn't 00:10:35.450 --> 00:10:37.409 want to think about it because she knows she 00:10:37.409 --> 00:10:39.470 needs to grieve, but it has to be there in the 00:10:39.470 --> 00:10:44.450 back of her mind. She's lost everything. If I 00:10:44.450 --> 00:10:47.190 can apply this to an Old Testament text, this 00:10:47.190 --> 00:10:51.090 is Naomi without Alimelech, without Malon and 00:10:51.090 --> 00:10:53.850 Killian, without Ruth and without Boaz. This 00:10:53.850 --> 00:10:59.860 woman. is totally and completely desperate. Have 00:10:59.860 --> 00:11:03.679 you felt the despair of death before? If you 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:07.179 haven't, you will. Some have said funeral workers 00:11:07.179 --> 00:11:10.919 have some of the best job security in the world, 00:11:11.059 --> 00:11:13.899 because as long as the world is under the curse 00:11:13.899 --> 00:11:16.980 of sin, there will be death. There will be funerals. 00:11:17.179 --> 00:11:20.720 There is never an end to the funeral processions. 00:11:21.220 --> 00:11:23.860 Just go to a busy funeral home, and you'll oftentimes 00:11:23.860 --> 00:11:26.659 notice They'll have more than one funeral going 00:11:26.659 --> 00:11:29.299 on that day. There is never an end to these. 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:34.320 And what this tells us then is that if all our 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:39.799 hope is in the here and the now, we will be left 00:11:39.799 --> 00:11:44.159 heartbroken and hopeless. Money will not save 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:48.220 us from our tears. If all our stock is placed 00:11:48.220 --> 00:11:51.659 in stocks, we will be poor ultimately. Our relationships 00:11:51.659 --> 00:11:54.399 will not save us from tears because the relationships 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:57.659 we have with people will be interrupted by death. 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:00.279 Our jobs will not save us from our tears. The 00:12:00.279 --> 00:12:03.039 reality is every single one of us is replaceable 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:08.960 and business carries on. And so in a life where 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:11.899 there's the reality and the sadness of death, 00:12:12.419 --> 00:12:19.960 who shall save us from our tears? Jesus and Jesus 00:12:19.960 --> 00:12:23.440 alone. And you see the good news in this passage. 00:12:24.259 --> 00:12:28.000 The good news of the passage is that Jesus has 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:31.419 compassion. And the word for compassion here 00:12:31.419 --> 00:12:34.919 is a very descriptive word. It means that which 00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:38.620 wells up inside of a person, a sympathy, a care 00:12:38.620 --> 00:12:41.580 for somebody else. The compassion word that is 00:12:41.580 --> 00:12:43.700 used here is the same that is used with the good 00:12:43.700 --> 00:12:47.500 Samaritan. or the father of the prodigal son, 00:12:47.620 --> 00:12:51.559 this is the compassion that Jesus has for this 00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:56.500 woman. And so he does what I would say is the 00:12:56.500 --> 00:13:00.179 unexpected. As the procession of people of the 00:13:00.179 --> 00:13:03.580 mourners comes toward Jesus, he does something 00:13:03.580 --> 00:13:09.320 amazing. Before I get to that though, what would 00:13:09.320 --> 00:13:12.480 you have done? How would you have had compassion 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:14.539 for this? Maybe you see the procession coming 00:13:14.539 --> 00:13:17.480 towards you and you would just step back and 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:20.500 pause from the busyness of life. Maybe you would 00:13:20.500 --> 00:13:23.080 bow your head in prayer. These would have been 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:26.039 fine things to do. Maybe you would even join 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:28.360 the procession of mourners. That would have been 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:31.120 an acceptable thing to do. But Jesus does the 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:38.639 unexpected. He steps to the front of the line. 