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The 16th Sunday in Trinity
Jesus Raised the Widow's Son
September 27, 2009

TEXT:  (Luke 7:11-17 NKJ) 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.
 
The widow is leading a procession out of town to bury her son—Jesus is leading a procession into town—there is no indication that the widow knew Jesus—she walked in sorrow and grief—sorrow of losing her husband in the past—and now sorrow at losing her son in the casket—the widow did not walk in the hope that her son would be returned to her—and she did not reach out to ask Jesus for help—she just walked on to do what had to be done
 
Jesus saw the widow and those who accompanied her to the grave—and Jesus had compassion for her
 
God had compassion for His people from the time of creation—as soon as Adam and Eve sinned—God promised to send a Savior—and that Savior would “crush” the head of Satan
 
(Genesis 3:15 NKJ) And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."
 
The words translated “bruise your head” could be interpreted as strike, bruise, or crush when we consider the Hebrew—allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture—we find that we have power over Satan
 
(James 4:7 KJV) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
 
Now this widow had no idea that she would soon be returning to town with her son who will be raised from the dead by the Son of God—Jesus had compassion on her—God has always had compassion for His people—and Jesus is the promised manifestation of God—who being God, had the power of God—and the compassion and mercy of God—compassion that existed throughout both the Old Testament and the New Testament—consider these examples
 
(Exodus 2:23-25 KJV) And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.
 
(Exodus 3:7 KJV) And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
 
But our compassionate and merciful God rescued His people from the bondage of slavery
 
(Exodus 19:4 KJV) Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
 
And in the New Testament we witness a most dramatic example—our Lord Jesus stops the murderer Saul while he journeys to Damascus to destroy the Church—Jesus knocks Saul into the dirt—blinds him—and has his eyes opened to the True God—notice how personal Jesus considers the attack on His Church—why are you persecuting ME?
 
(Acts 9:4 KJV) And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
 
Jesus taught us that He did not act on His own—He was given all things to say and do by God the Father
 
(John 14:10 NKJ) "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
 
Jesus’ compassion on the widow should not surprise us—God promised us in His Holy Word that the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord—and Jesus is that Goodness
 
(Psalm 33:4-9 KJV) For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth. 5 He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD. 6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. 7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9 For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
 
And after Jesus raised the widow’s son from the dead and returns the son to her—the widow—her son—and all who accompanied the widow to the funeral site certainly stood in awe at the power and grace of our Lord Jesus the Christ—the Son of God
 
This text is a Biblical example of Jesus having compassion on a woman who did not know Him—and therefore did not have faith—the woman was the recipient of God’s grace and mercy—unsolicited—undeserved—and unexpected—and we need only look at ourselves for a similar personal example—we have eyes to see—we have ears to hear—we have a nose to smell—we can taste with our mouths—and all of these things are taken for granted by most of us—until something happens to make us appreciate these simple things
 
This woman and her funeral procession were not walking toward Jesus with the hope that he would raise the young man to life—they apparently had no idea Jesus could do such things—they were spiritually blind to the things of God—Jesus removed the veil that covered them—and they all saw the power of God in Jesus that day
 
God’s Word tells us there will be such blindness in the world
 
(2 Corinthians 4:3-4 NKJ) But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4  whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
 
I once had the privilege of attending a meeting of an organization of blind people—what a humbling experience for me—these people all had a very positive attitude—and were appreciative of the things God gives them—and yet they have to work so hard to overcome the hardships of life without sight—for them just making it through the day is a challenge—I had compassion for each one of them—and yet my faith is so fragile, so small—my love and my compassion are related—and we know that love is related to God—therefore, faith—love—compassion—all relate to each other—we can tie it all together with these verses
 
(1 John 4:4-8 NKJ) You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
 
Now if God is love—and Jesus is God the Son—His love would be perfect and without limits—and our love is limited to the faith we have—if our faith is weak, our ability to share love and compassion will be limited—to strengthen our relationship with God—we need to strengthen our faith—which increases our capacity for love and compassion—but how do we strengthen our faith?
 
Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans
 
(Romans 10:17 NKJ) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
 
By staying in the Word of God—we strengthen our faith—we increase our capacity to love and show compassion for our neighbor
 
Again we ask ourselves the question—how often do I take the time to thank God for my sight, and for my other senses?—and how often are we distracted by the devil through the things of this world?—Paul teaches us that we must be ever-vigilant of the devil and his ways—if the devil can prevent us from hearing and studying God’s Word—the devil can take more of us with him into the lake of fire on the last day
 
Through this woman in Nain—Jesus brings glory to God by raising her son from the dead—the sad thing is the boy had to die—the glorious thing is God has the power to bring him to life again—and the Lord chooses to use the saddest of events to teach an entire village of His grace and mercy—He is the Son of God who came to raise us all up to life on the Last Day—the people of Nain immediately sang praises to God—they gave God the glory—and praised God throughout the region—this young man died for the glory of God—we have other similar examples—but none give a better picture than the healing of the blind man
 
(John 9:1-5 NKJ) Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
 
Of course, Jesus goes on to heal the man—and glorify God the Father—this blind man had to be blind—to be made well—to bring glory to God—the widow’s son in Nain had to die—to be raised again from the dead—to bring glory to God—what then is our lesson?
 
I ask you how many times has someone died and you heard it said that—I WOULD GIVE ANYTHING TO HAVE GOD BRING THEM BACK TO THIS WORLD—well let me ask you, wouldn’t it be better to recognize that we should all live each day for God and to bring glory to God through our lives—rather than for us to think God needs to create a tragedy to bring glory to Himself through some miracle?
 
Glory was brought to God this day in our text—the widow received her son back—but most importantly, many of the attendees to this funeral gained faith—realized who Jesus is—and souls were gained for heaven—and that’s what really glorifies God
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!