Jesus Gives Life

Introduction

Well, it truly is a blessing to be with you this morning. Of course, John threw me off a little bit and had to think, you know, what am I better at Brent at? And when I left home at age 18 for college, I guess I was probably better than him at everything, but that was a long time ago. And it’s hard to think of anything now. But in any case, it is great to be here. many of you we have at least met or seen before in previous visits. Of course, a lot of names we don’t remember yet, but we look forward to over the years as we have opportunity to visit to learn those names and just the fellowship that we have in Christ.

Being brothers and sisters in Christ is such a treasure. And so it really is a joy to be here today. The screen gives you the scripture that will be our main passage for this morning, and the title of our lesson. But before we get to our main passage, I want to introduce it briefly by considering a couple of scriptures that give some context to resurrection miracles in the ministry of Jesus. And so if you look at Matthew chapter 10 and verse 8, Matthew chapter 10 and verse 8, Jesus is sending the apostles out on the limited commission, and he mentions that they will do miracles. Matthew chapter 10 and verse 8, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you receive, freely give.

We have no details of what they did, how many people they raised, but this does indicate that it did take place. Then over in Matthew chapter 11 and verse 5, and there is a parallel passage in Luke chapter 7, a little bit after our main passage for this morning. Matthew chapter 11 and verse 5, John the forerunner was questioning, is Jesus really the Messiah? You know, things didn’t go exactly the way John had anticipated. He is in prison, and he sends to ask Jesus this question. And Jesus answers by pointing to the miracles he is doing, and he quotes from Isaiah, Matthew chapter 11 and verse 5. You know, report to John what you hear and see. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

And it seems that he’s quoting from a couple of places in Isaiah, primarily Isaiah 61 and Isaiah 35. And those passages emphasize the blind and the deaf being healed, those that are lame being able to walk, but they don’t mention resurrection from the dead. But Jesus does mention that because it is happening. And once again, we don’t know how many people he raised from the dead. From descriptions of Jesus’ ministry, we know that he did hundreds, if not thousands, of miracles. Most of those were just simple healings, if there is such a thing as a simple healing. But we are told about three specifically.

1. The Context of the Miracle

And as we consider this event, we will look at the context of the miracle and make a connection with the Old Testament. We’ll observe the compassion and confidence of our Lord, and then conclude by seeing the greater gift that our Savior gives. If you turn over your Bibles to Luke chapter 7, verses 11 through 17. We have this miracle, and it occurs in the town of Nain. Maybe you haven’t looked at where Nain is recently in your Bible. It’s a tiny little village located in Galilee. Here’s a picture taken by Brother Leon Maldon. As was common at that time, especially in the smaller towns and villages. An entire town would participate in the mourning and burial of someone who had passed away. So Jesus and his disciples are traveling along when they come upon this village, the city of Nain, at the moment that a funeral procession took place.

Nain was a small village that was beautifully situated in the Ezraelan valley. In fact, the name means pleasant. It’s on the southern edge of Galilee, the Jezreel Valley, that’s what we know from the Old Testament, stretch from east to west from the Jordan River to Mount Carmel. The mountains of Samaria were across that valley to the south, and then to the north and east behind the village was Mount Tabor, and further in the distance they could see snow capped Mount Hermon. This wasn’t a walled city. It was a small town. And so when it mentions them coming out of the gate, we shouldn’t picture some large gate attached to fortified walls. It probably was just some small gate for livestock, protecting the main street that would have gone through the village.

To the west of this village are caves and burial sites. And so most likely the people of the town were headed in that direction when Jesus and the disciples came upon them.

Everybody knows one another. Now here comes this group of people that interject themselves into the funeral procession. But then a greater shock, of course, when Jesus stopped the procession and raised the young man from the dead in the sight of all people. And so their strong reaction doesn’t surprise us. And Luke’s note at the end of this passage in verse 17 that this report concerning him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district. No doubt everybody who was at that funeral told every relative and acquaintance as well as anyone that passed through town for many days to come.

This reminds me of a couple of statements in the book of Acts. In Acts chapter 2 and verse 22, in the first gospel sermon, the apostle Peter said this. Acts chapter 2 and verse 22. Men of Israel, listen to these words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs, which God performed through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know. So in the first gospel sermon, Peter asserts the things that Jesus did, everybody knew about them. They were done in the presence of many people. Then likewise to the one who would be the first Gentile convert in Acts chapter 10, Peter was speaking with Cornelius. Acts chapter 10, verses 37 and 38. And this is significant because this is not located in the heart of Galilee or in Jerusalem, it’s over in Caesarea, and it’s in Gentile territory among those that wouldn’t have much dealing necessarily with Jesus.

But Peter could assert this in verses 37 and 38. You yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. For God was with him.

2. A Great Prophet Has Arisen Among Us

It was done publicly, it was done in the presence of the people, as was this miracle. And so the report went out through all Judea. But if we go back to Luke chapter 7, we see something more specific about their reaction. Luke chapter 7. And now we are looking at verse 16. Luke chapter 7 and verse 16. Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, A great prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited his people.

This is the event of Elisha and the raising of the son of the Shunammite woman. This Old Testament town of Shunam was no longer inhabited in the first century, but it was in the vicinity of Nain, no more than a couple miles away, located in the same area of the Jezreel Valley. And it was in this city that a wealthy couple, at the prompting of the wife, made a lodging place for Elisha. Many of you remember this story from your children’s classes. And in return for their kindness, Elisha asked the Lord to bless this couple with a child. And so a son was born to them. But then in the narrative, it skips ahead a few years later, where suddenly in the field, this young boy passes away.

