This morning, we continue our series, “The Miracles of Jesus.”
Before we get into the miracle, let’s look at the foundational scripture I will share be sharing with you all year.
(Psalm 126:4 TPT)
Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of your refreshing flow over us until our dry hearts are drenched again.
This is a season of refreshing and restoring for us. I pray you get refreshed and restored as we study each miracle.
(Luke 7:11-17 ERV)
11 The next day Jesus and his followers went to a town called Nain. A big crowd was traveling with them.
12 When Jesus came near the town gate, he saw some people carrying a dead body. It was the only son of a woman who was a widow. Walking with her were many other people from the town.
13 When the Lord saw the woman, he felt very sorry for her and said, “Don’t cry.”
14 He walked to the open coffin and touched it. The men who were carrying the coffin stopped. Jesus spoke to the dead son: “Young man, I tell you, get up!”
15 Then the boy sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16 Everyone was filled with fear. They began praising God and said, “A great prophet is here with us!” and “God is taking care of his people.”
17 This news about Jesus spread all over Judea and to all the other places around there.
Setting the stage:
In Luke 7, we find Jesus traveling into the town of Nain. He was with His disciples, and a large crowd followed them. As He approached the town gate, Jesus came into contact with a funeral procession. It was the funeral of a young man who was his mother’s only son. To make matters worse, his mother was a widow.
After her son’s death, the widow was left husbandless and sonless. This was a bad situation for her. To better grasp the reality of her situation, we need to know a little about the Judaic Law. Under the Law (see Duet 25:5,6), if a woman’s husband died, she would be left to live with her children, in most cases, grown sons. If a woman’s husband died and they did not have any children, she would have to marry one of her deceased husband’s brothers. Her brother-in-law would become her husband. A woman with a dead husband and a dead son was in a difficult situation because women, back then, relied heavily on their husbands (or sons) because of the way their society was set up. The text here makes no mention of a brother-in-law. So this woman was basically on her own, and in her culture, at that time, it meant that she would more than likely struggle to get by. Women had very little public interaction with men outside of their families.
With all of that in mind, take a minute now to picture this woman. Her husband had already died, and she had transitioned her life into becoming comfortable with living with her grown son. Her son had become her source of stability and strength. Her son was her interface with the community. Her son was also a perpetual reminder of her dead husband. In many ways, her son was her source of sanity. But now, even her son was dead.
Both men she cared for and loved were gone, leaving her all alone in a male-driven society. She did not know what she would do. She was following the casket of her dead son and grieving the loss of her husband, her son, and her life as she knew it. It was at this point, at her lowest of lows, at her worst of times, that Jesus saw her. His heart immediately went out to her, and He said what we would expect anyone who is motivated by love to say, “Don’t cry.” But how could she stop? The people she cared for the most were gone. Jesus knew the reality of her situation, but He also knew that He could change it.
Without this woman praying or asking Jesus to do anything, Jesus walked over to the coffin, touched it, and said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk. The man was alive again. If the focus of the miracle was the man, then Jesus would have left at that point. But the focus of the miracle was not so much the man but his mother. Jesus took the man and led him back to his mother as if to restore her broken heart and rejuvenate her life. God is so good!
So what does this mean for you today? A few things:
1. Our God is a God of compassion.
Unlike most of Jesus’ miracles, where He wound up saying something like, “This was done for you according to your faith,” the widow in Nain did nothing to receive her breakthrough.
— She did not ask Jesus to do anything.
— She did not pray or exhibit any faith.
— She did not speak the language of faith with some sort of declaration.
— All she did was cry and hurt, and Jesus did the rest!
— This miracle was an act of compassion by Jesus, and it was a manifestation of God’s unearned and amazing grace!
— Jesus saw the woman crying and hurting, and His heart was broken for her. So He was moved with compassion to raise her son back to life. Look at God! This is how much He loves us!
— This reminds us that even in the midst of our own grief and sorrow, God’s love and compassion are always present.
