Luke 7:11-17 - Jesus abhors death

If you can't stand something, then change it. Don't just live with it. Don't just settle. Don't accept it. Do something about it.

And I think that if there is anything that we would want changed, if there’s anything that we just can’t stand, it’s death. There are a lot of other struggles in our lives, health issues, family struggles, financial burdens, but behind every one of these illnesses and fears and sources of grief lies the big one, the greatest enemy. Death. Our own weaknesses are subtle, and sometimes not so subtle reminders of our own mortality.

We hate this enemy so much that we go out of our way to avoid talking about this. We only go to the funeral home if we have to, and sometimes not even then. We’ll face the issue when the tests force us to, when our bodies are telling us that we have to talk about it. But not before then. And even then, we sure don’t want to talk about it. If there was something we could change, it would be that our lives end. That we have to say good bye. We hate this. We just hate this.

Does it help you to know that Jesus feels the same way you do about death? That He just hates death. If there was one thing that He could change, it would be that our lives have to come to end. Well, that is one thing He can change. In fact, this was the whole reason that Jesus came to this earth, because He was sick to death of death.

And while we go out of our way to avoid death, Jesus went out of His way to confront death. If there was a funeral happening anywhere around Him, He showed up. And by the time He left, the funeral had been disrupted. There was no more funeral, because the dead person was back to life. Jesus couldn’t stand seeing a victim of death, so He snatched that victim away from the enemy and brought them back to life. He rescued Jairus’ daughter from the enemy, He called Lazarus back to life. And today, in Luke 7, He carries a young man back from the grave.

Verse 11:

There’s nothing special about Nain, here. This is the only time it’s mentioned in scripture. But normal Nain is what makes it special, because Nain could be anywhere. Death has come to Nain, just like it comes to anywhere in the world. Jesus coming to Nain is Jesus coming to Austin is Jesus coming to Albert Lea is Jesus coming to Hollandale. Jesus is showing up.

And Jesus is bringing a lot of friends. It kind of reminds us of a couple of weeks ago, of how much people enjoy Jesus, how much we’re drawn to Him. And in a minute, we’ll be reminded of His authority, too, from last week.

Because, verse 12:

There is a meeting of the crowds, here. Here comes Jesus, walking up the road, trailing a large crowd behind Him. And here comes a woman, trailing a large crowd behind her. And they meet. Jesus, the Way of Life, meets the woman, walking the way of death.

And this woman is not finished facing death. Her son, a young man, has died in the prime of life. Which is devastating. But after the funeral, the woman has some hard questions to answer. A woman without a son, and without a husband, is in real trouble here. There is no social security available for her. The society required that there be a man providing for this woman, and all of her men are dead. The question on her mind, the fact that she is facing, is her own mortality. She is in danger, mortal danger, of starving to death. Unless someone does something.

But right now, at this moment, she can barely think of that. Her son is dead. Her son. The memories are going through her mind right then. Memories of birthdays, the first time he took a step, the first word he ever spoke, his first day at school. She had hopes for him, hopes that he would find a nice young lady, that they would marry, that he would have a good job that kept them comfortable, that she would see some grandchildren.

And all that is done. That’s not going to happen anymore, because he, her son, is lying there in a box, and he’s not breathing. This is not the way it’s supposed to be. Parents ought never to have to bury children. It’s not right. It’s not right.

Jesus agrees. Verse 13:

Don’t go too fast here. When Jesus, our Lord, our King saw her, his heart went out to her. He’s affected. He’s not cold.

He could be. He could not care. After all, Jesus is the same God who told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of that one particular tree in the Garden of Eden. He’s the same God who told them that if they ate that fruit, that they would surely die. So now, Jesus, when He sees death, could just say:

But not our Jesus. Not our God. Our God is moved. Jesus feels. He’s bothered. He’s sad. He has compassion.

And at this point, He is sick and tired of death. As the mother is thinking about all those memories, the first steps, the first words, Jesus is thinking about those, too. He was there, watching over this family. He’s remembering. And He’s just had it with sickness and sorrow and death. Others have died. Jesus has seen that. Well, this is one too many. Death has stepped over the line, and Jesus has to do something about this. He can’t just stand there and do nothing. He can’t just live with it. Jesus steps in.

And He speaks to the mother, out of His compassion, His sorrow for her. And He tells her:

Which would be kind of a mean thing to say to a grieving mother at the funeral of her son. If this was anyone else saying this, they would look crass, callused, uncaring. From anyone else, it sounds like "buck up, get over it, look on the bright side", all very uncaring things to say to a grieving mother.