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:44.620 He cuts to the front of the line to be where 00:13:44.620 --> 00:13:51.580 the woman is. Years ago, in a Bulgarian village, 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:54.820 somebody said to me, hey, look out the window. 00:13:54.919 --> 00:13:57.179 And I looked out the window within this place, 00:13:57.279 --> 00:14:00.419 within this house, in this village, and I saw 00:14:00.419 --> 00:14:04.279 a line of people. And they were following a horse 00:14:04.279 --> 00:14:07.000 -drawn cart with a coffin on the back. And they 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:10.470 were doing exactly what is here. taking a village 00:14:10.470 --> 00:14:14.250 resident to the cemetery outside of the gates. 00:14:14.309 --> 00:14:16.889 It would have been perfectly acceptable to join 00:14:16.889 --> 00:14:20.350 in the throng of people. But Jesus doesn't do 00:14:20.350 --> 00:14:23.289 that. He goes right to the woman. And I cannot 00:14:23.289 --> 00:14:26.769 imagine anybody else ever doing this. And Jesus 00:14:26.769 --> 00:14:29.970 does something that the people would never, ever 00:14:29.970 --> 00:14:35.409 forget. Look at verse 13. And when the Lord saw 00:14:35.409 --> 00:14:38.409 her, he had compassion on her and said to her, 00:14:38.519 --> 00:14:42.539 Do not weep. This is not a rebuke from Jesus. 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:45.159 Jesus isn't saying it's wrong for you to weep. 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:48.299 We know this because Jesus himself wept over 00:14:48.299 --> 00:14:51.259 his friend Lazarus. This is Jesus saying, weep 00:14:51.259 --> 00:14:54.379 no more because I'm going to do something about 00:14:54.379 --> 00:15:00.620 this. And ultimately what he does for her on 00:15:00.620 --> 00:15:04.279 a very grand eternal scale is what he does for 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:07.879 us. what he does for Christians. Jesus turns 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:11.740 our mourning into gladness. Jesus takes away 00:15:11.740 --> 00:15:15.700 our tears. We mourn in this life, but we have 00:15:15.700 --> 00:15:17.740 something that awaits us. We have glory that 00:15:17.740 --> 00:15:21.139 awaits us where we will no longer have such tears. 00:15:21.480 --> 00:15:26.580 Consider the promise of Revelation chapter seven, 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:31.340 16 and 17. It says they shall hunger no more, 00:15:31.700 --> 00:15:34.909 neither thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike 00:15:34.909 --> 00:15:38.750 them nor any scorching heat for the lamb in the 00:15:38.750 --> 00:15:41.649 midst of the throne will be their shepherd and 00:15:41.649 --> 00:15:44.490 he will guide them to springs of living water 00:15:44.490 --> 00:15:48.570 and God will wipe away every tear from their 00:15:48.570 --> 00:15:52.330 eyes. This is what Jesus does for the believer. 00:15:52.710 --> 00:15:57.389 This is what he will do for us. And this is such 00:15:57.389 --> 00:16:00.870 a reality that Jesus is actually already taught 00:16:00.870 --> 00:16:05.179 on this. We're in Luke seven. If you just went 00:16:05.179 --> 00:16:09.320 back to Luke chapter six, you would see the Beatitudes. 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:11.940 And within the Beatitudes, you would see this. 00:16:12.500 --> 00:16:17.059 Blessed are you who weep now for you shall laugh. 00:16:18.259 --> 00:16:22.879 Jesus turns our mourning into laughter. Jesus 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:25.940 turns our mourning into dancing. But the problem 00:16:25.940 --> 00:16:28.700 of the passage is the woman doesn't know these 00:16:28.700 --> 00:16:32.480 things. She might not have a clue who Jesus is. 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:34.940 She might have said, I don't care who you are 00:16:34.940 --> 00:16:37.879 in this moment because I'm fraught with grief. 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:41.840 But then Jesus does the next unexpected thing. 