Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / God Has Visited His People! (Luke 7:11-17)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

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God Has Visited His People! (Luke 7:11-17)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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And as we turn to God's Word, we look today at
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Luke chapter 7. So I invite you to turn in your
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Bibles to Luke 7, 11 through 17. What we've been
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doing is studying some of the miracles of Jesus.
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So we're not just in one book of the Bible, but
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we're seeing the miracles of Jesus throughout
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the Gospels. We've been in John, we've been in
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Mark, and today we're in Luke chapter 7. And
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today I want you to listen to this text, and
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I don't believe this is the most well -known
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of Jesus' miracles, but it's miraculous. And
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so I would ask you to hear this miracle as if
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you're hearing it for the first time. Indeed,
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that's kind of what I said last Sunday when it
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comes to the Christmas story, the birth of Jesus.
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I would pray that at this time of year, we've
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got all the reds and the greens and the lights.
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And yet, how wonderful would it be if we were
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able to hear the gospel with fresh ears, to be
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wowed by it all over again. And so I pray that
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this story, this truth of Jesus, this miracle
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that he performs would help with a wow factor,
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and that you would more and more trust Jesus.
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And so let's hear this word from Luke chapter
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7. Please give attention because this is God's
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holy word. Soon afterward, he went to a town
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called Nain and his disciples and a great crowd
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went with him. As he drew near to the gate of
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the town, behold, a man who had died was being
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carried out, the only son of his mother, and
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she was a widow. a considerable crowd from the
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town was with her and when the Lord saw her he
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had compassion on her and said to her do not
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weep then he came up and he touched the beer
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and the bearers stood still and he said young
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man I say to you arise and the dead man sat up
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and he began to speak and Jesus gave him to his
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mother fear seize them all and they glorify God
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saying a great prophet has arisen among us and
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God has visited his people. And this report about
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him spread through the whole of Judea and all
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the surrounding country. The grass withers and
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the flower fades but God's word stands forever.
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Let's pray. Oh Father we praise you and we thank
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you for this word and we ask that you would help
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us to hide it in our hearts. and to know that
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Jesus is the promised Christ who has come once
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and will come again. Would you grant us understanding
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as we look at this in Christ's name, amen. Have
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you ever ridden in a funeral procession before?
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The line of cars that maybe leaves from the church
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or maybe leaves from the funeral home. Maybe
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you can remember that. Maybe you've even ridden
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in the first car, the second car, a sad black
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limousine. Maybe you can remember being in a
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funeral procession that left out of here and
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turned to the right and headed towards the cemetery,
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that long walk to the cemetery gates. Have you
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had that experience? I believe that probably
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many of you have. And it's sad. And it's overwhelming,
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right? Now, imagine you're in that procession,
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that line, be it the line of vehicles or the
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walk. What if somebody had jumped out and said,
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stop. Stop the cars. Stop the walk. Just stop.
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We would say, that's terribly disrespectful.
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Get out of the way. We'd say, that's callous.
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What are you doing? This is a solemn. We are
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grieving. What are you doing? But what if that
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person could raise the dead? Now, that would
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be a different story altogether. That would be
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miraculous. That's what Jesus does here. This
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is the first recorded resurrection miracle that
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Jesus does. And as we look at this text, you'll
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notice the person that is raised and the woman
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grieving over her son. These are not somebodies.
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We're not given their names, right? These are
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probably not people of great influence. Probably
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not too many people cared. Maybe just those within
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the town. But we see Jesus care. We see the incredible
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compassion of Jesus within this text. Jesus takes
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note of this woman. She's fraught with grief
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and he shows her compassion. And because of what
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he does, you see what the people exclaim. God
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has visited us. This is truly a miraculous miracle.
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We said last time and in previous weeks, the
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miracles of Jesus showcase his compassion and
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they also showcase his authority. Jesus doesn't
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perform miracles to show off. You remember how
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Jesus turns the water to wine. You remember how
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Jesus. casts out the demons you remember how
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Jesus touches the sick and they are healed Jesus
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doesn't do this to show off he does this such
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that you would see these things read these things
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know these things and believe in Jesus that's
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that's the point and yet we know this from other
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historical writings that others were able to
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perform healings there were even others who at
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the time of Jesus could cast out demons of this
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miracle. Now we're moving into nearly uncharted
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waters. And I'll explain what I mean by nearly
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in a minute. This is off the chart. Jesus now
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is raising the dead. As we look at this, I think
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we see three unexpected actions of Jesus. And
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so I'm going to go through these. The first unexpected
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action of Jesus is that he stops that processional,
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right? I began this week to think of famous funerals,
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famous processions. I thought of Abraham Lincoln
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and the procession as his body was moved by train
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and by horse -drawn carriages and things across
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many states to go from Washington D .C. to Springfield,
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Illinois. And as Lincoln was taken along, people
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would line the tracks, lighting fires to let
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the train know where to go. Incredible amounts
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of people went out for that. Or maybe you remember
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Princess Diana and the procession at her funeral.
