Alesaggio
11-20-2003, 10:48 PM
Luke 7:11-17 is the setting for this study.
With cameras rolling a brand new car is propelled down a track into a concrete barrier. Smash! Air bags explode. Crash dummies recoil from the impact. The test is repeated on dozens of new cars. Why this waste of automobiles? Researchers are trying to learn from the collisions in order to make cars safer for the times when real people are involved in a real accident.
Luke tells us about a collision that took place at a city called Nain. It wasn’t a collision between trains or automobiles. Two groups collided at the city gate. A procession of death and sorrow met a procession of life and hope. At the front of one was a person who had been defeated by death at the front of the other was a man who would defeat death.
Death and sorrow were going out of Nain. Luke tells us, 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 parents are burying a child the natural order that we have come to accept at funerals may also seem turned around.
All of these “misery factors” were a part of the funeral procession that was leaving Nain on the day Jesus was entering the city. A young person was dead. A mother was burying a son. The mother of the deceased had already buried her husband and was now all-alone. This meant short term and long-term misery for her. She would face a future with little companionship and no financial support. It would be a life of poverty and misery until she too was carried to the cemetery. Funerals probably don’t get any more heart wrenching than this one described by Luke.
It would have been a cold heart that was not touched by this funeral procession. There were probably few dry eyes among the crowd going out of Nain. As people do at funerals many were probably thinking about their mortality. “When will death strike me?” “Am I next?” “What happens when I die?” “What will happen to my loved ones when I die?” Questions like those were most certainly swirling in the minds of the people going out of Nain. Indeed it was a procession of death and sorrow exiting the city.
And aren’t we also a part of the procession that was going out of Nain the day that Jesus arrived? From Abel who was murdered by his brother to the final body that will be buried before the Last Day all living things are heading to the cemetery. Hebrews 9:27 reminds us, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” Why are all things dying? In his letter to the Romans the Apostle Paul explains, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12) In 1 Corinthians 15:56 he also declared, “The sting of death is sin.” We are on a constant crash course with death because of the fact that we and all our kind have rebelled against God. One of the consequences of sin is death and all the misery that goes along with it.
So we understand that the procession going out of Nain could be seen going out of any city or town in the world at any time. The children of Adam and Eve in every corner of the world must return to the ground from which they were formed. Because of death the hearts of men are frequently broken, dreams are shattered, and tears are shed. It is a train of misery on which all must ride.
But thankfully there is hope. Because when death and sorrow collide with life and hope everything changes. Luke tells us about the collision that took place as death and sorrow were going out of Nain and life and hope were going in. Jesus led his disciples and a large crowd toward Nain as the funeral procession was coming out. Death met life. Sorrow met hope. And how things changed! “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.” The Lord of life spoke to the living and the dead. May we learn from the collision at Nain to prepare us for the times when we must walk among the procession of death and sorrow.
We see Jesus’ power over death in the miracle he performed at Nain. “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.” Jesus didn’t come to bring only a short-term solution for death. No he came to permanently end death’s power. Hebrews 2:14-15 remind us that Jesus came, “so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” That is why Jesus could speak to the dead man directly and command him to get up. He was the One who would suffer the wages of the sins of the dead man and all dying men. He received the death sentence that every sinner destined for the grave deserves.
Not only did Jesus take away the cause of death he also conquered death by walking away from the tomb where he had been buried. Romans 14:9 reminds us, “For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.” The leader of the group going into Nain was and is the Lord of life and death. To the funeral that day at Nain and to the whole world he brought life and hope.
Death and sorrow were going out of Nain. Life and hope were going in. The wages of sin was coming out. The sacrifice for sin was going in. Jesus faced down death with compassion for those affected by it. He undid death’s damage by his undisputable power.
When a big collision takes place we expect to see pieces fly. The results of this collision at Nain flew everywhere. Luke goes on to tell us, “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 fallout from the collision at Nain spread around the country. Death and sorrow smacked into life and hope. Victory over death and celebration over God’s power over death were the result of their meeting.
