Trinity 16
Dear friends in Christ. Nothing in our Lord’s life is by coincidence. We see this because everything He did and all that happened to Him was already long prophesied in the prophets. That is clear; that is obvious for all to see. There are also other things that happened in our Lord’s life that are not as obvious, but become clear when we ponder and meditate on the event. Our text today is an example. It begins with the seemingly bland statement: Soon afterward [Jesus] went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. It seems like a statement that is merely setting the stage. But as we study the verse a bit more, we find out that the name of the town Nain means something like “lovely” or “pleasant” or even by extension “vale of beauty.” Apparently it is aptly named because of its location that has an extensive view of a plain and northern hills.
But then what happens? As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out. In this beautiful location death had come and had done its worst. So we have a beautiful location and then death comes and destroys the beauty. Doesn’t that sound like what happened with the fall into sin? Adam and Eve were in the beautiful Garden of Eden but they sinned and with sin came death. But, dear Christian rejoice—Jesus drew near to the gate of the town. Our text begins with a beautiful, but slightly obscured proclamation of Jesus and His saving work, and unfolds the reason why He came—to destroy death and its ultimate cause sin and devil. And we also see a picture in our text that, although we have and can enjoy much beauty in the world, our Nain —even though its true beauty has been marred by sin—as we enjoy the gifts the Lord gives us in and through the creation, there is also death lurking about. But we are comforted by our text: Jesus drew near to the gate of the town. That’s because Jesus is Lord even over death.
1. Our text: Soon afterward [Jesus] went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. Soon afterward from what? Our text comes right after the account of Jesus healing a centurion’s servant. This Roman officer had a servant who was dear to him and was about to die. Having heard about Jesus, he asks the Jews to ask Jesus to come and heal his servant. While Jesus was on His way this Roman officer showed his faith in Jesus, and his humility, by sending friends to Jesus to say to Him [Lk. 7.6-7]: Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. Of course, when those who were sent to Jesus returned, they found Jesus healed that servant, who had been sick and ready to die. And then our text: Soon afterward [Jesus] went to a town called Nain.
Notice the wondrous connection between these two accounts? Jesus first heals a man sick and ready to die and now He actually raises the dead. Here He shows beyond any shadow of doubt just who He is—the true God. He has power authority to heal just by saying the word. Perhaps the skeptics might say about/ the servant who was healed—that it was a fluke, coincidence that he got better right when he did. But here, by upping the ante, by raising from the dead the one who was recognized by all to be dead, by showing Himself by this that He is Lord over death, Jesus shows that He is the true God. And the reverse is also true: because Jesus is true God that’s why He’s the Lord even over death.
Our text also shows that Jesus is true God in a more subtle way. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow… Notice here that this young man was the only son of his widowed mother. The point? In the OT the Lord is described as [Ps 68.5; Ps 146.9]: A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows and The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow. By raising from the dead this widow’s son and showing her this mercy, so that she would not become destitute having no source of income or someone to provide for her, Jesus showed Himself to be the true God a defender of widows and that He relieves the…widow.
As true God and thus Lord over death, Jesus came up and touched the open coffin, and the bearers stood still… Again, an image rich in meaning! Here Jesus confronts death head on. He has nothing to fear. Why not? Death is the result of sin and it has no claim on Him. He is, after all, the true God—holy and perfect. He is the God-man—also true man but not contaminated with the stain and tinge of original sin. He is true man but has committed no sin. He is the only one who can come and stare death in the face and win because death has no claim on Him because He is holy and sinless—He is the holy and sinless God-man.
Then he came up and touched the open coffin, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Notice here, simply by His word Jesus brings this young man back to life: “Young man, I say to you, arise”. When the OT prophets like Elijah and Elisha raised the dead they did not say like Jesus did, “Young man, I say to you, arise” but they had to pray that the Lord restore life [1 Ki 17.21]: O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him. And even of our Lord’s apostles we read the same thing [Ac. 9.40]: Peter…knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, ‘Tabitha, arise.’ And she opened her eyes... But with Jesus, it’s different: “Young man, I say to you, arise.” Jesus raises the dead by His own power and might and He does so according to His will because He is the true God. By the mere speaking of His almighty word, by his own authority He brings life to what was dead. He is true God and thus Lord over even our worst enemy—death.
