The story of Jesus raising the widow of Nain’s only son, gives us a glimpse into the heart of Jesus for those who suffer.
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The Heart Of Jesus For Those Who Suffer
Luke 7:11-17
Our world is full of pain and suffering. Everywhere you look, people are suffering. 1 in 8 people in the world suffer from chronic undernourishment or world hunger. Almost half of the world lives on less than $2.50 per day! 80% of the world lives on less than $10 per day. Now, add to that the suffering we experience due to injury or illness – cancer, heart disease, arthritis, back pain, neck pain, and the list could go on and on. Others suffer emotionally from the pain of a broken relationship or a feeling of being rejected by a parent or child, or from sexual abuse of one form or another. Statistics reveal that 20% of all women will be sexually abused at some point in their life. How many people here have ever suffered from some physical or emotional pain in your life? That’s what I thought – everyone. It just comes with the territory of being human. It’s a result of the Fall. We are fallen, and we live in a fallen world, so we will suffer. So, the obvious question for the Christian is, “Does God care when we suffer?” That’s the issue we want to address today, as we look at this account in the gospel of Luke.
We have four vignettes in Luke 7 – a saddened centurion, a weeping widow, a perplexed prophet, and a heartbroken harlot. In each case, Jesus shows His heart of compassion toward them. He has compassion toward the sick slave by healing him. He shows his compassion toward the widow by raising her son. He shows His compassion toward John by sending Him a message that He was the true Messiah. And He shows His heart of compassion toward the harlot, by forgiving her sins.
The first thing I would like you to notice from this story is
1. Two Crowds Met: 7:11-12
“Soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd. Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her.”
Notice that there was a large crowd traveling with Jesus that met a sizeable crowd from the city.
Jesus’ Crowd
The Time: “Soon afterwards”. Here we have an indefinite description of time. All we know is that it was soon after Jesus healed the centurion’s slave, probably a few days at most.
The Place: “a city called Nain”. Nain was a small, nondescript, obscure little village about 25 miles south of Capernaum. Nain was a full day’s walk from Capernaum. If Jesus had left early in the morning, he would probably arrive in Nain by late afternoon.
The People: In this crowd, we have Jesus, and His disciples, and then a large crowd as well. The disciples are His learners. They were committed to following Him so that they could learn from Him. The large crowd was made up of those who wanted to see miracles. This group was comprised mostly of those who were curious about Jesus, and wanted to see Him do something amazing.
The Occasion: We are not told why Jesus went to Nain. I mean, why would anyone want to go to Nain? It is not on the Sea of Galilee. There is nothing in this little obscure village. It is out of the way. No one asked Jesus to come like the centurion who asked Jesus to come to his home. My suspicion is that Jesus knew that the Father had some works for Him to do in this village. From all eternity it had been ordained that He would raise a young man in this little village. Now, the disciples had no idea why Jesus was going there. But, wherever He went, they went.
The Widows’ Crowd: Right at the gates of the city of Nain, two large crowds converged – Jesus’ crowd and the widow’s crowd. The widow’s crowd consisted of the widow, her dead son, and a large crowd from her village of Nain who had shown up to sympathize with her.
Try to imagine the scene. On the one hand you have this large crowd slowly walking outside the city to bury this young man. The funeral crowd was filled with weeping, mourning, and pain, knowing nothing about Jesus. They were headed toward a cemetery.
On the other hand you have Jesus’ crowd. This crowd was chattering, and laughing. It was filled with joy and life, because Jesus was in its midst. Jesus’ crowd came and met the funeral crowd head on. I can’t help but see in these two crowds, the two great companies of mankind. Friends, everyone here is in one of these two crowds. Either you are in Jesus’ crowd, filled with laughter, joy and life, on your way to the celestial city, whose builder and maker is God. Or, you are in the funeral crowd, filled with mourning and death, headed toward an eternal grave? Are you in Jesus’ crowd, headed toward the city of God, the New Jerusalem, or are you in the Christless crowd, headed toward hell?
2. Two Sons Met: 7:12
In fact, two only sons met that day. The young man who had died was the only son of his mother. Jesus was the only begotten Son of His Father.
The young man had recently died and was being carried on a bier. The NASB uses the word “coffin” in verse 14, but it was probably nothing more than a glorified plank or stretcher upon which the corpse had been laid with a shroud covering it. The Jews in the first century buried an individual very quickly, usually on the same day that he died. This would have been necessary because there was no way to refrigerate the body, and it would begin to decompose immediately at death. We know this by reading the account of Ananias and Saphira. No sooner does Ananias die, but he is carried out and buried, even before his wife knows about it! This individual is referred to as a “man” in verse 12, and a “young man” in verse 14. He was a full grown adult, but he was still young, perhaps in his 20’s.
Now, contrast that only son, with Jesus, God’s only begotten Son. The first son is about to be raised to life, while Jesus, the other son, is about to die. The first son will be given back to his mother. Jesus will be given back to His Father.