2. God wants us to intercede for others.
— While the woman did not release her faith, Jesus provided faith for her. He stood in the gap. He became an intercessor for this woman.
— This reminds us of the power of intercession.
— Intercession refers to the act of praying on behalf of another person or group of people, asking God to intervene on their behalf or to show them mercy.
— Intercession can also refer to the work of Jesus Christ as a mediator between God and humanity. Jesus is in heaven right now, interceding for us!
— When we are led by the Holy Spirit, He will often lead us to intercede for others, praying on behalf of others. God will even wake you up in the middle of the night to pray for someone else.
— Just as Jesus interceded for this young man and his mother, we too can intercede for those in need, trusting that God will hear our prayers and bring healing and restoration to those He places on our hearts.
3. It is important to be led by the Holy Spirit.
— Jesus went around doing whatever the Holy Spirit led Him to do. In this case, He was led by the Holy Spirit to stop a funeral procession and raise a young man back to life!
— This miracle took place because Jesus listened to the voice of the Holy Spirit. When we are led by the Holy Spirit, as Jesus was, we will be able to perform the will of the Father on this planet. Because the Holy Spirit will lead us to do what the Father wants to be done within our sphere of influence. But we must have the faith to attempt it. If God tells you to do something that is seemingly crazy like He did with Jesus in our text, would you have the faith to attempt it? Or would you be too afraid of failure? That’s a question you need to consider in your own heart.
— The fear of failure or the fear of people’s opinions often keeps believers from attempting or pursuing God-sized dreams. Don’t let fear keep you from God’s best!
5. God has the power of the resurrection.
Many of us read about this miracle today as if it were no big deal. But what if you were at a funeral, and the casket was being carried down the road on the way to the cemetery when somebody stopped the procession to touch the coffin, and the body jumped up out of it? What type of reaction do you think the people present would have? This was a big deal back then, and it is today too.
— Those of us who are Born-Again and are persuaded that we will go to heaven when we die are people who are very comfortable with the concept of the resurrection. But in Jesus’ day, the resurrection of the dead was a major question. It is still a question for many in our day. When Jesus raised people from the dead, and He talked about the power of the resurrection and how he would be raised from the dead, it was a major demonstration of God’s power. So much so that the apostle Paul preached about the power of the resurrection routinely.
— This is something that is not preached that often today, but we must remember that God has the power of the resurrection. Those of us who are in Christ have done all the dying we are going to do. When we die physically, we get to graduate from earth to glory, from time to eternity, and from mortal to immortal. Why? Because we know God has the power of the resurrection. We will be resurrected from the dead, and we will forever be with the Lord. That’s good news!
6. Jesus has authority over all things.
When Jesus raised the widow’s son from the dead, the crowd was amazed at what Jesus had done. They recognized that he was a man of great authority. This miracle reminds us that Jesus has authority over all things, including death. Jesus is LORD. He is LORD of all. He has ALL power in heaven, on earth, and even under the earth. There is nothing that God cannot do!
Not only does Jesus have ALL POWER, but He has given us the power to operate in His power. He has given us the power and authority to operate in His name on this planet!
I will close by going back to the point that this was an act of God’s grace. This message is a reminder that our God is a good God. He wants to heal our hurt, remove our pain, restore us from brokenness, and rejuvenate our joy. So no matter where you are this morning – physically, spiritually, emotionally, or mentally – know that God is there with you, and He cares!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me!
You love me with everlasting and unconditional love.
You have compassion for me when I am hurting and in despair.
You go out of your way to bless me and meet me where I am.
You restore me to the place of Your love, and You then use me to intercede for others.
You lead me TO BE a blessing to others, and You hear my prayers for them.
You help me wipe away my tears and dispel my fears and empower me to help others do the same.
Thank You, Father, for being so good! It is because of Your goodness that I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
1 comment
Quite insightful!
Was preparing for a prayer meeting where we are praying for a relative, a
young woman who is in hospital and this reading really supported my preparations. Thank you