2. We also catch a glimpse of Jesus’ divinity in the very fact that He goes to Nain in the first place. Again, there are no coincidences in our Lord’s life and work. What we read in our text: Soon afterward [Jesus] went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow… was Jesus’ divine knowing of all things. He on purpose went to Nain for the express reason of raising the young man from the dead. Jesus in His divine omniscience knew that the young man had died that day. In His omniscience He knew the situation of the mother, that she was a widow. It wasn’t just “dumb luck” that Jesus “stumbled” on the situation. Instead, it was all the result of His divine omniscience and His wanting to come and show mercy to the widow and to show beyond any shadow of a doubt to his disciples and a great crowd [that] went with him that He is Lord even over death.
Because Jesus is true God and thus Lord over death He came that day precisely so that there would be no need to cry. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Yes, death had done its worst but Jesus is Lord over death and came to Nain that day and by His almighty word He undid death so that there that day there would be no cause to weep.
Not only did Jesus go to Nain that day to undo death because He is Lord over death, but what we see happening in Nain that day is a picture of Jesus’ entire life and work for the salvation of the world. The whole point of Jesus’ coming to this earth in the first place was to undo and destroy death, sin and the works of the devil. Remember—Nain is beautiful/ lovely but sin and death are there destroying and corrupting. Sin and death have come and corrupted the world. But does God just “pass by”? Hardly! Like Christ, on purpose, went to Nain to defeat and undo death, so too He came to this earth to defeat death, sin and devil. And why? For the same reason He went to Nain. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her… His compassion moved Him! He had compassion on this widow because as a widow and now without a son she was helpless and destitute. Here is the picture of each of us. Because of our sin against God, our guilt before His just and holy Law, we are spiritually helpless. Left to ourselves, because of our sin we can do nothing but wait for death and with that the opening of the jaws of hell and them closing behind us eternally.
But what happened? The Lord…had compassion on [us]… God became man—the Son, the Second Person of the holy Trinity took on human flesh and blood. He was not afraid of contaminating Himself and coming to live in this world of sin. And He came to obey for us God’s holy Law and give the obedience we owe God but don’t because of our sin. Why is that vital? Because our sin condemns us; our sin is the ultimate cause of our death; if we didn’t sin, we wouldn’t die. But now, because Jesus has come and obeyed God’s law for us, what claim can the Law make on us? Jesus perfectly kept the law for us—because we can’t. That’s why we in faith cling to Jesus and His perfect keeping of the Law; through faith Jesus’ righteousness is ours. The sins that we commit—don’t we have to be punished for them? Isn’t that death’s claim on us? Here again, Christ! He took our sins, He was “contaminated” by our sin and on the cross He endured God’s wrath over our sin and He died. He suffered the consequence of our sin. Jesus not only looked death square in the face, He entered death, He truly died. But by His death He destroyed death. He who had taken all our sins upon Himself offered the perfect once for all sacrifice for sin. His sacrifice was accepted. He rose from the dead. This son in our text, raised from the dead and presented to his mother, is a glorious foreshadowing of Jesus’ own resurrection, as He rose from the dead and came to His own.
In Christ we are forgiven our sin. We are reconciled to God. We have experienced the Lord’s compassion. Jesus is Lord over death—He came to destroy it!
3. Jesus is the true God and He came to this earth to destroy death—and He did so by His holy life and perfect sacrifice. Jesus’ miracle here also points us forward to the Last Day: And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak… Not only is our text a foreshadowing of Jesus’ own resurrection but it is a foreshadowing of the resurrection on the Last Day—when Jesus will call forth all people—both Christian and non-Christian—from their graves: the Christians to eternal life in heaven in both soul and body; the unbelievers to eternity in hell in both soul and body. In our text Jesus spoke His almighty word, stopping death in its tracks, and it had to surrender its victim. Come the Last Day Jesus tells us [Jn 5.28-29]: Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear [My] voice and come forth. Just like this young man who was dead heard and obeyed Jesus’ voice, so will all the dead be raised. It is not impossible to do because Jesus is the Lord even over death—not only because He is true God but also because He is the one who came and destroyed/ undid death by His death. What a glorious day that Last Day will be for the Christian—on that day our souls, which have been with Christ in heaven, will be reunited with our bodies that Jesus calls forth from the tomb; as death’s Lord and conqueror He commands it to release its victims. On that Last Day, the day of resurrection, the Lord will change our bodies so that although they are the same we have now, they will be free from all defects of sin and ready for an eternity in the glory of heaven. INJ