It was completely heartbreaking. In late 2009, my wife and I were in Mahahual, Mexico when suddenly a pickup stopped right in front of the local clinic. In the back of the truck was a young man lying motionless. 20 minutes or so earlier he fallen out of the back of a pickup truck onto the road. As the truck stopped, the driver got out and sprinted to get a doctor. The doctor came running out to the truck and performed CPR for a while until he finally shook his head, stopped and then walked back into the clinic. A few minutes later, a woman drove up. She walked up to that young man, shook him and started shouting in Spanish, “Wake up, my son, wake up!” Then she gave up, broke down on the ground and began crying. Her son had died.
What would you do if you were standing there watching this situation? Would your heart go out in compassion to that mother? Would you go touch the pickup truck where the man was lying? Would you tell the mother “stop crying?” Would you tell the dead man to get up?
I can tell you what I did. A woman standing there said, “You’re a pastor. Go say something.” So I walked over, said the Lord’s prayer to her and read Psalm 23, and left. The mother calmed down a little, but the sadness, crying, pain and death remained.
This morning, we are going to see Jesus in a similar situation, and he is going to handle things like only he can, because he’s God. And as we do that, we’re not really going to focus on how we ought to react in such situations, because we’re not God. Rather, we are going to awe and marvel at Jesus and watch and listen as Jesus intervenes. Through this inspired account of Luke, we are going to see that when Jesus intervenes: life defeats death and joy replaces horror.
Our lesson for today deals with the highest level of human pain. Listen to how our lesson begins, 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. Do you see how the Scriptures pile on the pain and despair of the situation? A dead person, only son of his mother, widow. This woman had already experienced the death of her husband, now her only son was dead as well. A large crowd of grief followed as well. The Scriptures paint an overwhelmingly sad and desperate situation.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the word of God is able to deal with the most desperate, sad and crushing moments of life. As a matter of fact, it was written to deal with the largest questions and pains that life can give. It deals with family breakdowns. It deals with economic issues, and the love of money. It deals with war and violence. But the word of God also teaches us that our biggest issue right now is not inflation nor high gas prices, not political unrest, not the war in Ukraine, nor threat of war with other countries, even though these are big issues. Our biggest issue is that unless Christ comes back first, we are going to die. Romans 6:23 tells us The wages of sin is death. Death is a terrible intrusion into our world, that causes grief, pain and despair for those who have been intimately touched by it. And behind the emotional pain that it brings, is the bigger issue of sin and God’s judgment that awaits all those who die.
So, how does Jesus deal with this issue? Our lesson tells us, When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her, and he said, “Don’t cry.” The Lord’s heart went out to her. If you were to translate that word literally, it would be “his insides were poured out.” If you’ve ever seen a commercial for starving children, or seen a very painful situation and felt it in your stomach, you've began to feel this. This is compassion. Jesus is full of compassion for the hurting, the suffering. It is a common theme of Luke and throughout all of the gospels: Jesus’ compassion moves him to act.
So, what does Jesus, full of compassion, do? He first of all tells the woman, Don’t cry. At first glance, these words of Jesus can seem a little confusing. After all, even Jesus cried at the grave of Lazarus. Second of all, isn’t it normal to cry? Aren’t we to weep with those who weep? As a pastor, I wouldn’t tell someone at a funeral, Don’t cry. Death is a painful separation from those that we love. How could I ask them to ignore the obvious? But I am not Jesus. Jesus can do what no one else can. Jesus did the only thing that could turn this woman’s sorrow into joy. He touched the bier (like a stretcher), and those carrying it stood still. He said, young man, I say to you get up! The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
Imagine the joy that mother must have felt! She had her son alive again in her arms! Jesus had done the only thing that could have filled that mother’s heart with joy. Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus can come into the pain, the sadness and the horror of the worst situations, and tell you those gentle words, Don’t cry. But you might say, “Pastor, my mother died even though we prayed. But Pastor I still struggle with this huge problem and Jesus hasn’t intervened.” Of course, I could point out all of the times Jesus has answered your prayers, or the prayers of other people and delivered them in their darkest moments. And yet, isn’t it true that Jesus doesn’t always intervene as he did in this way? Jesus can still tell you, “Don’t cry.” He can tell you this because he is the son of God. He can tell you this because later on the day came where his dead body was carried off the cross. It was carried to the tomb, and this time God did not intervene as His Son was carried to the tomb, but let his lifeless body be placed dead in the tomb.
Because the body of Jesus Christ hung lifeless on the cross, and was placed into the tomb, all of your sin is paid- all of your misplaced priorities, all of your faithless worrying, all of your harsh words, all of your guilt, all of your shame was placed in the tomb with Christ. And so Jesus tells you, “Don’t cry. Your sin is forgiven.” Because of the death of the Son of God, your sin has been taken away, and peace is yours.
When Jesus intervenes, life defeats death, and joy replaces horror. Jesus not only raised this man from the dead, but Jesus himself rose from the dead. He proved to the world that He is the Son of God, and that all sins were really paid for as he victoriously rose from the dead. Death could not defeat Christ, and so he rose, never to die again.
As baptized children of God, death cannot defeat us. In our lesson, Jesus spoke and the young man came back to life. In our Baptism, Jesus speaks eternal life into our bodies and souls. 1 Peter 3:21 tells us, Baptism now saves you…by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Romans 6:3-5 tells us Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. Brothers and sisters in Christ, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the guarantee of our own resurrection. The goal of the Christian faith is not just that when we die our souls go to heaven, but it is the fact that on the last day, Jesus will raise up our bodies to live with him physically in the new heavens and the new earth. Our bodies that are baptized, are the same bodies that will be raised to live eternally with Jesus Christ!
This news is one that can fill us with the same reaction that the people had in our lesson: All the people were filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” Of course, Jesus was more than a prophet- he was the promised Messiah. But the people were filled with awe because they had seen something awesome! Brothers and sisters in Christ, this same awe is ours! Think about what we confess in our creeds: I believe in the forgiveness of sins. The resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. In those words alone, we have more than enough to fill us with joy even on the worst of days. We have forgiveness- a clean conscience! We have the promise of a physical resurrection of these bodies- without the effects of sin! We have the promise of the perfect life that will never end. How awesome are the gifts that Jesus promises us!
So, brothers and sisters in Christ, when Jesus intervenes, life defeats death, and joy replaces horror. I would have loved to see Jesus speak and raise up that dead man in Mexico, just as he raised that young man from Nain. But even if I would have, that would not have cured the biggest issue that this family had. You see, even that young man from Nain would one day die again. But Jesus offers us something even greater if we just think about it. Jesus justifies us- forgives us by his death. He guarantees our own resurrection by his own resurrection. He baptizes us into life everlasting. And so we say and confess with confidence, I believe in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Death cannot defeat us! Amen.