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Easter Special Message Luke 7:11-17 Key Verse: Luke 7:14b Young man, Get up! "He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" In today¡¯s passage Jesus meets a woman whose only son had just died. What great sorrow for a mother that her only son died! What was worse, this woman was a widow. Who could understand her sorrow? Who could possibly comfort her? But our Lord Jesus said to her, ¡°Don¡¯t cry.¡± We want to think about why Jesus said this to her. May God help us to hear Jesus¡¯ words, ¡°Don¡¯t cry.¡± May God help us to listen to the voice of the risen Jesus, "Young man, get up!" First, Jesus¡¯ procession of life meets a procession of death (11-12). Look at verse 1. "Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him." Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd were going to a town, Nain. Nain was 40 kilometers away south from Capernaum. It was not a short distance, like a few blocks in a city. It was a long journey. We understand Jesus' disciples went with Jesus long way. The disciples were always ready to go no matter how distant it was. They already made a personal commitments to Jesus. Rather, a long journey might have given them time for a change. They were eager to learn from Jesus; at the same time, they were eager for sightseeing. But this time a large crowd went with them. To the disciples, a large crowd was a big burden. If they had been going by themselves, they could have enjoyed their own journey. They had to serve the large crowd; they had to distribute hamburgers and check the list of attendees. But they accepted their destiny as shepherds of crowds. Why people with Jesus? They felt the shepherd's love of Jesus. They had seen God's amazing work through Jesus. They were compelled to follow him. They had experienced the power of Jesus to heal the sick and drive out evil spirits. They felt they were in the kingdom of God, for wherever Jesus is, there is the kingdom of God. They happily followed Jesus to Nain. They sang hymns as they were marching along the road. Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus going on before. Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; Forward into battle see His banners go! The procession to Nain looked like Pilgrims' progress to the heavenly kingdom. They were a procession of life, hope, joy and praise. Look at verse 12. Look at verse 12. ¡°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.¡± This procession was very different from the procession Jesus led in mood and contents. It was a funeral procession for the only son of a widowed mother. At the head of the procession, the young man¡¯s lifeless body was being carried. Following was the boy¡¯s mother, weeping and grieving over the loss of her son. Behind her were many people from the town. They, too, sorrowed and grieved. Why did the funeral look so sad? There are two kinds of deaths£one is dying old and the other is dying young. This funeral is for the young man who died too young. We don't know why he died young. The fact of dying young makes us sorrowful. To make us more sorrowful, the young man was the only son of a widowed woman. The woman had lost her husband and now her only son. He died too young. At the very moment he should be sprouting into a responsible man and a source of blessing, he died. Now he was being carried out for burial to go back to the dust of the earth. His boyish features, which had been so cute to his mom, would rot away, decompose and go back to the dust of the ground. The woman lost the object of her affection. She was deprived of her only hope. She felt like the sky collapsed and the ground sank under her feet. Her only son had been the meaning and purpose of her life. He was everything to her. Now, death stole away everything from her. Death, to her, was like a robber. Death was her hated enemy! She cried and cried over her son. Her sorrow was so much that he fainted several times crying in sorrow. She looked absently at the coffin. No one knew how to comfort her. Rather, all the people of the town began to mourn together with her. The power of death had swallowed them all. This is an allegory of all mankind under the power of death. Look at verse 12 again. The two processions approached each other. The sounds of ¡°Onward Christian Soldiers,¡± began to mingle with the sounds of mourning and wailing. People in both processions were surprised to hear each other expressing opposite emotions. They began to listen to each other and became quiet. But one woman could not stop crying. It was the mother of the dead man. Jesus surveyed the scene and his eyes fell on this woman. Second, Jesus said, ¡°Don¡¯t cry¡± (13). Look at verse 13. ¡°When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, ¡®Don¡¯t cry.