Allen Joseph
Instrumentation and Control Engineering, 2nd Year
SRM University
Praise the Lord!
Reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 7, verses 11-16.
11Soon
afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and His disciples and a large
crowd went along with Him.
12As 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.
13When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to
her and He said, “Don’t cry.”
14Then he went up and touched the coffin, and
those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young
man, I say to you, get up!”
15The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to
his mother.
16They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.”
17This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea
and the surrounding country.
In this passage that we read, the first verse
speaks about Jesus going to a town called Nain, and His disciples and a large
crowd were following Him. Let’s turn our eyes upon Jesus. Firstly,
Jesus lived on this earth for thirty three and a half years and this incident
takes place in the life of Jesus during His time of ministry - the last three
and a half years. I would like to call Jesus, ‘a young man’. This young man, Jesus, is going into a
town called Nain. Secondly, let us read from the Gospel of John, chapter 14,
verse 6,
Jesus says “I am the way, the truth and the life”.
Here I would like to take the part
in which Jesus says “I am the life”. He is the
source of eternal life. Therefore, a young man named Jesus who is the Life went
to a town called Nain. I would like you to remember this, Jesus was a young man
and He was the Life. There is a large crowd following Jesus, that is, a large crowd was following Life.
On the contrary, the second verse in the passage
speaks of a dead person. This person doesn’t have life. He is life-less and dead.
And do not neglect the fact that this person is also a young man (verse 14). This man is being brought
out from the town called Nain. He is a young man and he is dead. We read in
verse 12 that there is another large crowd following this dead young man.
I would like to draw a comparison between the
verses. We see a young man named Jesus who is the Life and there is a large
crowd following Him. We see another young man who is dead and there is a large
crowd following Him. We read in Romans, chapter 8, verse 6
“To be carnally minded is sin and death”.
There is a large crowd following
the carnal mind, that is the death.
As we read further, we read in verse 13,
When the Lord saw the mother, His heart went
out to her and He said, “Don’t cry.”
This verse tells us about the mother who was crying. The
mother couldn’t be silent. Her heart was broken. She was weeping. She was in
agony for her dead son. She would have cried, ‘Won’t he come back to life again?’
Her anguish for her son was deep. We also see that there is a crowd along with
the mother. As Jesus approached the town gate, He sees a company of people
accompanying the corpse and the mother. But it was the mother who caught Jesus' attention. The Bible does not say that He saw the crowd but the Bible says that Jesus saw the mother, who was weeping for her dead son. We read
in Psalm, chapter 34, verse 18,
“The
Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Lord Jesus heard the cries of the
mother and He could no longer be silent but His heart went out to her. He said
to her, “Don’t cry!”
Who is this mother? Contextually, it’s
obvious that she is the mother of the dead son. But I would like to make an
allusion here. In Galatians, chapter 4, verse 26, it says:
“But the Jerusalem that is above is free and
she is our mother”.
My brothers and sisters, we, the believers, we are the people who belong to the
Jerusalem. We are the mother.
And Jesus goes up to the young man and He says, “Young
man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up. Praise the Lord!
Jesus, the Life met death and death could no more hold its reins over the young
man but gave him up to Life, so that Life could reign in him. Now, the man had received the Life
and he couldn’t be silent. He spoke. He became a living testimony. Jesus
gave Him back to his mother, Jerusalem. People praised God and they
glorified Him!
My brother, my sister, this is what that happens
when we, the mother pray for the dead people, people who are carnally minded.
If you are a believer, then don’t you forget that there was a mother
crying out for you every day that you might receive Life and the Lord beheld
her tears and gave you Life.
My dear brothers and sisters, you have to cry out
for the people who are dead in spirit and for those who follow death.
In Romans chapter 5, verse 5, it says:
“And hope does not disappoint us, because
God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has
given us.”
The love
of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. As you read
this, my dear brothers and sisters, listen to the voice of the Holy Ghost,
surrender to His voice and allow Him to fill your hearts with His love.
Now, when you look at your friend or
your neighbor who is dead you will cry out for him. Your obligation to weep for
the dead comes from the love of God, given to us through His Holy Spirit.
Surrender to the Spirit now as you hear His voice. Cry out for the dead. Cry
out for your unsaved friends. Let Life meet the dead and make them a living
testimony.
Praised and glorified be the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
