IT’S NEVER TOO LATE FOR JESUS
Luke 7:11-16 KJV And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. (12) Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. (13) And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. (14) And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. (15) And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. (16) And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.
All of us have come across situations, either in our lives or the lives of someone else that appear to be hopeless. Too often we shake our heads and we react with pity when we encounter someone else that has found themselves in such a situation, and when it is we ourselves, we often give into despair. Despair is a crushing weight that seemingly squeezes the life out of us. The dictionary defines despair as “the complete loss or absence of hope, to lose or be without hope.” This is where every day appears to be same with no change. Life appears hopeless. One person said, “Losing your life is not the worst thing that can happen. The worst thing is to lose your reason for living.” How well this echoes the sounds of despair!
The young son of the Chaplin to King George II, was a man that was familiar with despair. He suffered from mental illness and spent a significant portion of his adult life in mental institutions of his day. At age 32, he was nominated to a position that required a public examination. He grew fearful of that and tried to commit suicide three times--and nearly succeeded. He was taken to a mental asylum where he stayed for eighteen months. While he was there however, he was converted while reading the book of Romans. He was later released into the care of a minister by the name of Urwin. While there, he became friends with a pastor by the name of John Newton. Newton encouraged the young man to serve the poor and write, which he did. However the young man eventually relapsed, in which he again attempted suicide. He appeared to live a life of despair yet he became at the forefront of the English poets and was a great hymn writer. His name was William Cowper, who wrote such words as “There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s vein, and sinners plunged beneath it’s flood, lose all their guilty stains. “He also wrote “GOD moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.” Yet because of his mental state, he often lived in despair.
In Luke seven, we find that Jesus had come upon a woman that must have been in despair. No doubt she felt hopeless, yet she discovered that with Jesus, it is never too late.
I. NOTE THE WIDOW’S CONDITION.
A. First she was a widow.
1. This was a desperate condition. As a widow, she had no husband to support her. We are not told how long she was a widow just that she was.
2. The plight of widows was difficult in that time. There were no social programs to give her financial aid. The life of a widow was filled with hard work just to have something to eat for the day. The Bible tells us in Deuteronomy the only social program for widows.
Deu 24:19-21 KJV When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. (20) When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. (21) When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
3. From the book of Ruth, we gather a lot about how widows in Israel did to just survive. Ruth tells the story of Naomi, who had lost her husband, and her sons. She moved back to Israel from Moab, back to her home town of Bethlehem, where her daughter in law Ruth, went into the fields every day to gleam grain so they could eat every night. If not for the younger Ruth, it would have been Naomi in the fields. This was hard work and can you image for an ages widow, how hard it must have been.
4. Widows, orphans (the fatherless), and sojourners in ancient times were often in danger of going hungry because they lacked resources such as land that male heads of household alone could usually provide. They did not have basic rights such as the ability to own land to sell it.
B. She was a widow that lost her son.
4. What was even harder for the widow of Nain is that not only had she lost her husband but now her only son was gone too. Widows did not have social programs to take care of them, that responsibility fell back on whatever family she had left so she had a son.
5. But now, we find that her son has passed away. Now she has no one.
6. For a mother, there is nothing more devastating than the loss of a child. Of all deaths, the death of a child is most unnatural and hardest to bear.
7. I have heard many people say that the children are supposed to bury their parents and not the parents burying their children.
8. Can you imagine the pain, the confusion that she must be feeling? Now she has no one. She must deal with grief of course for what normal mother wouldn’t who lost a child, yet now her future is very uncertain.
9. How will she pay her bills? Where will she live? Could she be cast out in the street? All of these are these are questions that must be running through her mind.
C. She was a widow that many would view with suspicious.
10. The Jews had kind of a reverse prosperity Gospel message. We hear many today say if you live for God then you will never be sick, never have any problems, and be financially rich. Reverse that and you have an idea of what many of the Jews believed.
11. We see this theology in the story of the blind man found in John 9.
John 9:1-2 KJV And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. (2) And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
12. This belief system believed that if bad things happened to you, then you must have sinned some hideous sin. It viewed God as One that sent bad things on those that disobeyed, therefore there would be many that would view the widow with suspicious and wonder what she had done to so displease the Lord. People would gossip about what she might have done.
13. This widow’s life appeared to be filled with fear and despair. Her future appeared to be filled with more pain and loneliness and also uncertainty.
