Lon Solomon Ministries
People Jesus Met Part 8
You know, several years ago I was leading a tour in the Holy Land and our group was just coming out of the old city. We were getting ready to walk through the Lionsgate, often called St. Stephen's Gate. When all of a sudden there was a commotion behind us that was so loud that literally we all stopped and turned around the look and what we saw was this funeral procession coming towards us. However, it was different than any kind of funeral that I had ever seen before. Walking in the front of this funeral was the widow along with a clergyman and then immediately behind them was the body of the deceased except it wasn't in a coffin like you would normally see in America. The body was simply wrapped in a white sheet lying on a pallet, a stretcher and then all around this pallet were mourners who were crying and moaning and wailing and weeping and that symbols and tambourines. We were mesmerized. We just stood there as this woeful procession went by us, went out the city gate and then made its way down the street towards the graveyard. Now the reason I bring that up is because today in part eight of our series, People Jesus Met, we're going to watch as the Lord Jesus himself in a little village called Nain came across a funeral procession precisely like the one we saw in Jerusalem. However, the Lord Jesus did not just stand there as we're going to see and let the funeral procession go by him like we did. No, no. The Lord Jesus brought that funeral procession to a screeching halt and we're going to look and see what happened back in Nain 2,000 years ago and then we're going to talk about well what difference does that make to us today. So here we go Luke chapter 7 verse 11. Soon afterwards the Bible says Jesus went to a town called Nain and a large crowd went along with him and there's a church there today actually that commemorates the events of what we're about to read in the rest of this chapter verse 12. Now as Jesus approached the city gate, behold a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother and she was a widow and a sizable number of people from the town were with her. This funeral was just like the one we saw in Jerusalem so you've got a mental picture of what it was like and the Bible also tells us two other important facts about this woman. Number one, it tells her that this was this woman's one and only son who was dead and lying on this pallet and it tells us number two that this woman was already a widow. Her husband had already died. Now in ancient Israel this was a really bad combination that this poor lady had because you know as well as I that the ancient Roman world was a male driven society. A woman couldn't just go out and get a job like they can today and support themselves. Women didn't go out into the fields and plow and harvest crops in those days and so without a husband to provide for her and now without a son to provide for her this woman had no way to support herself. You say well what about her life insurance benefit? What about social security? Well hello, there was no life insurance in these days but friends this woman had no piece of the rock. You understand what I'm saying to you? There was no government assistance, there were no 401ks, there were no pension plans, there was no social security, there was no Medicare. The stark reality here is that at the end of this funeral all the townspeople were going to go back to their homes and this poor woman was going to be left high and dry probably reduced to having to beg on the street in order to survive. So is it any wonder that she was walking at the front of this procession weeping? She was probably weeping partly because of the grief she had for the her son and partly out of fear as to what in the world was going to happen to her now. Verse 13 and when the Lord saw her, I love this, his heart went out to her, wow I love that. He said to her, don't cry, the word that you used here that translated his heart went out to her is an incredibly picturesque word in Greek, it's an incredibly intense word, it literally means Jesus was gripped in his gut for her. Other translations are he felt compassion for her, his heart broke for her, the point is this woman's grief deeply touched Jesus and deeply moved Jesus and we should ask the question why, why was Jesus so moved by this woman's plight? Well I'd like to suggest two reasons number one because as God Jesus is concerned about the heartache of every single human being alive but number two don't forget Jesus' mom was a widow also. We don't know for sure when his dad Joseph died but it was somewhere between the ages when Jesus was between 12 and 30 and of course the Lord Jesus had to take the responsibility as the oldest son to provide for his mother Mary, to provide for his brothers and sisters, the point is that Jesus had lived through, Jesus had experienced the struggles that a widow in ancient Israel faced which means he understood way down deep the feelings and the fears that this woman had there in the village of name. I'd like to say that if you're a lady here today who's lost her husband or you're a single parent mom here today or you're a single woman who feels like you're all alone in the world and you've been tempted to think that hey Jesus is a man. He really doesn't appreciate what I'm facing as a woman. Well I'd like to suggest to you that the events here in name should change your opinion. The truth is Jesus understands exactly what you are facing and his heart is moved by every struggle you have just like his heart was moved for this woman here in the city of name. So the Lord Jesus said to this