Sermon for Trinity 16, October 6, 2019
Luke 7:11–17 11Soon afterward Jesus
went on his way to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd were
traveling with him. 12As he was approaching the town gate, there was a dead man
being carried out, the only son of his mother.
She was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with
her. 13When the Lord saw
her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not cry.” 14He went up to the
open coffin, touched it, and the pallbearers stopped. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get
up!” 15The dead man sat up
and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16Fear gripped all of them, and
they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us” and “God has
visited his people!” 17This
was reported about him in all of Judea and in all the surrounding countryside. (EHV)
When
the Lord of Life says, “Get up!”
Dear
brothers and sisters in Christ,
It would not be too surprising if today’s service has
thus far left you feeling just a bit uneasy.
Most of us don’t feel all that comfortable thinking about death,
especially our own. Yet, every one of us
is on the same collision course that brought two groups of people together that
long-ago day outside the gate of a town called Nain. There, just outside the town gates, Jesus met
a funeral train, and likewise, a day is coming when each of us will meet Jesus
face to face in death. There, at Nain,
no one was expecting what would happen when death met the Lord of life. But do we know? Do we know where we stand with Jesus? Are we prepared for When
the Lord of Life says, “Get up!”?
Before we
get to the miracle of this event, we should know where this incidence fits in
Luke’s Gospel account. Just before Jesus
journeyed to Nain, He had an encounter with a Roman centurion. It is eye-opening! That man sent friends to Jesus asking Him to
come help his treasured servant who was severely ill. Yet, before Jesus even got to his house, the
centurion sent another message: "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for
I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself
worthy to come to you. But say the word,
and my servant will be healed. For I
myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,'
and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do
this,' and he does it." (Luke 7:6-8)
Jesus was
astonished at the man’s faith.
Understand what those words mean.
First, they indicate the centurion’s true humility before the Lord, but
even more important, that man, most likely a gentile and former pagan,
recognized Jesus as He truly is. The centurion
had authority over other soldiers, but He recognized that Jesus had authority
over all things, and that can mean only one thing, that he believed Jesus is
the true Son of God He claimed to be.
Out of all the people who followed Jesus hoping to learn from Him, this
one Roman centurion really got it. Jesus
is true God in human flesh. Jesus is the
author of life and God of life and death.
Therefore, we and everyone else should bow humbly before Jesus looking
forward to the day When the Lord of Life says, “Get
up!”
By the
way, that ailing servant was healed before the second set of messengers could
return to the centurion’s house. But, a
far greater healing happened the next day as Jesus journeyed to Nain. “As [Jesus] was approaching the town gate,
there was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother. She was a widow, and a considerable crowd
from the town was with her. When the
Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not cry.’”
Consider
the awfulness of that scene. A young man
had died. That alone always stirs up
sympathy. Yet, to make matters even more
severe for this grieving woman, he was an only child, and she was already a
widow, which meant that not only was her heart broken at the loss of her son,
but even her livelihood was at risk with no one to take care of her. She had to be feeling all alone in the
world. She had to be terrified for her
future. Her neighbors understood the
gravity of her situation. Likely they
had seen others like her reduced to begging to survive, so they grieved with
her.
It wasn’t
just the neighbors who saw the widow’s miserable situation. In just a day, Jesus had walked twenty miles
so that He could meet that funeral procession.
Before He spoke to the widow, Jesus knew what He intended to do, and
still, His insides were stirred up at the sight of her pain.
Dear
friends, never underestimate the love Jesus has for you. When you are hurting, Jesus sees it, and He
hurts for your pain. Never imagine that
you are alone in grief, because Jesus cares for you too, and He knows the
troubles and sorrows that afflict us.
Even more so, Jesus knows the death we, too, must one day face.
“When
the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not cry.’” It might sound callous to our cynical, modern
minds, but Jesus’ words are anything but harsh or callous. Jesus issues a command, but with the most
tender intention. He says, “Don’t cry,”
not because He doesn’t think it appropriate to weep, but because Jesus had come
to take away her grief. Jesus says,
“Don’t cry” because He brings the cure for her pain. And Jesus worked the cure for our pain, as
well.
“He
went up to the open coffin, touched it, and the pallbearers stopped. He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and
Jesus gave him to his mother.” Jesus
addressed that young man, personally, or who knows how many others might have
risen from their graves right there. But
the important point is that Jesus had the full power to give life to a dead
body, to heal whatever condition had caused the death, and to do so with only
the spoken word. Furthermore, Jesus
didn’t have to seek help from anyone not even His Father in heaven. Yes, we know that ancient prophets had raised
children from the dead by seeking God’s intervention. Read about Elijah and Elisha and their work,
but the fact that Jesus, by Himself, restores life to one who was dead and
heals whatever affliction was there, shows us who Jesus really is, the Son of
God about whom St. John would write, “All things were made through Him, and
without Him nothing was made that was made.
