“A great prophet has arisen among us.”  And, “God has visited his people.”  So said the crowd.

That was their reaction.  And it is not difficult to see why.  They had just seen a miracle.  A young man was brought back from the dead.

The event took place in Nain.  As far as we know, 2000 years ago it was a town located not far from Nazareth, in Israel.  Today it is a village of less than 2000 people.

Picture the scene.  Luke gives us the details (Luke vii.11-17).  A woman led the way to a grave.  That is what usually happened.  The chief mourner was at the front.  Then came the bier (a plank of wood or a wooden frame) upon which the dead person was placed.  Behind would be family and friends and other mourners.

On this occasion the chief mourner was a widow.  The dead person was her only son.  And many from the town, Luke says, went to the grave with her.

The widow, no doubt, had great cause to weep.  And weep she did.  She did so for at least three reasons. First, her only son was dead.  Secondly, being a widow, she had no husband to support her.  And thirdly, her future looked very bleak.

In those days it was usual for a woman to be looked after by her father (if she was not married), by her husband (if she was married), or by her son (if she had one).  We know that she now had no husband and no son.  It is therefore probable that she had no one to protect and to provide for her.

As she made her way to the grave; it would have been outside the town; she met a man.  In fact she met him near the town gate.  He saw her weeping.  What did he do?  Luke tells us that he had compassion on her.

Compassion is love; it is love to a person in need.  How did this man show love to this very needy woman?

First, he spoke to her.  He told her to weep no more.

Secondly he touched the bier.  That was something people would try to avoid.  Why?  Because it could lead to them being ceremonially unclean.  That was something a devout Jew would seek to avoid, except when they had to bury a loved one.

Thirdly, the man spoke to the woman’s dead son.  He said to him: “Young man, I say to you arise.”

And, fourthly, he gave the now living young man back to his mother.

There are two lessons that stand out from these events.  Both concern Jesus Christ, for he was the man who went to Nain that day.  Not long before he was in the Galilean town of Capernaum (see Luke vii.1-10).  Then he went to Nain, and a great crowd went with him (Luke vii.11).  

What lessons can we learn?

One, Jesus shows love to the needy.  And he does so freely.  This widow did not ask for help.  Nor did she look for it from Jesus.  Instead he approached her.  And, Luke is careful to tell us, he did so because he had compassion upon her.

We have noted how great this woman’s need was.  It may be that you think that your need at present is also great.  In fact it is not unusual for us to think that others do not appreciate just how needy we are.  Often we suppress the fact that our spiritual needs are not just great but very great.  We concentrate our minds on circumstances and conclude that no one fully appreciates the true nature of the problems we face.  We can even feel very sorry for ourselves when our emotional and physical needs press in upon us.

We can, at the same time, either ignore or suppress the fact that our greatest need is to be made right with God.  If you do not know how to find forgiveness for all the wrongs you have done, and continue to do wrong, then your need is very great.  And if you do not know the Holy Spirit of God empowering you to love and serve Jesus Christ then you are in great spiritual need.

But you need not despair.  As this widow discovered, and the on-lookers observed, Jesus Christ shows love to the needy.  That is a very important lesson you can learn from this incident.

There is another.  Jesus Christ gives life to the dead.  I think we can safely say that no one in Nain that day knew what would happen.  We can be more precise.  No one knew that a young man (who had died) would be raised from the dead.  Yet that is exactly what happened.  And it happened because Jesus Christ had power to do it.

Jesus did not try to resuscitate the man.  There is no evidence that he touched him.  Luke is careful to say that Jesus touched the bier, not the body of the dead young man.

Instead Jesus gave a command.  He told the widow’s son to arise.  The dead man was to do what he had no power to do.  Yet he did what he was told.  He sat up.  And, having sat up, he began to speak.

We are not told exactly who it was to whom he spoke but it is probable that it would have been to either Jesus or his mother.  If it was not to his mother first then she would have been next for Jesus immediately gave him to his mother (Luke vii.15).

The only logical explanation for this miracle is this: Jesus Christ raised the man from the dead.  That claim is supported by the reaction of the crowd.  They were all seized by fear.

The word used speaks of awe or terror.  Clearly the crowd that escorted Jesus, and the crowd from Nain that followed the widow, and the widow and her son were aware that someone very special was among them.  They called Jesus a “great prophet.”  They said that God had visited his people.  In other words, they saw that he (1) had a message for them from God; (2) had come from God; and (3) had power from God.

When you think about what Jesus both did and taught during the years of his public activity (over a three year period), you cannot exclude the explanations given by the crowds at Nain.  His words and works indicate that he came to teach us God’s Word and to show us God’s way.

In particular there are two truths that I invite you to consider and accept.

First, Jesus Christ shows love to the needy.  Your needs may not be the same as those of the widow in Nain.  But they are real.  You need one who will turn your weeping to joy; who, when you are sad will cause you to be happy and thankful.

Jesus Christ says to you, and to all people, “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew xi.28).

Secondly, Jesus Christ gives life to the dead.  One day you will die.  In the meantime you need spiritual life.  Why?  Because you were born inclined to reject God.  You have made things worse by doing what is wrong in his eyes.  As a result you are, as Paul says, “dead” in your sins” (Ephesians ii.1).

Jesus Christ says to you, and all people, “I am the resurrection and the life.”  If you believe in him, though you die, yet you shall live (John xi.25).

Who is Jesus?  He is the giver of new life and rest.  Life comes first.  Rest follows.  In fact, where there is no life there is not rest, for eternal life is what those who receive Christ enjoy.

EPC  18 September 2016