14. But then came Jesus.
II. NEXT NOTE THE CONFRONTATION BETWEEN THE TWO PARTIES.
1. Now the widow has lost her son, so he is being taking outside of town to be buried, no doubt in a tomb very similar to what Lazarus was buried in. It must have been a sad possession leaving town carrying the funeral byre of this young man.
2. Nain is about 25 miles from Capernaum, a good day’s journey away from where Jesus seems to have centered His ministry.
3. Now Jesus probably arrived at the city gate late in the afternoon on the same day the boy died. The Jews buried their dead the same day. So, two crowds met; the ones following Jesus, and the large funeral procession leaving the city and headed for the cemetery.
4. Someone described this as a possession of death meeting a possession of life. Life meeting death. Despair meeting hope.
5. If we read the previous verses, we find that Jesus and His company were rejoicing because of the healing of the Centurion’s servant. Yet as they enter into the city, they met the funeral possession of this young man, followed by a mother with a broken heart.
6. In our day if we see a funeral procession, we pull to the side of the road and allow the procession to pass on by – and we then go on our way, most of the time, with what we have seen put out of our mind.
7. It was customary in Jesus’ time, that if you ran into a funeral procession, you joined it out of respect for the bereaved.
8. So as Jesus and His followers met this possession of death and despair, He and his followers joined the funeral procession. This is a key, whatever Jesus joins in with, can be turned around. 9. Here Jesus’ presence changed the whole situation.
10. We don’t know what the widow knew about Jesus. She may have not known anything about Jesus, before He raised her son to life. I doubt that she was thinking of Jesus because probably her world that day was limited to a dark despair of grief.
11. I know that faith is important, and I know that asking is important, but I think it is important to note that there is no record of the woman approaching Jesus to ask him to raise her son – indeed there is no record of her having any faith at all
12. Luke chapter 7 is an interesting study in contrast. There are two stores here, one of a Roman centurion who had great faith, faith so great that Jesus marveled at it, and another story of a woman who appears to have no faith, at least that is mentioned, just gloom and despair.
13. Yet Jesus moves between the two extremes.
14. Chuck Swindoll made this statement: “These differences illustrate that Jesus our Savior doesn’t demand that we fit into a set pattern to receive his help. He doesn’t restrain His compassion because we fail to meet “our good deed quota…or because we don’t say the right words. Or because we forget to follow the correct ritual.”
15. I don’t know how you feel about this but this gives me hope. We would like to think that we have great faith, but great faith is a rarity, this is why Jesus marveled so much at it. This is why Jesus asked in one place that when the Son of man returned, would He find faith on the earth?
16. When you are walking in the valley of despair, you wonder if Jesus really cares for you? You wonder if you have any hope, and faith seems to be often far away. Does anyone care?
III. NOTE THE COMPASSION OF JESUS
1. Perhaps you are like the widow who had run out of hope? You don’t just need a change of attitude. You simply need to connect or reconnect to the source of hope.”
2. One of my favorite authors made this statement: “It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not.” J.R.R. Tolkien
3. Note what the text says again.
Luke 7:13 KJV And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
4. Jesus saw this woman and He had compassion on her. This woman was already a widow and had now lost her only son and means of support.
5. She was now at great social risk and embarrassment, because there was no one that would be able to care for her. So Jesus felt great compassion for her.
6. Note that the Greek word “splaknizo’mai” translated here as “compassion” is only used in this form, just twice; once here of Jesus and also of the Good Samaritan. And each time it is used, the result of the compassion is not just detached concern or kind words, but always involvement and action. We don’t really have compassion until we do something about it.
7. Then Jesus does something that is totally unexpected, first He went and touched the funeral bier, literally stopping the possession.
8. Two things to note here; first note that according to the law and Rabbinical tradition, this would have made Jesus unclean. However, people are more important that words and traditions. Jesus was moved with compassion at the condition of this mother and He is letting the possession know that a greater Word is here than that of Moses.
9. Next this would have been considered somewhat rude. Why continue to delay the mother in her grief? Let her go on to what every fate she had. Yet Jesus wasn’t just an ordinary person, He was the Very Word of God.
10. He spoke to the young man and told him to “arise.” Then the young man got up.
11. Jesus demonstrated divine compassion. He was truly concerned about the plight of an obscure widow and her son. AND HE IS CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR PLIGHT – AND MINE! He is still moved with compassion. It is never too late with Jesus.
