Luke chapter 7 and we're going
to read from verse 11. Luke chapter 7 and verse 11. And it came to pass the day after,
that is the day after the Lord had been in Capernaum and had
cured the centurion's servant. And it came to pass, the day
after, that he went into a city called Nain, and many of his
disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came
nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man
carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow,
and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw
her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
And he came and touched the buyer, and they that bare him stood
still. And he said, Young man, I say
unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up and
began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.
And there came a fear on all, and they glorified God, saying,
that a great prophet is risen up among us, and that God hath
visited his people. And this rumour of him went forth
throughout all Judea and throughout all the region round about. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. I want to begin by making a simple
observation. Only Luke records this miracle,
and this is the only time that this little city of Nain is mentioned
in the whole of Scripture. it's very likely that it was
the only time the Lord Jesus visited here at all. And the
Saviour had walked about 12 miles from Capernaum into the mountains
together with his disciples and it would appear a group of curious
onlookers in order to meet a funeral procession at the exact moment
that it emerged from the city gate on the way to bury this
young man. And what a sad occasion this
was. Who can measure the grief of
such a mother as this? already a widow and now embarked
on the burial of her only son, not so much a child as a young
man perhaps. And scripture acknowledges the
peculiar sorrow of such a scene. There's a little verse in Zechariah
chapter 12. It is actually a messianic text,
but the analogy that is used, the comparison that is used,
I think sheds some pathos on this scene before us here in
Luke chapter 7. Zechariah 12 verse 10 says, they shall mourn for him as one
mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him
as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. and that's
exactly the position that this lady was in. So it is almost
as if, look in writing as he does, he is using the circumstances
of this woman's grief. It symbolises the depth of loss
and as it were, epitomises the low point of human need. She had been left with nothing.
And that is what sin does. It robs us of all that is good. And yet, mercifully, we learn
that in her dismal state, The Lord had pity upon her. The Lord had pity upon her to
travel these 12 miles. The Lord had pity upon her to
go into the mountains with the express purpose of going to a
city that he'd never been to and would likely never go to
again in order to meet her in her moment of greatest need. And the extent of this woman's
pain and her extreme circumstances were known to the Lord. And when
it is said in verse 13, and when the Lord saw her, he had compassion
on her and said unto her, weep not. We see that empathy, that
sympathy coming to the fore. How she must have looked and
wondered at this intrusive stranger at the head of this crowd of
travellers coming into her city in the very moment when she's
trying to take her son's coffin to the burial ground. How she
must have wondered what he was about and little did she know
at that moment what good he was about to do for her. And I think
these are comforting words from the Lord. And I suspect that
down through the years and the history of the church, that many
have been consoled by this verse that speaks of the Lord's compassion
to the grieving and brokenhearted. And I want you just to take that
and note it, put it in your mental file somewhere that The day is
coming when you will grieve. The day is coming when you will
lose someone that you love. And the Lord says, having compassion
on her, weep not. And I think there's something
very tender and lovely in this verse for all those who grieve. It shows the Lord's compassion
to the grieving and brokenhearted. We have a saviour who knows us,
a saviour who knows our sadnesses and who knows our sorrows, whatever
they may be and however severe they are. A saviour who knows
in his own human soul the feeling of our infirmities. and we are
blessed to experience his love and pity and compassion towards
us, his tenderness, who whispers, weep not. And it puts us, I think,
in the place where this dear lady found herself on this day
as she prepared to bury her boy. That is, under the saving power
and the loving care of the only one who can truly share our deepest
troubles and solve our greatest problems. The Saviour raised three individuals
to life during his ministry. Jairus's daughter, and she had
only just died when he brought her back to life. Lazarus, who
was three days in the tomb before the Lord raised him from the
dead. And here, this young man, who was on his way to the graveyard,
surrounded by a large number of people from the city. And
the Lord, too, had a large group with him, so that these two groups
met in the narrow gate of the city. One party trying to leave,
the other party trying to enter. And what a scene that must have
been. Christ, who is the resurrection
and the life, meets head on the final enemy of all humankind. And who would give way Who would
yield the road? It's a wonderful promise we have
as believers in Christ that death no longer has any sting for us. The grave can claim no victory
over us. Of course, we look to the Lord's
own resurrection for this, but these incidents in Christ's own
ministry also testify to the life-giving power that is vested
in the Saviour. So the Lord stops the buyer,
he stops the coffin. Who would do such a thing? No
one. The traffic stops for a hearse. People stop and take their hats
off when a coffin is passing. Well, they used to, maybe they
don't do it so much nowadays. But who would step out onto the
road and stop a funeral? No one would stop a funeral procession. Everyone would stand aside as
a mark of respect, but the Lord Jesus does not defer to death. And we're not going to become
too much overdramatic here, but no doubt Satan assumed that he
had secured another prize, courtesy of Adam's sin, another trophy
from the fall. But little did he realise, one
stronger than he was about to spoil his party and spoil his
house. Christ is the strong man armed,
who as God has power over death, hell and the grave. And he proved
this day that Satan is no real foe, nor is death to be feared
to those who belong to Christ. And here I think is something
notable. Christ received no request from
this woman concerning her son's life. And he asked no permission
to work a miracle. He simply took charge of the
scene. He halted the buyer by touching
it, indicating to those who were carrying it that he wished them
to stop. He did not pray to his father.
