The Death of Death

Series on Luke

III The Initiation

D The Activities of His Ministry Revealing That the Kingdom Is:

2 Fountain of Life

Text: 7:11-17

Introduction

The Bible teaches that there will be a general resurrection at the end of the age. Though the idea of resurrection has been expressed in the beliefs and writings of various cultures, there has never been a doctrine of the resurrection outside of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Muslims believe in it but they are followers of a Christian heresy. The victorious resurrection of Jesus and the general resurrection of humans is taught by Jesus. He told His disciples before he died that He would rise again, and in John 5:24-29, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. The Christian doctrine is a very specific and unique doctrine and we should distinguish it from other things that are sometimes called resurrections. People are revived or resuscitated on hospital beds, but this is not resurrection. In the Bible when Enoch and Moses and Elijah are taken directly into heaven without passing through death, it is a translation and a transformation, not a resurrection. When ideas and movements reemerge in societies sometimes these are referred as resurrections but they are a rebirth, renaissance, renascence, or renewal. None of these is a resurrection in the Christian sense . In John 5 there are just two experiences that Jesus refers to as resurrections. The first is a spiritual resurrection in which the person is delivered from spiritual death by union with Christ. The second is a physical resurrection in which the graves are opened. The latter is the kind of resurrection we see in our text. This resurrection is a sign pointing to Jesus uniqueness and power and it is a sign of His compassion, conquest, and comfort for all His people.

I Compassion

We see Jesus compassion in verses 11-13, Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As 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. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Luke is the only gospel that contains this account, but it is a tremendous encouragement to us as we travel through this vale of tears. Nobody is asking for help and nobody is expecting this deliverance. It is motivated entirely by the compassion of Jesus. This assures us even today of the fact that he sees us in need and cares for us even when we are not aware of it. Jesus hates death. He shuddered at the prospect of it in the Garden of Gethsamane, He wept at Lazarus tomb, and he went to the cross to destroy it. Not many were raised in the gospel narratives like the widow’s son and Lazarus, but one day that same power will raise up every single one who believes, because as Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15:24-26, Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. He cared on that day in the town of Nain and He cared for you when He went to the cross to deliver all those who throughout their lives were subject to bondage because of the fear of death.

II Conquest

Our narrative continues in verse 14, Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The response to this miraculous deliverance from death is recorded in verses 16 and 17, They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. The people were amazed and praised God and the news spread about His mighty works, as we would expect. They declared Him a prophet, but they did not understand who He really was. It is interesting that in the very next section the disciples of John the Baptist come to Jesus with a question as to whether He is the Messiah. When Jesus answers He reflects on the ministry of John and says to the multitude that John was more than a prophet, he was the forerunner of the Messiah, Jesus Himself. One can understand from the history of the nation, Israel, why they said Jesus was a prophet. It was the prophets Elijah and Elisha through whom God raised the dead, and Israel had been a long long time, 400 years, without the voice of a prophet or any signs from heaven. But saying Jesus was a prophet, while true, was also a masterpiece of understatement. In the Old Testament all the predictions of the Messiah pointed to His divinity. In Isaiah 9 He is called Immanuel, which means God with us, and there He is described as the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. Jeremiah 23 declares that the Messiah will be a branch or descendant of the House of David, and His name will be the Lord, Yahweh, our righteousness. Micah in predicting His birth in Bethlehem says, But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting (King James Version). They should have known that Jesus was more than a prophet because of the multitude of miracles he was performing including raising the dead. But they were right about one thing. God had come to help them not just by sending a prophet, but by coming Himself to conquer death and raise them to new life.

III Comfort

One verse in this passage focuses on the comfort of Jesus person and message, verse 15, The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. There are many tender scenes in the Bible, but this has to rate as one of the best. The poor widow, already in a situation of privation without a husband has at least a son to help her. When her son dies she has nothing at all. Jesus, it has been said, broke up every funeral he attended. Jesus hated death and that is why he came to sacrifice Himself in order to destroy it. During His earthly ministry he brought few people back from the dead in the overall scheme of things, but one day His power over the grave will be seen in an awesome display, when the graves are opened. And Paul assures us and the Thessalonian Christians, in I Thessalonians 4:13-18, Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. In that day it will be said that He has returned to us our lost loved ones who died in faith. He is going to be saying to us, “Here is your husband or wife, here is your son or daughter, here is your mother and father. Weep not dear one.” He who wept at Lazarus’ grave, who wept over lost Jerusalem and His people, will say to us, ‘Weep no more.” In the words of Psalm 30:5, Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Jesus spoke to His disciples in John 16 preparing them for His impending death and in verses 19-22 He says, In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. So it shall be in that great day.