Luke 7:11-17

Luke 7:11-17 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.” 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. 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.

The people could not believe that Jesus was the Son of God, but they could believe He was a prophet sent by God. Jesus' very visage, his personhood, his flesh was a stumbling stone to them. How could they believe this man whose image was like theirs could be God? Nevertheless, Jesus confounded their rational minds by doing spectacular miracles such as the one mentioned in the above passage. How could any man raise someone from the dead unless he had God-like power? Jesus never claimed to be a prophet or even a special messenger sent by God; He claimed to be God himself. In these verses, we see Jesus having compassion on a mother who had just lost her only son. This meant more to the woman than just losing her only son; it meant her potential livelihood. Sons were the social security plan for that culture. Her son would take care of her in her old age. Her son would make sure that she did not end up on the streets begging.

So this death was a catastrophe to this widowed woman. But Jesus said, “Don’t cry.” He knew the dire circumstances of this woman. He knew her tears were not only for her son, but for herself as well. Consequently, Jesus had compassion and healed her son. But did He do this only out of compassion? I suspect not, for there were probably many funeral processions that passed by him. No, this and all of his other miracles were done to prove that He was the Son of God and had power to do what He wished. His power came from being God. He was not a special messenger with given power, but one who defines power, who created from the beginning of time.

Was this hard for the people to realize. Yes, I am sure it was. The Jewish leaders tried to kill him all along his ministry. They would not have tried to kill God. John the Baptist thought He was just a prophet sent by God, but He was not a prophet; He was God incarnated. We too must have that kind of belief. Jesus is God. Jesus knows our lives; He can do, allow, anything He wishes in our lives, and He also can stop the funeral procession and perform a miracle. Jesus did those things when He walked the earth to show He was God. Now, we have a relationship with him. We can ask him to stop at our funeral. We don't have to hope that He is passing through. We can put him on the wavelength of our misery. We as children can come to him boldly. But God is still God. He still knows our lives. He still knows what to do that is good in our lives. Sometimes the most miserable times that we experience are times when God is lining us up for eternity. He is making sure we land in eternity successfully. For sure that is true, if we give all the glory to God regardless of our daily experiences. This is our reality, if we worship him with a true heart, knowing He is God and we are not, and that He wants to do good for us.