widow he said stop crying ma'am I'm going to do something to help you and I'm sure the people around him thought what's he going to do? Jesus doesn't have any money, Jesus certainly isn't going to marry this woman, Jesus doesn't have a job to offer this woman, I mean what's he going to do? Raise her son from the dead? Well actually that's precisely what the Lord Jesus had in mind. Watch verse 14 then Jesus went up and touched the palate and those carrying it came to a halt and then Jesus said young man I say to you get up then the dead man sat up and began to talk and Jesus gave him back to his mother. Now the Bible records this event with such simplicity and with such calm but folks the truth of the matter is Jesus just raised somebody from the dead and it wasn't the only time he's ever done this. This was the first time he did it but don't forget that in Luke chapter 8 he raised this gyrus's daughter from the dead and in John chapter 11 he raised his Lazarus from the dead and in all four gospels he raises himself from the dead. You say well long way to me you don't really believe that this boy was dead and that Jesus raised him from the dead do you? I mean this thing had to be a hoax the boy maybe maybe he was unconscious maybe he was in a coma you don't really believe Jesus raised him from the literal dead do you? I sure do. I sure do and you should too and let me point out why folks Jesus didn't do this in some kind of secret chamber and he didn't do it in some secluded gathering where everybody around him was just a one of his followers and he didn't do it in some seance where he had everybody hypnotized he did it in broad daylight on the road out in the open at the city gate in front of a huge crowd of people that had followed him from the city of Capernaum and in front of almost the entire population of the village of Nain who had come out to mourn for this boy and you know what those people who were eyewitnesses to this event they certainly didn't think this was a hoax they certainly didn't think it was a con look verses 16 says then everyone there was all struck well I guess so and they began to praise God and say a great prophet has appeared among us God has come to care for his people and the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside look here these people knew a dead person when they saw one and these people knew a miracle when they saw one and they were so blown away by what Jesus did that they couldn't even keep it to themselves they ran around and told everybody they could find what he did so that his reputation spread like wildfire not just in Israel but the Bible says in all the surrounding countryside you know we are often tempted to think oh those poor Jewish people in Jesus's day you know I mean they didn't have Christian bookstores and they didn't have Christian radio and it couldn't turn on the television and watch Billy Graham I mean if they only had back then all the information that we have today about Jesus they certainly would have believed hey friends don't you kid yourself uh-uh these people back in Jesus's day they had an outrageous amount of information about Jesus they knew exactly what he was doing and yet most of them didn't believe in him and you know why I'll tell you why it's because salvation is an issue of the heart it's not an issue of how much information about Jesus a person has I mean folks it doesn't take a whole lot of information to come to Christ it doesn't take a whole lot of information to get saved when I came to Christ thirty nine years ago the amount of biblical information I had you could have fit in a thimble but let me tell you what I did have I had a heart that was willing to do business with God I had a heart that was willing to humble itself before Almighty God and so often in trying to reach our unbelieving friends and our unbelieving relatives we keep trying to give them more and more information about Jesus we give them the book evidence that demands the verdict and then we give them the book more evidence that demands the verdict and then we give them the left behind series and we keep funneling the information to them but this is not the root of the problem the root of the problem is not lack of information on these people's parts listen here the root of the problem is their stubborn willful arrogant self-sufficient heart that's the problem and that was the problem with the Jewish people in Jesus's day these people stood here and watched Jesus raised somebody from the dead you don't have that much information about Jesus you've never seen him do that the problem was not that they didn't have enough information the problem with these Jewish people is that their hearts were not humble and they were not contrite and their hearts were not broken about their sin and they were not willing to bow and surrender their life to Jesus Christ it's just that simple and so you know what folks what our unbelieving friends need most from us and our unbelieving relatives they do not need more and more information from us what they need is more and more prayer from us prayer that the Holy Spirit would soften their hearts prayer that the Holy Spirit would convict them of their sin and of their need for Christ prayer that the Holy Spirit would bring them to their knees at the foot of the cross if you really want to do something to help your unbelieving friends pray for them that God will deal with their heart and let me just say if you're here today and you've never trusted Christ in a real and personal way I don't mean to offend you and what I'm about to say but please don't think that your problem is that you just need more and