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Maybe you remember pop stars or even popes, hundreds
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of thousands of people attending such funerals.
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This one is not that. Jesus doesn't show up to
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this funeral because he heard it on the news.
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Jesus is here because of the providence of God.
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The providence of God has Jesus in this town
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that's called Nain. This is somewhere southeast
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of Nazareth. It's probably not that big of a
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town, and yet because of the crowd following
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Jesus. Suddenly there's an influx of people there
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and the people following Jesus approach the city
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gates and they see the scene before them, the
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funeral procession coming towards them. But before
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we see what Jesus does, before we see the unexpected,
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we need to understand this woman. We need to
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understand what she is going through. This woman,
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according to the text, has lost her son. He's
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probably a grown man. But notice the text also
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says that she is a widow which means this poor
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woman has walked this sad and lonely road before
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She has walked out of those city gates before
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She is she's heard the mourners before she's
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seen the casket before and she is thinking to
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herself self How is it possible that I have to
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go through this all over again with each step?
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towards the city gates, it becomes more and more
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real to her. And the reason for going outside
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of the city gates is because of Jewish cleanliness
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laws, that those who are being buried would have
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to be buried outside the city gates. And so for
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her, those gates represent death. They do. Perhaps
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as you look at the cemetery, or perhaps when
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you go by a place where a loved one is buried,
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That's what those tombstones, that's what those
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gates represent to you. You've all perhaps experienced
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that, the grief of death. I myself have had to
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do the funerals for both of my grandfathers.
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And I can remember the feeling of just trying
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to hold it all together. I think of my grandfather
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in Connecticut who was buried on a slope of a
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Pennsylvania Cemetery with a cold mist following
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and just trying to be able to hold it together
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to get through the service. That's this woman.
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She's just trying to hold it together. But it's
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there. It's in the back of her mind, something
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else, as she has already lost her husband. And
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now she loses her son. It has to be there in
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the back of her mind. Who's going to care for
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me? Who is going to take care of me? She doesn't
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want to think about it because she knows she
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needs to grieve, but it has to be there in the
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back of her mind. She's lost everything. If I
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can apply this to an Old Testament text, this
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is Naomi without Alimelech, without Malon and
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Killian, without Ruth and without Boaz. This
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woman. is totally and completely desperate. Have
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you felt the despair of death before? If you
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haven't, you will. Some have said funeral workers
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have some of the best job security in the world,
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because as long as the world is under the curse
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of sin, there will be death. There will be funerals.
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There is never an end to the funeral processions.
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Just go to a busy funeral home, and you'll oftentimes
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notice They'll have more than one funeral going
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on that day. There is never an end to these.
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And what this tells us then is that if all our
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hope is in the here and the now, we will be left
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heartbroken and hopeless. Money will not save
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us from our tears. If all our stock is placed
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in stocks, we will be poor ultimately. Our relationships
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will not save us from tears because the relationships
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we have with people will be interrupted by death.
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Our jobs will not save us from our tears. The
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reality is every single one of us is replaceable
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and business carries on. And so in a life where
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there's the reality and the sadness of death,
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who shall save us from our tears? Jesus and Jesus
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alone. And you see the good news in this passage.
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The good news of the passage is that Jesus has
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compassion. And the word for compassion here
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is a very descriptive word. It means that which
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wells up inside of a person, a sympathy, a care
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for somebody else. The compassion word that is
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used here is the same that is used with the good
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Samaritan. or the father of the prodigal son,
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this is the compassion that Jesus has for this
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woman. And so he does what I would say is the
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unexpected. As the procession of people of the
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mourners comes toward Jesus, he does something
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amazing. Before I get to that though, what would
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you have done? How would you have had compassion
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for this? Maybe you see the procession coming
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towards you and you would just step back and
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pause from the busyness of life. Maybe you would
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bow your head in prayer. These would have been
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fine things to do. Maybe you would even join
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the procession of mourners. That would have been
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an acceptable thing to do. But Jesus does the
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unexpected. He steps to the front of the line.