3. Two Sufferers Met: 7:12-13
The first sufferer is the mother who had just lost her son. Now, what do we know about her? We are told in verse 12 that she was a widow, and that she had just lost her only son. Imagine losing your husband, and then your only son! Not only is she reeling from the emotional pain, but this dreaded turn of events is going to bring untold poverty into her life. There were no government programs in Israel in the first century. If a woman had no husband or son to take care of her, she would be reduced to begging, becoming utterly destitute. She had nothing to look forward to but loneliness, poverty, and shame. Life didn’t seem worth living any more.
Now, let’s look at the other sufferer – the Lord Jesus Christ. Why do I call Jesus a sufferer? Look at what verse 13 says about Him, “When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her.” The NLT says, “His heart overflowed with compassion.” The NIV says, “His heart went out to her.” A good definition of compassion is “your pain in my heart.” The Lord’s heart broke for this woman. He felt her pain. He saw her plight. He could see the life of abject misery she was headed into, and wanted to stop it. Isaiah 53 says that Jesus was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” The compassion of Christ shouldn’t surprise us, because compassion is one of the attributes of God. Psalm 103:8 says, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.” As God in human flesh, Jesus manifested this attribute of Deity.
Notice that Jesus did not have compassion on the young man. The text says, “When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then again in verse 15 it says, “And Jesus gave him back to his mother.” It was this mother that Jesus was interested in ministering to. Now again, imagine the scene. Here is this bereaved elderly woman walking beside the pallbearers carrying her dead son to the cemetery. There would be professional mourners wailing, and flute players playing mournful tunes. There was a large crowd of sympathizers from the village walking toward the cemetery with her. And all of a sudden this large crowd headed by Jesus meets them. And then, Jesus does the unspeakable. He tells this woman not to cry. To tell a widow who has just lost her only son not to cry seems like the actions of a heartless man, or a very sick joke. You just don’t tell someone to stop weeping when their son has died, unless there is something you can do to change the reason for their sorrow.
4. Two Enemies Met: 7:14-17
Here we find Jesus encountering the enemy of death. The Bible says in 1 Cor. 15:26, “The last enemy that will be abolished is death.” Death is the result of sin. All suffering, pain, misery, and death is the result of sin. Jesus, as a Mighty Warrior, came into the world not only to destroy sin, but also its effect (death). Let’s notice the encounter.
“He came up and touched the coffin” – This is remarkable. This was just not done. A Jew never would go up and touch a coffin or a dead person. If he did, he would have to go through a very elaborate ritual to cleanse himself of this ceremonial defilement according to Numbers chapter 19. That’s why the Jews would whitewash the graves. It wasn’t so much for aesthetic reasons, as to clearly mark these graves so that no one accidentally got too close to them. Jesus deliberately did the unthinkable – He deliberately reached out and touched the bier. He also deliberately reached out and touched a leper. He deliberately started out on a journey that would take him into a Gentile’s home. Jesus allowed a harlot to kiss His feet. Jesus was constantly doing things that the respectable Jewish leaders frowned upon and could not understand. He was definitely not conventional in His approach to religion!
“He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise!” This was always how Jesus raised the dead. He simply spoke the authorative, life-giving word, and they responded. He said to Lazarus, “Lazarus, come forth!” He said to Jairus’ daughter, “Child arise.” He simply commanded the dead person to come to life, and they did!
Notice the response in 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 scene was electrifying. Try to imagine what that would have been like. Jesus walks up to the dead man, lays his hand on the coffin, and commands him to arise. And the man sits up on his stretcher and starts talking! The people are absolutely dumbfounded. Then they are gripped by fear as it hits them that God has visited them! This is the work of God. God is in their midst! They probably didn’t realize that Jesus was God in human flesh, but they certainly understood that God Himself was personally working in their midst through Jesus Christ. I’m sure people were crying out spontaneously for joy right in the midst of that funeral procession. Something as remarkable as this could not be kept secret. Verse 17 says, “This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.” The news of this miracle spread like wildfire all over the land of Palestine.
Jesus met the enemy of death head on, and conquered him. One day, he will vanquish this enemy forever!
Now, let’s draw out three important lessons from this story.
Life Application
1) Jesus Hurts When You Suffer! We began this message by asking the question, “How does God feel when we are suffering?” Here we have our answer. When we suffer, God hurts. God feels our pain. God cares about us. He loves us. Remember what the risen Lord said to Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus Road, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” In other words, I feel the pain of My people when you are persecuting them. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” When Lazarus died, Jesus wept. Why? It wasn’t for Lazarus, because He knew that He was going to raise Him from the dead in just a few minutes. It must have been in sympathy with those who were grieving. He must have felt their pain. We do not have a stoical God, who doesn’t care about us. We have a compassionate God who exercises pity on those in misery. When you suffer, you can know that God hurts for you. And when the time is right and it lines up with His sovereign purposes, He will remove your suffering. 1 Peter 5:10 says, “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” The Lord will remove the suffering of some of His children in this life. For others, He will remove it in the next life. But to all, He is compassionate, and tender, and kind.