more information if you've heard one sermon at McLean Bible Church if you've listened to one Billy Graham message on television you've got plenty of information to close the deal with God if you want to that is not the problem friends at least let's be honest about what the problem is if you haven't come to Christ it's your heart your stubborn air again prideful heart and let's at least let's at least be straight up with one another about that and you need to ask God to deal with your heart it's not about more information I hope you'll think about that well that's as far as we're going to go in the passage today so it's time to ask our most important question and I want to hear all you folks out at Loudon and all everybody at the internet on the internet and everybody at the edge so when we read it we ready here we ready okay here we go one two three that's pretty good yeah good for you all right you say long so what say look I appreciate everything you say in here but I mean I don't get how any of this connects to me well let's talk about that what was the driving piston here in this encounter between the Lord Jesus and the widow of name well we find it in verse 13 verse 13 says when the Lord saw her he felt compassion for her see we need to realize the Lord Jesus didn't raise this woman's son from the dead in order to enhance his reputation he didn't raise that boy from the dead in order to impress the crowd or to make a statement about himself the Bible is clear he raised that boy because he felt compassion for that woman now what exactly is compassion well it comes from the Latin word compassio which literally means to suffer along with someone compassion means really caring about other people it means being touched by their pain it means being moved by their hardships and their struggles and the Bible declares over and over again that our God is a God of intense compassion for you and me listen to what the Bible says Psalm 103 verse 13 says as a father has compassion there's our word on his children so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him Psalm 72 verse 13 says that God has compassion on the poor and the needy and oh by the way in the sight of almighty God could I remind us all we're all poor and we're all needy hey the gospels tell us that the Lord Jesus had compassion Matthew chapter 14 on the multitudes and healed their sick he had compassion Matthew chapter 20 on two blind men and restored their sight he had compassion mark chapter one on a leper and healed his disease he had compassion mark chapter five on a demon possessed man and cast the demons out mark 634 when Jesus saw the crowds the Bible says he felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd and I could keep going but I think the point is clear the point is whenever you and I pour our heart out to God in pain whenever we pour our heart out to God in need we can be sure that he is listening to every word and that he is feeling every tear and that he is deeply moved by every heartache we have why because he is a God of compassion and this is why 1 Peter 5 verse 7 says cast all your cares on him cast all your cares on him why why should I do that because he cares for you amazing huh you know a few years ago I was appointed by president of George W. Bush to serve on the president's committee for mental retardation in fact I serve two terms and while I was on the committee the committee voted to change its name from the president's committee on mental retardation to the president's committee for people with intellectual disabilities and so we were invited the committee was to the White House into the Oval Office for the president to sign the name change officially and when my wife Brenda heard that I was going down to do that she asked me if she could come along into the Oval Office and I said well I don't know Brenda I don't know I mean she said well I would really like to go in the Oval Office and meet the president and I said oh yeah you went about 300 million Americans would like to go there I said I'll ask so I did I asked the head of the committee and the lady made a call and call me back and said look they said that Brenda can come but there's no guarantee she'll get in the Oval Office she may just have to sit out in the waiting area but if she doesn't she's willing to take the risk she can come so I said do you want to go Brenda under those circumstances she said I'm going so she went so we're all standing there in the waiting room waiting for the president to come out and bring us in the Oval Office and wouldn't you know it this young lady comes walking by they're in the White House with a clipboard and I've never seen her before in my life and she goes Lon Solomon what are you doing here and so I told her and she said well I'm one of the president's schedulers and I said well then I'd like you to meet my wife Brenda who's here with me and she'd like to know if she could go in the Oval Office with us and lady said oh sure she can no problem she said Brenda just come with me I'll make sure we're going together so in we go Brendan everybody into the Oval Office and after we got done and the president signed everything and we you know whatever we were breaking up and Brenda was on the other side of the room talking to some folks and I was standing next to President Bush and I said hey Mr. Bush would you mind taking a picture of the White House photographers there would you mind taking a picture with my wife Brenda and me he goes no no no and so he goes hey Brenda Brenda come over here quick I want to take a picture with you so Brenda scurried over and he put his arms around us we took this