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:3-4)
The
centurion had recognized Jesus, but what about Jesus’ countrymen, and what
about people of our time? Who do we say
Jesus is? I am continually amazed, and
saddened, that so many people today don’t know that Jesus is true God, the One
through whom the world was created and is continually sustained, and that He
has done everything needed to take away our fear of death.
The crowd
that saw this miracle was greatly astonished.
In fact, the presence of such power terrified them. Luke reports, “Fear gripped all of them,
and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has arisen among us’ and ‘God
has visited his people!’ This was
reported about him in all of Judea and in all the surrounding countryside.” Luke says that fear took hold of the
people. They were amazed, yet many of
them weren’t really gratified. They
didn’t really know what to make of such a great happening, and some saw in
Jesus only a great prophet. Oh sure,
they knew His power came from God and they praised God for that, but how many
really grasped that Jesus is the Son God had promised would end death
forever?
We know
that many of those who had been following Jesus eventually turned away. We might marvel that anyone could see such a
miracle and still not believe that Jesus is true God, but perhaps we shouldn’t
be so quick to judge ourselves above them.
How many of us have stood grieving at the grave of a loved one and
wondered, “Where is Jesus, now?” How
many of us have contemplated the future and wondered what lies ahead for us at
the end of our days? How many of us have
been terrified of dying, or even worse, of being mocked by the unbelieving
neighbors around us for believing that Jesus saves? That is why it is so important for us to
contemplate death before we must face it in time. We need to know who holds our future in His
hands.
The truth
is, Jesus didn’t enter our world to spare everyone from physical death. Instead, Jesus became a Man to destroy
Satan’s rebellion that ends in permanent death in hell. Therefore, Jesus lived the life of holiness
and faithfulness His Father desires for all people. Then, having lived the holy life we need,
Jesus took the death our sins had earned, experiencing the punishment and exile
from God’s love that we all deserved. As
St. Paul wrote, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in
Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) That’s God’s “great exchange”—God counts
Jesus’ righteousness as ours, and our sin was credited to Jesus so that the
only begotten Son of God, having lived holiness for us, could then die to pay
the debt for our guilt
Jesus
told His disciples, “The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My
life—only to take it up again. No one
takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority
to take it up again. This command I
received from My Father." (John 10:17-18) Because Jesus truly is the Son of God, and
because He sacrificed Himself so we could live, He has become our hope, because
He not only raised that young man at Nain, but He rose Himself from death and
the grave so that we too can one day be raised up to live forever in heavenly
peace.
That,
dear friends, is our unwavering assurance as we contemplate death, whether ours
or a loved one’s. This world is not our
end. Life on earth isn’t all there is. These few years we have in this troubled
world can’t compare to the glory that awaits those who believe in Jesus. Whatever joys or sorrows we experience here,
cannot in any way be compared to what comes after that day arrives When the Lord of Life says, “Get up!”
You see there
is a day coming when all the dead will be called out of their graves. Our great Prophet, Priest, and King has
declared, "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the
sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the
clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:30) Those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior will on that day rise at Jesus’ command, restored to live with God
forever in glory.
On the
other hand, those who do not believe will also rise from the grave, but not to
enjoy life—rather to eternal banishment in hell. This is why we must continue in the one true
faith. Jesus is the only way to
heaven. Only He can take us there. Only Jesus can raise us to life everlasting,
and so we teach this to our children. We
tell it to our friends. We speak it even
when enemies put a gun to our heads, a knife to our throats, or speak whatever enticing
schemes and lies they might dream up to try to lead us away from the Son of
God.
Jesus
promised, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John
16:33) On Easter morning, Jesus threw
off His grave clothes and rose triumphant over every evil, over the devil,
death, and the tomb. Jesus lifted His
human body from the grave so that He could welcome us into the mansions of His
Father’s house prepared for those who believe in Him.
Dear
Christian friends, that is our sure confidence as we look toward the end of our
physical journey, that Jesus will on the last day call us up to life
everlasting. Your sins are forgiven for
Jesus’ sake. You have peace with Your Creator
God because Jesus lived, died, and rose again for you. So take heart through any trial, suffering, sorrow,
or pain this world throws against you, because even though our bodies may very
well lie resting in the grave long before Jesus returns to judge the world,
there is a blessed, glorious, triumphant day coming in which you, too, will
rise from the dead healed and fully restored—When the Lord of Life says to
you and to all, “Get up!” Amen.
Glory be
to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the
day of Christ Jesus. Amen.
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