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He cuts to the front of the line to be where
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the woman is. Years ago, in a Bulgarian village,
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somebody said to me, hey, look out the window.
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And I looked out the window within this place,
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within this house, in this village, and I saw
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a line of people. And they were following a horse
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-drawn cart with a coffin on the back. And they
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were doing exactly what is here. taking a village
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resident to the cemetery outside of the gates.
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It would have been perfectly acceptable to join
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in the throng of people. But Jesus doesn't do
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that. He goes right to the woman. And I cannot
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imagine anybody else ever doing this. And Jesus
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does something that the people would never, ever
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forget. Look at verse 13. And when the Lord saw
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her, he had compassion on her and said to her,
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Do not weep. This is not a rebuke from Jesus.
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Jesus isn't saying it's wrong for you to weep.
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We know this because Jesus himself wept over
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his friend Lazarus. This is Jesus saying, weep
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no more because I'm going to do something about
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this. And ultimately what he does for her on
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a very grand eternal scale is what he does for
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us. what he does for Christians. Jesus turns
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our mourning into gladness. Jesus takes away
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our tears. We mourn in this life, but we have
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something that awaits us. We have glory that
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awaits us where we will no longer have such tears.
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Consider the promise of Revelation chapter seven,
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16 and 17. It says they shall hunger no more,
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neither thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike
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them nor any scorching heat for the lamb in the
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midst of the throne will be their shepherd and
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he will guide them to springs of living water
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and God will wipe away every tear from their
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eyes. This is what Jesus does for the believer.
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This is what he will do for us. And this is such
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a reality that Jesus is actually already taught
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on this. We're in Luke seven. If you just went
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back to Luke chapter six, you would see the Beatitudes.
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And within the Beatitudes, you would see this.
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Blessed are you who weep now for you shall laugh.
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Jesus turns our mourning into laughter. Jesus
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turns our mourning into dancing. But the problem
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of the passage is the woman doesn't know these
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things. She might not have a clue who Jesus is.
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She might have said, I don't care who you are
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in this moment because I'm fraught with grief.
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But then Jesus does the next unexpected thing.
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Look in verse 14. Jesus reaches out and he touches
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the beer. Now this is B -I -E -R. This is not
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talking about a beverage. This is talking about
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the platform. upon which the dead would be carried,
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upon which an open coffin would rest. But you
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might say, why is this unexpected for Jesus to
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touch that? Well, remember where they're headed.
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They're headed outside of the city gates. They're
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headed to a place that is considered unclean.
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What else is considered unclean? The coffin,
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the platform that Jesus reaches out to touch.
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For Jesus to do this, this would have been considered
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unclean, but Jesus doesn't shy away from these
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things. You see this throughout the miracles
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of Jesus. He doesn't shy away from the unclean.
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He actually came for this. I want to read you
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a few verses, a few passages that illustrate
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what Jesus does for those who need his cleansing
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touch. Philippians chapter 2. And this is a very
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well -known passage. I'll begin. In verse 5,
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have this mind among yourselves, which is yours
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in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form
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of God, did not count equality with God a thing
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to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking
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the form of a servant, being born in the likeness
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of men, and being found in human form, he humbled
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himself by becoming obedient to the point of
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death, even death on a cross. Another one for
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you, Galatians 3 verse 13. Christ redeemed us
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from the curse of the law by becoming a curse
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for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone
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who is hanged on a tree. And last one, 2nd Corinthians
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chapter 5 verse 21. For our sake he made him
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to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we
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might become the righteousness of God. Jesus
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doesn't shy away from the dead. Jesus doesn't
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shy away from the unclean. No, he goes towards
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them. And Jesus goes towards us. He who takes
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away our tears ultimately will have tears shed
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for him. And so Jesus reaches out and he touches
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the beer and he indicates that the people are
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to stop. They are to stop walking. They are to
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stop proceeding and surely they're all thinking
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what in the world is Jesus doing whatever he
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is doing it better work because otherwise this
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is terribly out of order this is callous and
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so all the eyes are fixed on Jesus the mourners
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have stopped the instrumentalists have stopped
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everybody is completely still everyone is completely
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still and Jesus does something miraculous But
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in order to help us see the miraculous, I want
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to take you to one more text. If you want to
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turn there, it's 1 Kings 17. 1 Kings 17 verse
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17. And this is a bit lengthy, but I'm going
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to read it because I think this gives us great
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insight to what Jesus does. 1 Kings 17 verse
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17. After this, the son of the woman The mistress
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of the house became ill, and his illness was
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so severe, there was no breath left in him. And
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she said to Elijah, what have you against me,
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O man of God? You have come to me to bring my
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sin to remembrance and to cause the death of
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my son. And he said to her, give me your son.