picture which oh by the way is up in my hallway and so we were riding home and Brenda says to me she says you know Lon she says as long as I live I will never get over him calling me Brenda and I said well I call you Brenda all the time and she said yeah but it's not the same true story honest to guys true story well can I tell you what I will never get over in my life and what you should never get over in your life I will never get over the fact that the Almighty all holy majestic God of this universe is interested in me that he cares about me and that he's willing to intervene in the world to help me and he's willing to do the very same thing for you this is amazing I mean I as long as I live I'll never get over that this is what Hebrews chapter 4 says it says verse 15 for we have a high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses there's the compassion of God watch for he was tempted in every way as we are yet without sin therefore the next verse says therefore what therefore because we've got a God of compassion like this therefore let us come what's the next word boldly boldly to God's throne of grace that we may receive mercy and that we may find grace to help us in our time of need listen friends the Bible says no matter how scared we are no matter how discouraged we are no matter how exhausted we are no matter how burdened down we are there is a place that we can take all of this where we will always find a sympathetic ear where we will always find a tender heart a place where we can lay those burdens down and exchange them for the sweet peace of God and that place is on our knees in the presence of the all compassionate God of this universe amen amen and that's why I love the great hymn that says what a friend we have in Jesus all our sins and griefs to bear what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer except that we don't you know we don't so many of us we are determined that instead we're going to carry all those burdens ourselves we're going to carry all our problems on our own shoulders you know we're like atlas carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders when the Bible says no no no your shoulders on big enough no no no you can't carry that kind of weight by yourself the hymn goes on to say oh what peace we often forfeit oh what needless pain we bear why all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer you know my experience is that many of us today are carrying a much heavier load carrying a much heavier burden than maybe we've carried in a long long time things in our world are tough and I want to urge you to take Jesus up on his invitation I want to urge you to believe God when he tells you he really cares about you and that if you'll just let him he'll put his shoulder under the load and he'll shoulder it for you friends you and I we can't carry these burdens it'll kill us but the great news of the Bible is that the Lord Jesus can that's why he says Matthew 11 28 come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest I'll take the burden off of you you will find peace for your soul and I'll tell you in some of my darkest days with my daughter Jill and some of the toughest days of leading this church over the last 29 years I'll tell you what the only refuge I had was to go directly to the Lord Jesus and say Lord I can't do this I can't carry this it's too much for me this is gonna kill me what a wonderful thing to watch the Lord Jesus step in and say Lon let me let me lift that I got that I'll take that and to feel that burden leave because Jesus took it didn't mean the problems went away but it meant that I had the shoulders of the living Christ to get under that burden and carry it with me and that's how I made it pure and simple no other way and folks that's how you'll make it believe God he's willing to do that if you'll just let him let's pray together and with our heads bowed and our eyes closed if you've been trying to carry your own burden on your own shoulders and it's killing you it's sapped all the joy out of your life and you just feel like you're walking around every day with a little black cloud over your head man it's time to get rid of that to give that burden to the Lord Jesus and he let him carry it for you because he cares about you and so if you need to do that drop that burden off at the foot of the cross and leave it there you take these quiet moments and you do that right now. Okay, let's stand now and sing about it what a friend we have in Jesus. Join with me let's sing. What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grace to bear. But our privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh, that peace we often forfeit. Oh, that needless pain we bear. Oh, because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. Lord Jesus I pray today that you would dismiss your people. With the great blessing that you gave Aaron to pray for the people of Israel. May the Lord bless you. May He keep and preserve you. Yair on anoy panabe lecha vikunecha. May the Lord cause His face to shine upon you. May He be gracious to you. God anoy panabe lecha vyaseim lecha shalom. May the Lord turn His face and not His back towards you. And may He give you peace. Father in a tough world where the burdens are great. Thank you that you offer us the sweet peace of God in exchange for our burdens. Lord help us to make that trade each and every day. Each and every moment of each and every day. Thank you for your love and your compassion. Give us peace this week we pray Lord. In Jesus name. And God's people said amen. Have a good week bless you. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] You