He did not ask for the involvement or the assistance of those who
were present. He simply addressed the dead
corpse on the bier. And Christ spoke as one who had
the keys of death and the grave. And when he spoke, divine power
went along with his words. His power returned life to this
dead body. It brought the soul of this young
man back into his flesh and raised the dead to life. And this is
full proof of the true and proper deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. We note the Lord's words, young
man, He addresses the corpse and no other. It's a personal
call addressed to a particular individual. He announces who
it is that is speaking. But he doesn't announce himself
with any flowery title. He simply says, I say unto thee. He spoke with his own authority
in his own name. I'm sure that there must have
been no sound at this time except the Lord's voice. This cortege
had stopped. Christ's followers must have
been straining to hear what was being said and the command was
simple and direct. Arise. Young man, I say unto
thee, arise. And no power in heaven, on earth,
or under the earth could resist this command. This was the same
voice that brought all creation into being. The same breath that
breathed life into Adam. And now it returned the animal
spirit to the body of this youth and commanded him to rise up. And he rose. He that was dead,
was dead, but now is alive, sat up and began to speak, evident
proof to all those present that a great miracle had been accomplished. I don't know what he said. We're
not told. Maybe he asked, where am I? Or what's happening? But I suspect
whatever he said, worship of Christ was not very far from
his lips. And the Lord at once delivered
the boy to his mother. We remarked last week how the
centurion's servant had been healed for the centurion's sake,
and how Christ remarked on the centurion's faith by which his
servant benefited. And here again, the miracle was
performed for the sake of the mother, upon whom, for her sad
state, the Lord had compassion. And here this life-giving miracle
is performed without any reference to faith, either in the boy,
who could have none because he was dead, or the mother, who,
like the boy, was simply a passive recipient of Christ's grace and
kindness. Let me just finish off here.
There's a couple of points that I want to leave with you as little
lessons. The first one is this. Christ
has power over life and death. And what we observe being effected
in the natural realm in Nain is a picture of what Christ graciously
and lovingly performs in the spiritual realm for his people. He who is God gives life to whomsoever
he wills. He came to name to meet this
funeral procession because here was a woman upon whom he had
compassion and here was a boy upon whom he had decided to perform
a great miracle. And Christ exercised his will
sovereignly in this matter and demonstrated his power to effect
whatever he willed to do. Secondly, we speak of irresistible
grace. No one here in the street, in
the gate, in the city of Nain had power to effect this conversion
from death to life. No one but Christ. Many would
have liked to have done it, many would have willed to have done
it, but no one had the power. Christ has the will and the power. The Lord left Capernaum, travelled
a dozen miles, met this boy on his coffin in the gate of a remote
village to which it seems he never returned again. We hear
of him doing nothing else in this village but what he did
here this day. but grace is distinguishing and
particular, and when it is applied, it is irresistible and effectual. And this is what happens in the
Gospel when the Holy Spirit brings life to those who are spiritually
dead in sin. He gives the gift of life, the
new creation, the new nature by which faith is enabled and
drawn forth to Christ as its object. And spiritual life is
a sovereign work of God, and where it is bestowed, there is
faith, there is joy, and there is gladness. What joy there must have been
in Nain that day! I don't hold with the idea of
funerals being occasions for celebrating the life of the person
who has just died. If the person was a believer,
we can be happy that they are in heaven with the Lord. If they
were not a believer, it seems to me a bit incongruous that
we should be celebrating when they are suffering in hell. but
try explaining that to a person who wishes to use the death of
a friend as an excuse for a party. However, I feel sure that there
was a celebration of life and not of death, but of life and
resurrection in Nain this day. And those who had gathered to
mourn went home rejoicing and marvelling at what they had seen. The fear that fell on these people
that day was not a craven fear but respect and reverence for
the Lord Jesus and towards God who had sent the Messiah into
the world. The reference to God visiting
his people shows that Christ was being viewed as the fulfilment
of the Old Testament messianic prophecies. In recent months,
the report of a great healer had swept the region. Now it
was rumoured that the healer could raise the dead and the
sovereign power and divine glory of Christ was being demonstrated
and faith and new life was being given to men. May the Lord bless
these thoughts to us today.