00:16:41.980 --> 00:16:49.080 Look in verse 14. Jesus reaches out and he touches 00:16:49.080 --> 00:16:54.240 the beer. Now this is B -I -E -R. This is not 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:56.980 talking about a beverage. This is talking about 00:16:56.980 --> 00:17:00.580 the platform. upon which the dead would be carried, 00:17:00.659 --> 00:17:03.659 upon which an open coffin would rest. But you 00:17:03.659 --> 00:17:06.599 might say, why is this unexpected for Jesus to 00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:10.440 touch that? Well, remember where they're headed. 00:17:11.180 --> 00:17:13.599 They're headed outside of the city gates. They're 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:16.339 headed to a place that is considered unclean. 00:17:16.700 --> 00:17:19.779 What else is considered unclean? The coffin, 00:17:19.859 --> 00:17:23.539 the platform that Jesus reaches out to touch. 00:17:25.390 --> 00:17:27.950 For Jesus to do this, this would have been considered 00:17:27.950 --> 00:17:31.210 unclean, but Jesus doesn't shy away from these 00:17:31.210 --> 00:17:33.089 things. You see this throughout the miracles 00:17:33.089 --> 00:17:35.829 of Jesus. He doesn't shy away from the unclean. 00:17:35.910 --> 00:17:39.009 He actually came for this. I want to read you 00:17:39.009 --> 00:17:41.710 a few verses, a few passages that illustrate 00:17:41.710 --> 00:17:46.150 what Jesus does for those who need his cleansing 00:17:46.150 --> 00:17:52.569 touch. Philippians chapter 2. And this is a very 00:17:52.569 --> 00:17:55.849 well -known passage. I'll begin. In verse 5, 00:17:56.130 --> 00:17:59.630 have this mind among yourselves, which is yours 00:17:59.630 --> 00:18:02.509 in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form 00:18:02.509 --> 00:18:05.349 of God, did not count equality with God a thing 00:18:05.349 --> 00:18:09.170 to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking 00:18:09.170 --> 00:18:12.109 the form of a servant, being born in the likeness 00:18:12.109 --> 00:18:15.289 of men, and being found in human form, he humbled 00:18:15.289 --> 00:18:18.789 himself by becoming obedient to the point of 00:18:18.789 --> 00:18:23.779 death, even death on a cross. Another one for 00:18:23.779 --> 00:18:29.920 you, Galatians 3 verse 13. Christ redeemed us 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:33.259 from the curse of the law by becoming a curse 00:18:33.259 --> 00:18:36.640 for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:40.259 who is hanged on a tree. And last one, 2nd Corinthians 00:18:40.259 --> 00:18:45.420 chapter 5 verse 21. For our sake he made him 00:18:45.420 --> 00:18:49.519 to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:53.069 might become the righteousness of God. Jesus 00:18:53.069 --> 00:18:55.829 doesn't shy away from the dead. Jesus doesn't 00:18:55.829 --> 00:18:59.250 shy away from the unclean. No, he goes towards 00:18:59.250 --> 00:19:05.589 them. And Jesus goes towards us. He who takes 00:19:05.589 --> 00:19:09.549 away our tears ultimately will have tears shed 00:19:09.549 --> 00:19:14.970 for him. And so Jesus reaches out and he touches 00:19:14.970 --> 00:19:18.589 the beer and he indicates that the people are 00:19:18.589 --> 00:19:21.970 to stop. They are to stop walking. They are to 00:19:21.970 --> 00:19:25.079 stop proceeding and surely they're all thinking 00:19:25.079 --> 00:19:27.960 what in the world is Jesus doing whatever he 00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:31.099 is doing it better work because otherwise this 00:19:31.099 --> 00:19:33.859 is terribly out of order this is callous and 00:19:33.859 --> 00:19:37.099 so all the eyes are fixed on Jesus the mourners 00:19:37.099 --> 00:19:39.079 have stopped the instrumentalists have stopped 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:46.000 everybody is completely still everyone is completely 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:52.720 still and Jesus does something miraculous But 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:55.519 in order to help us see the miraculous, I want 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:58.500 to take you to one more text. If you want to 00:19:58.500 --> 00:20:05.839 turn there, it's 1 Kings 17. 