With cameras rolling a brand new car is propelled down a track into a concrete barrier. Smash! Air bags explode. Crash dummies recoil from the impact. The test is repeated on dozens of new cars. Why this waste of automobiles? Researchers are trying to learn from the collisions in order to make cars safer for the times when real people are involved in a real accident.
Luke tells us about a collision that took place at a city called Nain. It wasn’t a collision between trains or automobiles. Two groups collided at the city gate. A procession of death and sorrow met a procession of life and hope. At the front of one was a person who had been defeated by death at the front of the other was a man who would defeat death.
Death and sorrow were going out of Nain. Luke tells us, 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 parents are burying a child the natural order that we have come to accept at funerals may also seem turned around.
All of these “misery factors” were a part of the funeral procession that was leaving Nain on the day Jesus was entering the city. A young person was dead. A mother was burying a son. The mother of the deceased had already buried her husband and was now all-alone. This meant short term and long-term misery for her. She would face a future with little companionship and no financial support. It would be a life of poverty and misery until she too was carried to the cemetery. Funerals probably don’t get any more heart wrenching than this one described by Luke.
It would have been a cold heart that was not touched by this funeral procession. There were probably few dry eyes among the crowd going out of Nain. As people do at funerals many were probably thinking about their mortality. “When will death strike me?” “Am I next?” “What happens when I die?” “What will happen to my loved ones when I die?” Questions like those were most certainly swirling in the minds of the people going out of Nain. Indeed it was a procession of death and sorrow exiting the city.
And aren’t we also a part of the procession that was going out of Nain the day that Jesus arrived? From Abel who was murdered by his brother to the final body that will be buried before the Last Day all living things are heading to the cemetery. Hebrews 9:27 reminds us, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” Why are all things dying? In his letter to the Romans the Apostle Paul explains, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12) In 1 Corinthians 15:56 he also declared, “The sting of death is sin.” We are on a constant crash course with death because of the fact that we and all our kind have rebelled against God. One of the consequences of sin is death and all the misery that goes along with it.
So we understand that the procession going out of Nain could be seen going out of any city or town in the world at any time. The children of Adam and Eve in every corner of the world must return to the ground from which they were formed. Because of death the hearts of men are frequently broken, dreams are shattered, and tears are shed. It is a train of misery on which all must ride.
But thankfully there is hope. Because when death and sorrow collide with life and hope everything changes. Luke tells us about the collision that took place as death and sorrow were going out of Nain and life and hope were going in. Jesus led his disciples and a large crowd toward Nain as the funeral procession was coming out. Death met life. Sorrow met hope. And how things changed! “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.” The Lord of life spoke to the living and the dead. May we learn from the collision at Nain to prepare us for the times when we must walk among the procession of death and sorrow.
We see Jesus’ power over death in the miracle he performed at Nain. “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.” Jesus didn’t come to bring only a short-term solution for death. No he came to permanently end death’s power. Hebrews 2:14-15 remind us that Jesus came, “so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” That is why Jesus could speak to the dead man directly and command him to get up. He was the One who would suffer the wages of the sins of the dead man and all dying men. He received the death sentence that every sinner destined for the grave deserves.
Not only did Jesus take away the cause of death he also conquered death by walking away from the tomb where he had been buried. Romans 14:9 reminds us, “For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.” The leader of the group going into Nain was and is the Lord of life and death. To the funeral that day at Nain and to the whole world he brought life and hope.
Death and sorrow were going out of Nain. Life and hope were going in. The wages of sin was coming out. The sacrifice for sin was going in. Jesus faced down death with compassion for those affected by it. He undid death’s damage by his undisputable power.
When a big collision takes place we expect to see pieces fly. The results of this collision at Nain flew everywhere. Luke goes on to tell us, “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 fallout from the collision at Nain spread around the country. Death and sorrow smacked into life and hope. Victory over death and celebration over God’s power over death were the result of their meeting.