So, if you are suffering, what should you do? Heb.4:16 says, after telling us that we don’t have a high priest who can’t sympathize with our weaknesses, “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” If you are suffering, draw near to your high priest! Don’t let the pain cause you to drift away. Let it compel you to draw upon His strength, and life, and comfort! Go to Him in prayer. Live upon Him in communion. Find Him to be your all in all!
2) Jesus Is Able To Raise The Dead!
He Can Raise The Physically Dead. That is self-evident from this story, is it not? He raised the son of the widow of Nain. He raised Jairus’ daughter. He raised Lazarus. And one day, He will raise everyone who has ever lived. He will reunite their soul with a resurrected body. He will cause all to stand before Him as judge. He tells us this plainly in John 5:28-29, “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; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” My friend, Jesus Christ will raise you from the dead one day and then sentence you to everlasting life, or everlasting punishment. Oh, that ought to fill you will holy fear and reverence!
He Can Raise The Spiritually Dead. Jesus is going to raise all men physically, but He will also raise all the elect spiritually. He will raise all men bodily when He comes again. However, He is in the process of giving spiritual life right now to those who are dead in sins. John 5:22 says, “The Son gives life to whom He wishes.” Ephesians 2 tells us that we were dead in trespasses and sins, completely cut off to God. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.”
Notice that in the case of the widow’s son, no one asked Jesus to raise him. In the former story, the centurion pleaded with the Lord to come and heal his slave. Also, notice that there was no faith. Jesus, completely unsolicited, takes the initiative and raises this young man from the dead. And do you realize that it is exactly the same way when a sinner is saved. Jesus is not responding to the sinner’s faith, because he doesn’t have any. If any person has true saving faith, he has it as a gift of God. That faith did not originate in the sinner. It originated in God. The Bible says that Jesus is the “author and perfecter of faith.” The sinner is not saved because he sought God. The Scripture says, “There is none who seeks for God” (Rom.3:11), and “I was found by those who did not seek Me, I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me” (Rom. 10:20). No sinner ever took the initiative in his conversion. No person was ever saved because God responded to his please, or requests, or faith. Rather, all of these things are the response to the grace of God in his life.
Now, this ought to give every person here hope. Perhaps there is someone here who is close to despair. Perhaps you think you can never be saved. You are too bad, you have gone too far, even God can’t or won’t do anything about your sinful condition. Now, if that is the case, it’s pretty rare. I have found that in the day and age we live in, people are far more likely to have a cocky false-confidence that they are saved when they aren’t. However, if you are despairing today, know this – Jesus can give you spiritual life! There is nothing too hard for the Lord! Look to Him. Believe in Him. Receive Him as Savior and Lord.
3) Follow in Jesus’ steps! We are His ambassadors on the earth. We are to accurately represent Him toward others. So, how would we follow in His steps?
1) Show compassion to the suffering. Everyone suffers at some point in their lives. Everyone suffers in this life, but there are some who will suffer for all eternity. Friends, how much compassion do you have? As I have meditated on Jesus’ compassion this week, I realize that I’m not very much like Him in this regard, and am asking Him to give me more compassion for others. Do you have the pain of others in your heart? Do you ever try to imagine what that other person is feeling who is going through troubles? When you see a sinner, do you ever think of the eternal misery they are going to face in hell? Ask the Lord to give you more compassion for others. The apostle Paul had great compassion for the Jews. He says in Romans 9 that he would be willing to accursed and separated from Christ if they would be saved!
2) Be Willing To Go To Defiling Places. Jesus was constantly doing that. Touching lepers, going to Gentiles’ houses, having a harlot touch and kiss Him, touching coffins. And, if we accurately represent Him, we will find ourselves in defiling places ourselves, to seek out the people who live there. The lightrail station is a pretty defiling place. If you are intent on winning a friend or a neighbor to Christ you may find yourself in a defiling place. But their soul is worth it. I would only caution you, that if you find yourself becoming defiled and changed by their sin, it is time to withdraw.
3) Speak The Life-Giving Word. Friends, your words have absolutely no power. However, God’s words have great power! Is. 55:10-11 says, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” When you encounter someone who is suffering, either physically, emotionally, or spiritually, speak the life-giving Word of God. Fellow saints that are suffering need God’s Word to edify and strengthen them. Lost people needs Gods word to convert them. Store up God’s Word in your heart. Memorize it, so that you have some ammunition to do battle with when the time comes.
So, how does God feel when we suffer? He feels our pain. He is full of tender mercy, pity, and compassion for us. He feels our pain in His heart. Let’s draw near to Him, and then show His compassion for others. Let’s pray.
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