GOD HAS VISITED
Luke 7:11-16 nkj
11 Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. 12 And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise. 15 So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. 16 Then fear [a]came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.”
This is the account of Jesus raising a young man from the dead. There are a couple of things that stood out to me besides the amazing miracle that took place.
Verse eleven says that many of Jesus’ disciples were with Him on this day and a large crowd. The distinction was clear. There were those who followed Jesus and were His disciples. The disciples were listening to His words and looking to implement His teachings in their lives. Then there was a large crowd. They may have wanted to see a miracle or were along for the excitement, but they were not disciples. An interesting distinction. I want to make sure I am in the disciple category, not grouped with the crowd.
Jesus had compassion on this widow who just lost her future. The opportunities for widows in the Jewish culture were minimal. So it was the sons who would take care of their mothers. This mother lost her only son, and Jesus had compassion on her and comforted her by telling her not to weep. The key difference about Jesus was that His words of comfort were backed up with action. He came and touched the coffin, which had to appear strange to the crowd. That simply wasn’t done. But Jesus lived as a contradiction to the norms of Jewish culture. He spoke to the young man, and the man sat up and began to speak. I would love to know what he said, but it obviously was not important for us to remember. Maybe he said, “I’m back.”
I think it’s also interesting that fear came upon the crowd of people. And we can only imagine. Everyone was preparing for a funeral, and now the dead man is back from the dead. But the people were wise enough to glorify God. I bet praise broke out all around as a mother received her son, relatives received their cousin, and childhood friends got their friend back.
The people recognized that a prophet had risen up among them. The last prophet they were aware of was John the Baptist, but John did not do miracles. The last miracles the nation had seen were from the old prophets such as Elijah and Elisha, but that was hundreds of years earlier. The people also said that God had visited His people. Notice they attributed the miracle to God. That God was moving. When the young man died, it was a tragedy and not of God. When the young man was raised from the dead, God had shown up.
APPLICATION
People have attributed horrible things to God. Hurricanes and tornadoes are called acts of God. The best way to determine the true acts of God is to look at Jesus. As He revealed the acts of God in Luke 7:21-22 “And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight. Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.” When God visits His people, the outcome is not destroyed homes and lives. People are comforted, strengthened, healed, and given hope. When God visits, good things happen.
PRAYER
Thank You, Father, for such a good picture of You in Jesus. He was Your express will on the earth. I am grateful that You are still visiting Your people today. You are still healing, comforting, and delivering, and I glorify You.