Episode Details

Trinity 16 sermon on Luke 7:11-17 preached in 2024 by Rev. James Preus. Christforus.org. 

Gospel: Luke 7:11-17 

11 Soon afterward [Jesus] went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 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, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country. 

Trinity 16 

Luke 7:11-17 

Pastor James Preus 

Trinity Lutheran Church 

September 15, 2024 

Laugh to scorn the gloomy grave 

And at death no longer tremble; 

He, the Lord, who came to save 

Will at last His own assemble.  

They will go their Lord to meet,  

Treading death beneath their feet. (LSB 741:7, Otto von Schwerin, Jesus Christ, My Sure Defense)  

The woman was a widow. That’s sad. But most married women are widowed eventually. She’s following the coffin of her only son. Now, that’s heartbreaking. Children aren’t supposed to die before their parents. Now, after this woman’s husband has died, death has taken away her only son. She’s alone and will likely need to depend on the charity of others to survive. Our Lord Jesus sees her and he has compassion on her. Yet, what Jesus does with this compassion is what is truly remarkable. He says to the mother of the dead man, “Do not weep,” which certainly would be a pho pas at any other funeral. Surely, at her son’s funeral, a woman is permitted to cry! But Jesus backs up his bold words by touching the coffin and saying to the dead man, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” And the young man rises from the dead, starts talking, and Jesus returns the man alive and well to his mother.  

What wonderful compassion our Lord Jesus has! Would that He would show such compassion today! Do we not have parents in our midst who have held the lifeless body of their child? Who would give all they have to see their child start moving again, open his eyes, and talk? Who would be forever thankful to Jesus if He would give their dead child back to them alive and well! Yes, we have such parents today, such pitiable mothers and fathers, even widows and widowers, who are in need of this comfort. Why doesn’t Jesus raise their dead? Or, could He at least keep them from dying! Where is Jesus’ compassion today?  

Scripture only records Jesus raising three people from the dead: Jairus’s twelve-year-old daughter in Capernaum, Lazarus of Bethany, and this young man from Nain. Certainly, there were others He raised, along with His disciples (Matthew 10:8). Yet, it is also certain that there were many more Jesus did not raise. Yet, this does not prove a lack of compassion on our Lord’s part, nor a lack of power over death. Rather, to understand this, we must learn that there are three types of death: 1) physical death, from which Jesus raised the young man from Nain; 2) eternal death, which is suffered by all in hell; and 3) spiritual death, into which all are conceived and born, which means they are dead to sin and incapable of choosing or pleasing God. When you recognize all three of these types of death, you realize that the raising of the young man in Nain was the least remarkable and least compassionate resurrection, which Jesus demonstrates in this Gospel lesson. The young man would later