And when she arrives, Elisha knew that she was troubled, but the Lord had hid from him what the situation was. After she told Elisha what had happened, Elisha sent his servant Gehazi ahead of him to revive the boy, but he was unsuccessful in his mission. And when I read through those stories with Elisha and Gehazi, I just think there’s a place where you have the sense of humor in the Bible. Gehazi is one of the most useless servants that we’re told about. He doesn’t seem like he can do anything. But that’s a part of this story. Elisha sends him ahead, and he can’t revive the boy. So Elisha arrives and he goes up into the room alone and he prays to the Lord. But that itself was not alone to raise the boy from the dead.

And so next, he lays on the child, seemingly transferring his own life, his own power to the boy. And it took him doing this twice to resurrect the child to life. And when the child was revived, Elisha gave the boy back to his mother. Now, in some ways that’s deep in the Old Testament. But when we consider that in the Old Testament, there are only three resurrection stories. And this one took place in the very area where this resurrection story takes place.

3. The Compassion and Confidence of Our Lord

And that’s why they say a great prophet has arisen among us. Someone like Elisha that we’ve heard about from our childhood, who performed this miracle in this very area. Jesus has now done the same thing. But there are some important differences between these two stories. In the case of Elisha, the woman sought him out. And Elisha did not initially know what had happened. The Lord hid from him what the problem was as she approaches the prophet. But with Jesus, we are told that he is the one who initiated the action because he saw the mother. We are told in verse 13, Luke chapter 7 and verse 13. When the Lord saw her, he felt compassion for her.

It would not take someone with a divine nature to put the pieces together and realize that this was a widow mourning the death of her only child. And so he is moved with compassion. And of course, we know that our Lord is full of compassion. Now we’re not told that this woman was poor. But the village of Nain was a tiny village, and there’s no evidence that there were any rich people in it. It was just a small Galilean village that would have been populated by peasant people. And so now we have a woman who has no husband, and the only child who could provide for her is dead. Most likely she would be dependent on the kindness of her neighbors. And if this is the case, that’s a strong contrast to the old Testament story, where the Shunammite woman whom Elisha knew was wealthy and one of some standing.

When Elisha offered to speak to the king on her behalf, we are told that she could boldly say to Elisha, I live among my own people. Meaning, I don’t need anyone’s help.

As he approaches her and the body of her son. Do not weep.

You know, thou shalt not, do not, do not weep. Is it a command? I don’t think so. It was said in anticipation of his action that would take away the cause of her weeping. There would no longer be a need for weeping. And here we have the confidence of the Lord, a confidence that even Elisha the great prophet could not possess. Jesus knew he had the power to raise the young man to life. And he had determined to do so. And so he could calmly reassure the grieving mother to no longer weep. And we have that same assurance.

We know that he sees us when we weep.

And so whatever it is that you are facing this morning, you can know that the Lord sees you. And it’s from a place of compassion that he offers a way through the difficulties of this life. Such was the interaction of Jesus with this widow.

4. The Ultimate Gift of Eternal Life

And we see it emphasized here in Luke chapter 7 and the verses that follow that this is a confirmation of his identity as the Messiah. We realize that there is a more important gift, the ultimate gift. Now let’s turn over to John chapter 5. John chapter 5. Let’s read these verses together. John chapter 5, verses 24 through 29. John chapter 5, beginning in verse 24. Truly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but is passed out of life, out of death into life. Truly I say to you, an hour is coming, and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

For just as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. And he gave him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come forth. And those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. There are so many powerful important statements in this passage, and it’s a great context, and we won’t take the time to go through them, but it’s a passage where Jesus is emphasizing his identity and the authority of things that he has to do, and he’ll go on to provide the witnesses that he has that give confirmation of that.

But what we want to focus on briefly this morning is this ultimate gift that Jesus first speaks of the astounding gift of eternal life. It is available to all who will hear. That very first verse. Truly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. That’s the ultimate gift. We can have eternal life.

That is God through Jesus Christ. And so his words and his commandments, if we will hear Jesus, then we can have eternal life.

Everyone will come back to life. And so there will be universal obedience. But sadly, that response will not then result in everyone having universal eternal life. Because Jesus makes a distinction. He says that there are those who will come back for a resurrection of life, and then there will be those who come back for a resurrection of judgment. And so on that great day, there will be two different fates.

That you can pass out of that death into life, and you can live a life of hope and joy because of this ultimate gift. When we think about Jesus’ earthly ministry, when he walked the earth, very few people were brought back to life.

Conclusion

We have some indication that it was taking place, and we’re told of three specific instances, and then we’re told of a couple of instances of the apostles during the gospel dispensation of raising people from the dead. But what ultimately mattered then, and what ultimately matters now is this gift of eternal life. And so that’s the question that we have this morning. Is have you received life from Jesus? As marvelous as wonderful, astounding it was for that widow in the village of Nain to receive her son back from the dead. This is so much more important. To have the confidence, to have the knowledge, the assurance that you have eternal life. This is why Jesus came to this earth. This is why he died. This is why he was raised on the third day to give you and me eternal life.

So the wonderful message of the gospel is that this has been extended to each and every person. And that as we gather here this morning, we can leave this building today with the assurance that we have eternal life. Because God has spoken so clearly in his word the conditions, what it takes. Jesus’ death, his resurrection, the plain gospel message that if you will hear and respond to that in sincere faith, you can be baptized into Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins this very hour and receive eternal life. Is there someone here this morning that you’re ready to receive that gift? If so, why don’t you let that be known? Why don’t you come forward now as we stand and as we sing?