1 Kings 17 verse 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:08.339 17. And this is a bit lengthy, but I'm going 00:20:08.339 --> 00:20:10.700 to read it because I think this gives us great 00:20:10.700 --> 00:20:16.900 insight to what Jesus does. 1 Kings 17 verse 00:20:16.900 --> 00:20:21.369 17. After this, the son of the woman The mistress 00:20:21.369 --> 00:20:24.789 of the house became ill, and his illness was 00:20:24.789 --> 00:20:28.970 so severe, there was no breath left in him. And 00:20:28.970 --> 00:20:32.809 she said to Elijah, what have you against me, 00:20:32.849 --> 00:20:35.869 O man of God? You have come to me to bring my 00:20:35.869 --> 00:20:37.950 sin to remembrance and to cause the death of 00:20:37.950 --> 00:20:41.150 my son. And he said to her, give me your son. 00:20:42.410 --> 00:20:46.150 He took her, took him from her arms, and carried 00:20:46.150 --> 00:20:48.710 him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, 00:20:48.750 --> 00:20:51.970 and laid him. on his own bed and he cried to 00:20:51.970 --> 00:20:55.509 the Lord oh Lord my God have you brought calamity 00:20:55.509 --> 00:20:58.869 even upon the widow with whom I sojourn by killing 00:20:58.869 --> 00:21:03.269 her son then he stretched himself upon the child 00:21:03.269 --> 00:21:06.349 three times and cried to the Lord oh Lord my 00:21:06.349 --> 00:21:09.490 God let this child's life come into him again 00:21:09.490 --> 00:21:12.450 and the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah 00:21:12.839 --> 00:21:15.240 And the life of the child came into him again 00:21:15.240 --> 00:21:18.640 and he revived. And Elijah took the child and 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:20.720 brought him down from the upper chamber into 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:24.000 the house and delivered him to his mother. And 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:29.319 Elijah said, See, your son lives. And the woman 00:21:29.319 --> 00:21:33.880 said to Elijah, Now, now I know that you are 00:21:33.880 --> 00:21:37.359 a man of God and that the word of the Lord in 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:44.539 your mouth is truth. You see the similarity there 00:21:44.539 --> 00:21:49.140 between what Jesus does and what Elijah does. 00:21:50.119 --> 00:21:53.059 Certainly there are differences. The main difference 00:21:53.059 --> 00:21:58.539 is when Elijah is healing this widow's son, he 00:21:58.539 --> 00:22:03.480 speaks to the Lord. But when Jesus heals this 00:22:03.480 --> 00:22:08.339 widow's son, Jesus speaks to the son. And he 00:22:08.339 --> 00:22:14.369 says, young man, I say to you, rise. now all 00:22:14.369 --> 00:22:16.369 those people looking on surely they're wondering 00:22:16.369 --> 00:22:20.309 what in the world is he doing and yet this is 00:22:20.309 --> 00:22:23.829 what God does with us Rick Phillips says Jesus 00:22:23.829 --> 00:22:27.589 speaks to the dead man and with sovereign grace 00:22:27.589 --> 00:22:30.569 and with divine power and without any human help 00:22:30.569 --> 00:22:33.990 Jesus brings life to the dead friends we were 00:22:33.990 --> 00:22:37.750 dead in our trespasses we were lost in our sin 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:41.319 but through Jesus we have been made alive. So 00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:44.400 like Jesus healing the official son in John, 00:22:44.779 --> 00:22:48.940 or like Jesus raising Lazarus, or God speaking 00:22:48.940 --> 00:22:52.680 the world into existence, Jesus merely speaks 00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:58.720 and it happens. And then the dead man is no longer 00:22:58.720 --> 00:23:02.140 dead. And he sits up and he speaks. And if you 00:23:02.140 --> 00:23:04.039 thought it was miraculous, if you thought it 00:23:04.039 --> 00:23:06.880 was something for Jesus to command a dead man, 00:23:07.150 --> 00:23:10.369 What about the formerly dead man speaking back? 00:23:11.589 --> 00:23:16.309 And so Jesus gives him back to his mother and 00:23:16.309 --> 00:23:21.950 he gives him back alive. Now thus far we've zeroed 00:23:21.950 --> 00:23:25.089 in on Jesus, the mother, the son, but don't forget 00:23:25.089 --> 00:23:28.609 about the crowd. Don't forget the crowd is looking 00:23:28.609 --> 00:23:31.230 on and so look in verse 16 for their reaction. 