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The Sixteenth Sunday After Trinity
Jesus Raises the Widow's Son at Nain
September 7, 2008

TEXT:  NKJ Luke 7:11 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—to add to her sorrow, she must deal with the cultural shame of knowing that her husband’s family name would not be carried forward—this was associated with the anger of God
 
NKJ Malachi 3:18 Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him. 4:1 "For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the LORD of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor branch.
 
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 He had compassion for her—she 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—and the Savior of the world
 
What a great thing this would be—and it should come as no surprise to Christian believers—because God promised us in His Holy Word that the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord
 
NKJ Psalm 33:4 For the word of the LORD is right, And all His work is done in truth. 5 He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD. 6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep 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 spoke, 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 man changed death into life
 
This would not be a surprise for those familiar with the Old Testament
 
NKJ Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.
 
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—she was chosen by the Son of God—there are many New Testament references to God choosing us—Paul, the master of the Old Testament, tells us
 
NKJ Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
 
NKJ 2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
 
And Jesus taught us that we are chosen—so the world can see the love of God through our existance
 
NKJ John 15:16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 "These things I command you, that you love one another. 18 " If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
 
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
 
NKJ 2 Corinthians 4:3 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.
 
The meeting on the road between Jesus and the woman burying her son was not a coincidence—the meeting gave Jesus the opportunity to provide a glorious example of the grace and mercy of God—and there is not a soul who was present that day that would not be a witness for the great power of the Living God—this meeting was part of God’s plan
 
God keeps us in this world for a reason—what reason in each particular case I cannot say—but some become obvious to us when I look back in time—we can certainly see the reason for this woman and her dead son
 
 
 
 
 
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
 
NKJ John 9:1 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—wouldn’t it be better to recognize that we should all live each day for God and for each other to let the glory of God shine in the world?
 
Glory was brought to God this day—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
 
Luther offers an interesting spiritual interpretation of this miracle
 
Bodily Death of the Boy
Spiritual death of the soul (the soul is dead that does not believe in God)—notice the boy was dead—and it was obvious to the world—but the mother and the others were also spiritually dead—but they did not even know it
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pallbearers
The preachers of the law—those who continuously preach that there is no hope—God told us to live according to the law—we fail—thus we are condemned to hell
 
All preaching must be a balance between the Law and the Gospel—condemnation and hope
 
These pallbearers are hastening to carry this young man to hell—the more they preach—the deeper into despair the people are driven
 
Christ and His Word
When Jesus touches the coffin—He instructs the boy to rise—and the boy has life
 
Thus it is with preaching—the preaching of man can only propel the dead into eternal death—the preaching of Christ coupled with the Word of God bring life—not until Jesus spoke was there any hope
 
When I preach to you from this pulpit—I preach the Word of God—and thus I represent the teachings of Christ Himself
 
NKJ Luke 10:16 "He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."
 
I am instructing you to get up and live—live for God in heaven—bring glory to His name—and let every day be understood as the miracle of life that it is—God gives us life—just as sure as He gave that miracle to the widow’s son in our lesson
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!