¡¯¡± Here we learn the heart of Jesus. As soon as Jesus saw this woman, his heart went out to her. Jesus¡¯ attention and affection were immediately focused on this woman. To Jesus, she was the only person in the universe. He was ready to do anything for her and wanted to help her at any cost. She had not sought Jesus at all, as the centurion had for his dying servant. She happened to meet Jesus by chance, as his procession crossed paths with hers. She said nothing; she only cried. But Jesus heard her cry. And Jesus¡¯ heart went out to her. Jesus said to her, ¡°Don¡¯t cry.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t cry¡±? How could he say to her, ¡°Don¡¯t cry¡±? It would be reasonable to say, ¡°I am so sorry.¡± Or, ¡°I feel your pain.¡± Could we say to the bereaved family at the funeral, ¡°Don¡¯t cry¡±? But Jesus said to her, ¡°Don¡¯t cry.¡± When Jesus said, ¡°Don¡¯t cry,¡± he was not telling her to live without feelings. When Jesus said, ¡°Don¡¯t cry,¡± he meant he would carry her sorrows. He meant what? He would carry her sorrows. Only Jesus could say this to her. Only Jesus could heal the sorrow that made her cry. We all experience sorrow in our lives. Sometimes it is good for us. But sometimes it is harmful to us. When we cry, we must think about why we cry. St. Paul tells us about two different kinds of sorrow. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says, ¡°Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.¡± Godly sorrow is sorrow for our sins. It leads us to repentance and salvation. This sorrow is good for us. We must shed many tears because of our sins until we receive God¡¯s salvation. This was the sorrow of St. Peter when he denied Jesus three times (Lk 22:62). It led him to deep repentance and finally to make a new relationship with Jesus on the basis of Jesus¡¯ love for him. Ultimately, this sorrow led Peter to become a great shepherd who encouraged the early church to evangelize Rome and the whole world. We can see this sorrow in those who sometimes break into tears when they share their testimonies at the Bible camp or testimony sharing meetings. This is healthy. So we give them tissues and say, ¡°Continue, continue. Go on crying.¡± There is also the sorrow of a broken shepherd¡¯s heart. St. Paul had this sorrow for his people Israel. He said, ¡°I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart¡± (Ro 9:2). This sorrow leads us to pray to God on behalf of our people and our sheep. This sorrow made Jeremiah the prophet cry out, ¡°I wish my head were a well of water and my eyes a fountain of tears so that I could cry day and night for my people who have been killed¡± (Jer 9:1). We need to pray for this kind of sorrow to be poured into our hearts. But there is also worldly sorrow. Worldly sorrow is not good for us. In fact, it leads to death. Usually it is self-pity and it comes from a ¡°victim mentality.¡± Some people want to looked sad so that they may received comfort and attention from others. Others uses tears to get out of disadvantageous situations. Sometimes they shed tears not knowing why they are crying. They wet their pillow in the sleepless night because of their soul's loneliness and sorrow. We must know that self-pity is a spiritual disease. Worldly sorrow comes from the power of death. When Jesus rose from the dead, Maria wept a lot before the empty tomb. She thought somebody had stolen Jesus' body. The angels sitting where the body of Jesus had been said, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Maria was looking for dead Jesus. She didn't know Jesus had risen! She was under the power of death. She shed many tears because she didn't meet the risen Jesus. After she heard the voice of the risen Jesus, her sorrow disappeared all of sudden. No trace of sorrow was found on her face after she met the risen Jesus. After she met the risen Jesus, she became a witness to Jesus' resurrection. In John's Gospel chapter 11, there's a story about Nazareth who died young. He was a supporter of two sisters. After his death, his two sisters, Martha and Maria wept so much. They complained to Jesus, saying, "Why are you late? If you had been here four days earlier, my brother would not have died. I'm sorry you didn't come right soon." When people knew Jesus had come, they began wailing. The moment Jesus saw Mary, Martha and the Jews weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. The feeling of "being troubled" includes "Jesus' anger" over those who are under the power of death. Verse 35 says, "Jesus wept." The verse is the shortest verse in the Bible£only two words. But it implies Jesus' anger over the power of death and people's unbelief. Jesus weeps when we are sad. Jesus weeps when we are under the power of death. Jesus weeps when we don't have resurrection faith. Jesus is still crying when we are still crying, not accepting the risen Jesus. Jesus shows his anger when