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He took her, took him from her arms, and carried
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him up into the upper chamber where he lodged,
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and laid him. on his own bed and he cried to
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the Lord oh Lord my God have you brought calamity
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even upon the widow with whom I sojourn by killing
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her son then he stretched himself upon the child
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three times and cried to the Lord oh Lord my
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God let this child's life come into him again
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and the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah
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And the life of the child came into him again
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and he revived. And Elijah took the child and
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brought him down from the upper chamber into
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the house and delivered him to his mother. And
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Elijah said, See, your son lives. And the woman
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said to Elijah, Now, now I know that you are
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a man of God and that the word of the Lord in
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your mouth is truth. You see the similarity there
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between what Jesus does and what Elijah does.
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Certainly there are differences. The main difference
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is when Elijah is healing this widow's son, he
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speaks to the Lord. But when Jesus heals this
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widow's son, Jesus speaks to the son. And he
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says, young man, I say to you, rise. now all
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those people looking on surely they're wondering
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what in the world is he doing and yet this is
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what God does with us Rick Phillips says Jesus
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speaks to the dead man and with sovereign grace
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and with divine power and without any human help
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Jesus brings life to the dead friends we were
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dead in our trespasses we were lost in our sin
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but through Jesus we have been made alive. So
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like Jesus healing the official son in John,
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or like Jesus raising Lazarus, or God speaking
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the world into existence, Jesus merely speaks
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and it happens. And then the dead man is no longer
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dead. And he sits up and he speaks. And if you
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thought it was miraculous, if you thought it
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was something for Jesus to command a dead man,
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What about the formerly dead man speaking back?
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And so Jesus gives him back to his mother and
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he gives him back alive. Now thus far we've zeroed
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in on Jesus, the mother, the son, but don't forget
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about the crowd. Don't forget the crowd is looking
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on and so look in verse 16 for their reaction.
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Fear sees them all and they glorified God. They
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might say, what kind of fear is this? This is
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the kind of fear that you would have if you saw
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someone raised from the dead. This is fear with
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reverence. This is fear with awe. This is fear
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with respect and worship and the acknowledgement
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of holiness. As they are filled with fear, they
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glorified God, which shows they believe Jesus
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to be divine. And as I shared about Elijah, No
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doubt, right here, they are thinking of the prophet
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Elijah. They are thinking, perhaps, of the prophet
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Elisha, both of whom raised the dead. So they
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are associating Jesus with the prophets. But
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you see, even more than that, because the next
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thing they say, God has visited his people. And
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isn't that exactly what we celebrate this time
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of year? Isn't that the point of Emmanuel? Isn't
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that the point of the incarnation that Jesus
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came to be with us and to be one of us? He is
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the God man. At Christmas, Jesus visits us so
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that we would say, God has visited us because
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Jesus is one with the Father. And so here we
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have this first resurrection miracle of Jesus.
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and it ultimately points ahead, it points beyond
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this miracle and it points to the death and to
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the resurrection of Jesus and ultimately to our
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resurrection. For we know this, that yes, if
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Jesus tarries, we shall all die, but we will
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not remain dead. We have in Jesus everlasting
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life. And so as I begin to wrap up, consider
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this quote, from Spurgeon about this passage
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who said this was a rehearsal upon a small scale
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of that which shall happen by and by when those
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who are in their graves shall hear the voice
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of the Son of God and live then shall the last
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enemy be destroyed only let death come into contact
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with him who is our life and it is compelled
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to relax its hold whatever may be the spoil which
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it is captured Soon our Lord shall come in his
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glory and then before the gates of the new Jerusalem
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We shall see the miracle at the gates of Nain
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multiplied a myriad times Friends know this today
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Jesus turns our mourning into dancing Jesus alone
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turns our death into life What Jesus does for
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this woman and her son is what he shall do for
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us for believers on a grand scale. Really, as
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we look at this, we should see there's not just
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one procession going on. There are two. There
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is the march to the grave. What Jesus represents,
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what Jesus does, is takes us on the march to
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everlasting life. Jesus stops the procession
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to the everlasting grave and leads us to everlasting
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life. Let's pray.