Our text for today presents for us a challenge we are faced with two miracles, almost duplicates. How do we address miracles today? Are we to expect the same miracle today as we find in our text? If so, why didn’t Christ raise from the dead your son or your daughter? How does our world understand miracles today? Some simply deny the reality of miracles seeing them as stories to the ancient past. They see them as allegories to spiritual truths. Miracles are simply offensive to the scientific mind.
How should we address the miracles of Christ? They are in fact signs – signs of the nature of God, of Jesus as the Son of God and of the power of God. We need not question the validity of the miracles of Jesus – we simply take them for granted.
Regardless of your opinion concerning the miraculous - of one thing we can be certain – death is the final declaration of defeat. We need to hear the story of Jesus’ raising the widow’s son at Nain to be reminded that life is stronger than death and that this life comes from Christ. In verse 13 Jesus is called “Lord”. He truly is the Lord of life.
In Jesus Christ we have the power of new life.
1. The power to comfort – v. 13 “Do not weep”
A. Jesus pours out His heart and He acts. While the two groups follow either Him or the corpse. He is the source of the solution to the tragedy of the widow. He alone as God’s Son has the power to heal the predicament of human beings.
B. Jesus’ action reverses things for all concerned in the sad procession. The widow is to stop weeping. Those carrying the corpse stop walking. The corpse sits up, speaks, and is restored to the mother.
2. The power to renew life – v. 14 “Arise”
A. Through the gift of faith given by the Holy Spirit, we acknowledge and confess Jesus as the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer from sin.
B. Still, we remain and live in an imperfect world, full of sickness, death, and other misfortunes. Jesus, our Savior for eternity, is also the healer of our mortal ills. We use human knowledge supplied through medicine for God works through human agents. He also performs miraculous healings today – both when He is approached in prayer and at times before He is asked.
C. Faith in Christ as our Redeemer and trust in Him as our healer of all types of ills will give us the peace that transcends human understanding and that we need in a world of outward and inward turmoil. Death, our final enemy, pertains to the realm of darkness. Jesus, who came to proclaim the kingdom of God, performed this miracle as an indication of the final destiny God intends for all Christians.
3. The power to restore relationships - v.15 “He gave him to his mother.”
A. Both crowds, experience awe, respect, reverence and (no doubt, in some cases) fear as a result of Jesus’ amazing conquest over death.
B. They give God credit for Jesus’ power over human ills and assume that he is equal to the prophets of old, through whom God frequently spoke and acted. The people consider themselves God’s chosen people as a result of their birth.
C. They spread the report of the day’s miraculous event throughout all Judea and the surrounding area. They report that God once more has sent a prophet to His chosen race.
Schnorr von Carolsfeld woodcuts © WELS for personal and congregational use
How should we address the miracles of Christ? They are in fact signs – signs of the nature of God, of Jesus as the Son of God and of the power of God. We need not question the validity of the miracles of Jesus – we simply take them for granted.
Regardless of your opinion concerning the miraculous - of one thing we can be certain – death is the final declaration of defeat. We need to hear the story of Jesus’ raising the widow’s son at Nain to be reminded that life is stronger than death and that this life comes from Christ. In verse 13 Jesus is called “Lord”. He truly is the Lord of life.
In Jesus Christ we have the power of new life.
1. The power to comfort – v. 13 “Do not weep”
A. Jesus pours out His heart and He acts. While the two groups follow either Him or the corpse. He is the source of the solution to the tragedy of the widow. He alone as God’s Son has the power to heal the predicament of human beings.
B. Jesus’ action reverses things for all concerned in the sad procession. The widow is to stop weeping. Those carrying the corpse stop walking. The corpse sits up, speaks, and is restored to the mother.
2. The power to renew life – v. 14 “Arise”
A. Through the gift of faith given by the Holy Spirit, we acknowledge and confess Jesus as the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer from sin.
B. Still, we remain and live in an imperfect world, full of sickness, death, and other misfortunes. Jesus, our Savior for eternity, is also the healer of our mortal ills. We use human knowledge supplied through medicine for God works through human agents. He also performs miraculous healings today – both when He is approached in prayer and at times before He is asked.
C. Faith in Christ as our Redeemer and trust in Him as our healer of all types of ills will give us the peace that transcends human understanding and that we need in a world of outward and inward turmoil. Death, our final enemy, pertains to the realm of darkness. Jesus, who came to proclaim the kingdom of God, performed this miracle as an indication of the final destiny God intends for all Christians.
3. The power to restore relationships - v.15 “He gave him to his mother.”
A. Both crowds, experience awe, respect, reverence and (no doubt, in some cases) fear as a result of Jesus’ amazing conquest over death.
B. They give God credit for Jesus’ power over human ills and assume that he is equal to the prophets of old, through whom God frequently spoke and acted. The people consider themselves God’s chosen people as a result of their birth.
C. They spread the report of the day’s miraculous event throughout all Judea and the surrounding area. They report that God once more has sent a prophet to His chosen race.
Schnorr von Carolsfeld woodcuts © WELS for personal and congregational use
1 comment:
Very helpful and thought provoking. Thanks.
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