we have self-pity in our heart. St. Pauls expressed his enmity towards our enemy death, "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" Let's return to the widow whose only son died young. According to the Biblical context, the widow cried because of her unbelief. She cried because she was under the power of death. When Jesus saw her crying, his heart went out to her. Perhaps Jesus wept, too. But Jesus' sorrow was different from her sorrow. Jesus felt sympathy for her. Jesus understood deep wounds in her heart. But Jesus did not stop there. Jesus helped her overcome sorrow, saying "Don't cry." Jesus not only tasted and understood our sorrow, but carried our sorrows. Isaiah 53:3-5 says, ¡°He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.¡± Jesus died for our sins and was buried. But on the third day, God raised Jesus from the dead. St. Peter met the Risen Christ and said, ¡°God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him¡± (Ac 2:24). God¡¯s power to give life is greater than the power of death. St. Paul said, ¡°Death has been swallowed up in victory¡± (1co 15:54b). It is because all men who have ever lived will be raised from the dead and there will be no more dead people and no more death. Revelation 21:1-4 says, ¡°Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ¡®Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.¡¯¡± Through his death and resurrection, Jesus solved the problem of sin and death and opened the door to the kingdom of God. In this way, Jesus wipes every tear from our eyes. There was a boy in Korea whose mother died young. So he grew up under his step-mother who used him like a servant for the household. He wanted to study English and grow up to be an international figure. His stepbrothers were allowed to study English, even though they really didn¡¯t want to, but he was not. One night he was secretly reading an English text book under the covers of his bed, using a kerosene lamp. His stepmother found him and beat him badly for burning kerosene oil. He cried and cried. Sorrow grew in him until he was 28 years old. Then he heard Jesus¡¯ word, ¡°For we are God¡¯s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do¡± (Eph 2:10). He realized that his life was in God¡¯s hand, that he was God¡¯s workmanship. His sufferings in boyhood were not meaningless; they were God¡¯s discipline to help him grow in humanity and prepare for shepherd life. Jesus carried his sorrows and gave him new life. From that time on, he grew as a mother-like shepherd for young people in Korea, America, Germany, Russia and the whole world. There was a young man who had much sorrow in his heart. He was eager to get good grades in his study. When he failed to get good grades in exams, he cried a lot. Then it happened to begin raining. When he lost things, he cried to avoid parents' rebuke. When his parents began to run a rice store, he had to help his parents with rice delivery. But it was not easy for a short boy to lift a heavy rice bag. He couldn't concentrate on his study because he had no quiet room for study. He had to be sent for delivery every thirty minutes. What was worse, he stopped growing in height. He had sorrow for not having his own room for study and not growing in height. He thought that the cause of sorrow was due to his parents. When he was in the 3rd year of high school, just one month before the entrance exam, his father died of injection shock. Now he became a man of sorrow. Even after he became a university student, he suffered from sorrow. He looked like a philosopher. He didn't wash his face or hair for a long time. Only when he felt itchy in his hair or body, he washed himself. He looked like hippie. He weighed only 51 kilograms. But through Bible study, he met the risen Jesus. He came to know the power of death had take hold of him. When the power of Jesus' life worked in him, he changed completely. He became a shepherd who helped those who had similar problems in campuses. That's the story about me. Praise God who gave me life and resurrection power to change my life and be used in his salvation work. Jesus carries our sorrows and gives us new life. And he says to each one of us, ¡°Don¡¯t cry.¡± Third, ¡°Young man, get up!¡± (14-17) Look at verse 14. After telling the woman, ¡°Don¡¯t cry,¡± Jesus went up and touched the coffin. Those carrying it stood still. The sorrowful funeral procession stopped. Silence fell over them and expectation was in the air. Then Jesus said, ¡°Young man, I say to you, get up!¡± The dead man sat up and began to talk. He might have said: ¡°Praise Jesus! The kingdom of God is beautiful! Dad was there, Mom. He is so strong, handsome and honorable; you will love him more than ever. And Mom, I promise to be a good boy from now on. I will do all my homework and I will teach the Bible to my friends. Mom, don¡¯t cry.