00:23:32.029 --> 00:23:36.079 Fear sees them all and they glorified God. They 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:38.420 might say, what kind of fear is this? This is 00:23:38.420 --> 00:23:40.099 the kind of fear that you would have if you saw 00:23:40.099 --> 00:23:43.519 someone raised from the dead. This is fear with 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:45.599 reverence. This is fear with awe. This is fear 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:48.799 with respect and worship and the acknowledgement 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:52.660 of holiness. As they are filled with fear, they 00:23:52.660 --> 00:23:57.140 glorified God, which shows they believe Jesus 00:23:57.140 --> 00:24:03.180 to be divine. And as I shared about Elijah, No 00:24:03.180 --> 00:24:06.299 doubt, right here, they are thinking of the prophet 00:24:06.299 --> 00:24:09.319 Elijah. They are thinking, perhaps, of the prophet 00:24:09.319 --> 00:24:13.500 Elisha, both of whom raised the dead. So they 00:24:13.500 --> 00:24:16.579 are associating Jesus with the prophets. But 00:24:16.579 --> 00:24:20.019 you see, even more than that, because the next 00:24:20.019 --> 00:24:28.920 thing they say, God has visited his people. And 00:24:28.920 --> 00:24:31.180 isn't that exactly what we celebrate this time 00:24:31.180 --> 00:24:35.549 of year? Isn't that the point of Emmanuel? Isn't 00:24:35.549 --> 00:24:39.349 that the point of the incarnation that Jesus 00:24:39.349 --> 00:24:43.009 came to be with us and to be one of us? He is 00:24:43.009 --> 00:24:47.809 the God man. At Christmas, Jesus visits us so 00:24:47.809 --> 00:24:51.430 that we would say, God has visited us because 00:24:51.430 --> 00:24:56.910 Jesus is one with the Father. And so here we 00:24:56.910 --> 00:24:59.869 have this first resurrection miracle of Jesus. 00:25:00.220 --> 00:25:03.480 and it ultimately points ahead, it points beyond 00:25:03.480 --> 00:25:08.000 this miracle and it points to the death and to 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:11.440 the resurrection of Jesus and ultimately to our 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:14.880 resurrection. For we know this, that yes, if 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:18.299 Jesus tarries, we shall all die, but we will 00:25:18.299 --> 00:25:23.759 not remain dead. We have in Jesus everlasting 00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:27.960 life. And so as I begin to wrap up, consider 00:25:27.960 --> 00:25:31.490 this quote, from Spurgeon about this passage 00:25:31.490 --> 00:25:36.349 who said this was a rehearsal upon a small scale 00:25:36.349 --> 00:25:40.829 of that which shall happen by and by when those 00:25:40.829 --> 00:25:43.509 who are in their graves shall hear the voice 00:25:43.509 --> 00:25:47.470 of the Son of God and live then shall the last 00:25:47.470 --> 00:25:51.349 enemy be destroyed only let death come into contact 00:25:51.349 --> 00:25:54.289 with him who is our life and it is compelled 00:25:54.289 --> 00:25:57.369 to relax its hold whatever may be the spoil which 00:25:57.369 --> 00:26:01.640 it is captured Soon our Lord shall come in his 00:26:01.640 --> 00:26:05.059 glory and then before the gates of the new Jerusalem 00:26:05.059 --> 00:26:09.799 We shall see the miracle at the gates of Nain 00:26:09.799 --> 00:26:14.980 multiplied a myriad times Friends know this today 00:26:14.980 --> 00:26:19.259 Jesus turns our mourning into dancing Jesus alone 00:26:19.259 --> 00:26:22.940 turns our death into life What Jesus does for 00:26:22.940 --> 00:26:25.799 this woman and her son is what he shall do for 00:26:25.799 --> 00:26:30.599 us for believers on a grand scale. Really, as 00:26:30.599 --> 00:26:32.559 we look at this, we should see there's not just 00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:36.200 one procession going on. There are two. There 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:40.619 is the march to the grave. What Jesus represents, 00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:44.480 what Jesus does, is takes us on the march to 00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:48.460 everlasting life. Jesus stops the procession 00:26:48.460 --> 00:26:52.900 to the everlasting grave and leads us to everlasting 00:26:52.900 --> 00:26:54.359 life. Let's pray.