But this isn’t just anybody saying this. This is Jesus. "Don’t cry," Jesus says because He knows something. He’s so finished with death, and death will not win today. With a determined look in His eye, but also probably with a smile, verse 14:

And when the voice of the almighty God, the ruler of the universe speaks, not even death can win. Verse 15:

A dead man sat up. If we read these words anywhere else than in the Bible, we would either be reading the National Enquirer, in which case we wouldn’t believe it. Or this would be the most incredible news of the day. And if people heard this news they would all be wondering how it happened. The man would have to undergo a series of tests, scientific investigations to explain how this happened. And the question would be, can we do this again. If one man can come back to life from the dead, can we figure how we all could come back to life from the dead?

But, see, that’s the point of Luke 7. The answer is right there in front of us. And the life that we see is not just a physical life, where we’ll end up dying in the end anyway. This is about a life without an ending, the way things were supposed to be. This is Jesus taking a little bite out of death, with the promise of more to come. No wonder, verse 16:

Because this is the one thing that we can all agree on. No one wants to die. Even people who are suicidal don’t really want to die. They just want to feel better. They just want to be happy.

So when the people witness Jesus defeat the greatest enemy any of us will ever know, absolutely they cheered for Him. Woo! Verse 16:

God has come to help His people.

Aren’t you tired of the struggle? Aren’t you sick of the hurt? Haven’t we had enough funerals? This is not just part of life, no matter how much we tell ourselves that. Death, and all the parts of death including sickness and sorrow and fear, this was not in God’s plan. He didn’t create us to die. He created us to live forever.

And He’s working now to get that back. When Jesus died on the cross, having no sin, being completely innocence, death was broke. Jesus knew this would happen. That’s why He did what He did. His anger at death, being sick to death of death, is what drove Him to die. And because of His sacrifice, now we don’t have to die.

Because of Jesus, what happens to us at the end of our earthly lives can barely be called death anymore. Even the Bible shies away from referring to believers as dead. They’re described as having fallen asleep, or gone to be with Jesus. But they’re not dead. How can they be, since Jesus killed death?

If we know that Jesus died to take away our sins, we will not die. Jesus describes this as being born again. The first time we were born, we were born into a life that wouldn’t last. It would end. So, then, we’re born again. We’re born into Him. We’re born into His life. We can not die, anymore. We are immortal. We will live forever. We live here on earth for a time, and then we live in Paradise with the Lord for a time, and then we live on earth with the Lord for an eternity.

Now, how real this fact is to us will determine how we go through our life right now. If our life here on earth is more real than our life with Jesus, then life after this earth is going to seem a little scary. We will drive ourselves to get the most out of this life that we can, because this is what we have. Sure, there’s something coming after this, but we’re not really sure what. We hear it’s good, but we don’t know what that good is, what it looks like. So we buy our toys, here and now. Those who die with the most toys, still die, but hey, it was fun while it lasted. Our lives are focused mostly on us, our own care, our own lives, because this life, here and now, is the most important.

But if we can understand what Jesus came to do, to put death to death. If we can understand that this life is barely anything compared to the life that is coming. If we can see our lives as never ending, eternal, immortal, then our lives here and now will look different.

Our treasure will look different. The toys of this life will start looking really cheap, disposable, in the light of eternity. Instead of storing up treasure in the bank or in the garage or at the lake, we’ll want to store up treasure in heaven. Our priorities will shift. We WILL drive ourselves to get the most out of this life, but in a different way. Not to accumulate, not to have as much fun as we can, but to make a difference in this world, while we’re in this world. To serve the Lord who makes our eternal life possible. Because Jesus killed death

And seeing our lives as eternal makes the suffering we experience more bearable. When we know that we will have thousands, millions, billions of years of blessed life, perfect life, painless life, our lives of pain and struggle, of confusion and sorrow become a little more tolerable. We keep looking forward to the day when we will be with Jesus. As we limp along, we keep our eyes on Him, because He killed death.

And with the death of death, our view of the end of our earthly lives is different. Each one of us, unless Jesus comes back, each one of us will arrive at that day when we take our last breath. For we who know Jesus, who love Jesus, who know what He did for us, that is a good, good day. It’s a day that has no sting. It’s the day that life really begins.

This is the life that Jesus came to bring. Don’t you love that about Jesus? He’d had enough of death. So He came bringing life. Lot’s of life. Big armfuls of life for anyone who would believe. Anyone who would be born again.