¡± Then Jesus gave him back to his mother. She must have been amazed and overjoyed. Her precious only son was raised to life. Not only did she have her son back, but she had seen the power of Jesus to raise the dead. Here we learn the power of Jesus¡¯ word. When he said, ¡°Young man, I say to you, get up!¡± a dead man sat up and began to talk. Jesus¡¯ word has power to raise the dead. In John 5:28,29 Jesus said, ¡°...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.¡± Jesus says to us now, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" This means, "Young man, you are not supposed to lie down. Get up!" When we look closely at how people act at their age, it is interesting. Look at elementary school children. They acts unceasingly. Standing at attention may be the hardest thing to do for them. On the other hand, look at older people. They move slowly. They are very careful in doing something. Older people have problem double-clicking on the computer. How about young man? They are energetic, powerful, enthusiastic, and passionate. They eat a lot of food. They study all night. They can do one thing; at the same time, they can do another thing. They are multi-tasking. When I look at student shepherds, I'm amazed at their power and energy. They study all night, and the next day they invite their sheep to the Bible Cafe. They sing special praise at the Bible Cafe. After that, they go working their part-time job. This is how student shepherds live. How amazing! A poet named Samuel Ullman wrote a poem about youth. Let me recite his poem. Youth is not a time of life. It is a state of mind. Youth! It is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and flexible knees. It is a matter of the will , a quality of imagination, a vigor of the emotions. It is the freshness of the deep springs of life. Youth is courage over timidity and adventure over the love of ease. Youth often exists in a man of sixty more than a body of twenty. Nobody gets old by age; we are getting old when we give up our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin; giving up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. ............ Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every body's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what's new, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart there is a wireless station. As long as you it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage, and power from the Infinite God, so long you are young. From this poem, we can learn how to keep youth for our lives£it is to receive life and power from God. However, before we meet the risen Jesus, we look like a young man who lies spiritually dead. We look dead even though our body is alive. We are just living dead. We come up with negative thinking. We give up hope in our life. Without doing something productive, we are involved in something destructive. Or we spend all days and nights sleeping and doing nothing. Why are young men and women doing like that, even though they can do something great? In truth, it is because of their sins. Ephesians 2:1 says, ¡°As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins....¡± Everybody wants to live like a young man. They wants to do something new, great, meaningful, and fruitful. To live like a young man, they need to meet the risen Jesus. They need to solve their sin problems through the cross of Jesus. They need to listen to the life-giving word of God. Jesus¡¯ word has the power to raise the dead. In Ezekiel chapter 37, the prophet was told to prophesy to a valley of dead bones. When he did so, the bones came together and tendons, flesh and skin covered them. The prophet prophesied again and breath came into them; they came to life and stood on their feet, becoming a vast army. The word of Jesus can raise many dead young men into soldiers of Christ, a spiritual army. Look at verse 16. The people in both processions saw Jesus raise the young man to life. They were filled with awe and praised God. ¡°A great prophet has appeared among us,¡± they said. ¡°God has come to help his people.¡± There was no more sorrow in their hearts. There was no more power of death in their hearts. God Almighty and his life-giving power filled the hearts of the people. This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. One person¡¯s resurrection, be it physical or spiritual, glorifies God and blesses the world. In this passage, Jesus said, ¡°Don¡¯t cry,¡± to a widow whose only son had died. It is because Jesus died for our sins and rose again from the dead to save all who believe and bring us back to the kingdom of God. Jesus¡¯ word has power to raise the dead. May Jesus wipe all your tears. May Jesus help us believe and teach his word until God raises young university students into a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. |