Death Meets Life
Luke 7:11-17
Grace to you and peace from God our
Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
One problem with hearing about the miracles of Jesus is that
they make us envious. And when we are envious, the devil urges us to ask, “When
am I going to get mine? When is Jesus going to do for me, just like He did for
them?” And then we see Jesus as a wonder-worker, a miracle-man, a
super-hero—instead of seeing and trusting Him to be our Lord and God and
Savior. Jesus truly is our Savior. But that doesn’t mean that He’s always going
to swoop in and clean up our messes, or undo our disasters, or make better our
tragedies, or heal our diseases, or prevent our death. Our Jesus has a much
bigger view of our life. He sees the big picture. He looks far beyond our
latest catastrophe.
So Jesus doesn’t raise the dead man merely because He
happened to be passing by Nain, happened to see the funeral procession, and happened
to cross paths with that poor mother. Jesus raises the dead man to show us that
nothing—not our worst fears, not the destruction of our homes, not the
devastation of our life—not even death will stop Him from having the final say.
And so, “When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not
weep.” Why is she not to weep? Is it not natural to grieve when loved
ones die, when tragedy hits home? And why does Jesus not weep? If He is moved
with compassion, shouldn’t He show it instead of standing there stoically and
commanding a grieving mother to stop crying?
But remember—Our Lord sees the big picture. While He sees
this woman and her dead son; while her suffering moves Him to compassion and
mercy, what He also sees is death standing in the way of life. Think of it: entering
the city of Nain
is the Lord of Life. Coming out of the city at the same time is a death march.
With the Lord of Life is a large crowd. And a large crowd from the city is
marching the dead man to his grave. Which procession will give way? Does Life
yield to death? Or is death overcome by Life?
Our Lord will face this scene twice more. The first time is when
death and the devil come to claim Him from the cross to lead Him down to the
grave and hell. And the second is when He who is Life comes to claim and
release His own from the satanic clutches and the snares of death. Who will
give way? Jesus or the devil? Which one will have to yield? Life or death? And
who will overcome: the Lord of Life and all the living, or the dirt and fallen
angels that He made and that must obey Him?
Our Lord Jesus looks at the dead man coming out of Nain and
sees the big picture. He sees death challenging Him. Our Lord Jesus is life,
and He knows that death must always yield to Life. And so Life Himself comes
and touches the open coffin. The death march stops. Then Life says, “Young
man, I say to you, arise.” The
young man who had been dead comes to life.
As we see the images of death on our televisions; as we hear
the tragedies that come every day; as we witness the holocaust of the mass
murder of the unborn; as we nurse the dying and bury our dead; and as we feel
death slowly creeping up in our own bones, let us not hear today’s Gospel and
envy the mother who got her son back. Instead, let us remember that, in the
midst of earthly death, Life has us surrounded. Death must yield to Life. And
it is the Lord of Life whom we cling to, cry out to, and praise—even as we
receive into our mouths His glorified and resurrected body and blood which “transforms
our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the
working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” For death must give way to Life. So
come and receive Life in His very body and blood. In the name of the Father and
of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The
peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus always. Amen.
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