Christ’s Compassion Brings Life from Death

Jesus meets a funeral procession outside Nain and does what no ordinary funeral can do: He raises the dead. The casket, the grave, and the stillness of a dead body show the horror of sin and the helplessness of those who stand before death. Christ’s word, however, brings life out of death. His word does not merely offer comfort around the edges of grief. His word has the power to overcome the death that sin has brought into the world.

Christ’s compassion meets the widow at the deepest point of her loss. The widow had lost her husband, the man with whom she had become one flesh, and now she had lost her only son, her own flesh and blood and her future. Christ, the only begotten Son of God, feels the sorrow of a woman who has lost her only begotten son. His compassion means that He suffers with her. His suffering did not begin only in Gethsemane, for His love penetrates the grief and misery caused by sin wherever He finds it.

God’s compassion is not like human compassion. Human compassion is often limited by distance, self-interest, inconvenience, and the question of what another person’s trouble may cost. God’s compassion cannot be denied by unworthiness or diverted by sin. God loves not because sinners are lovable, but because God is love. Psalm 103 gives the measure of that mercy: as high as heaven is above earth, and as far as east is from west, so great is His mercy and so fully has He removed transgression.

Christ touches the open coffin, yet He does not become unclean. Christ’s purity makes the unclean clean. His command, “Young man, I say to you, arise,” cannot fail, and the dead man rises because Christ’s word carries Christ’s power. The law stands exposed in the dead body, for the wages of sin is death, but the living Lord speaks the Gospel that gives life.

The Gospel retains that same power today because it rests on Christ’s death and resurrection. Christ bore the sins of the world, suffered their full penalty, and rose for the justification of sinners. Baptism receives its power from that death and resurrection, and the Lord’s Supper gives the body and blood by which death was destroyed. Christ still comes to polluted sinners, forgives them, and gives them life. His people remain weak, but His Gospel remains strong, so they may live with confidence and die in peace.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Christ’s compassion enters real grief Christ does not stand at a safe distance from the widow’s sorrow. His compassion means that He suffers with those who suffer, and His love is not a passing feeling. His heart is moved by the ruin sin has brought into human life. [25:50]
• 2. God loves sinners because He is love God’s mercy does not depend on human worthiness, spiritual progress, or emotional strength. Sin cannot turn God away from those for whom Christ died. His compassion rests in His own gracious nature and therefore remains sure. [27:28]
• 3. Christ’s word cannot fail The command that raised the young man reveals the certainty of Christ’s Gospel. His word of forgiveness is not weak encouragement or religious advice. The same Lord who calls the dead to rise calls guilty sinners into new and eternal life. [31:10]
• 4. The Gospel comes from Christ’s victory Christ’s death truly bore away sin, and His resurrection truly declares sinners justified before God. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper do not receive their power from human devotion. Christ’s completed work gives these gifts their life-giving certainty. [31:53]
• 5. Human weakness meets Christ’s cleansing power The casket reminds sinners that they are powerless before death and unable to save themselves. Christ comes precisely into that weakness without becoming polluted by it. His holiness cleanses the defiled, and His forgiveness gives peace even at the grave.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [24:06] - Jesus Raises the Dead
• [24:51] - Funerals and Human Helplessness
• [25:28] - Christ’s Compassion for the Widow
• [26:43] - The Limits of Human Compassion
• [27:28] - God’s Limitless Mercy
• [29:01] - Christ Touches the Coffin
• [29:56] - The Word That Raises the Dead
• [30:18] - Law, Death, and the Gospel
• [31:10] - Christ’s Word Cannot Fail
• [31:53] - Justification Through Death and Resurrection
• [33:00] - Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
• [33:46] - Living by Faith Under the Cross
• [34:26] - Christ’s Resurrection as Certain Proof
• [35:11] - Weak Sinners and a Powerful Gospel

Bible Reading

Luke 7:11-17
“Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 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. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, 'Do not weep.' Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, 'Young man, I say to you, arise.' And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, 'A great prophet has arisen among us!' and 'God has visited his people!' And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.”

Observation questions

1. What details in Luke 7:11–17 show the depth of the widow’s loss and the helplessness of everyone in the funeral procession? [25:38]
2. What actions does Jesus take before the young man is restored to life, and how do the people nearby respond afterward? [29:36]
3. How does the scene of the open coffin contrast with the power of Jesus’ word? [30:14]
4. What titles or descriptions does the crowd give Jesus after this miracle, and what do those words reveal about what they witnessed? [33:34]

Interpretation questions

1. Why is it significant that Jesus is moved with compassion before He does anything to change the widow’s circumstances? What does this show about His heart toward people who grieve? [26:09]
2. Jesus touches what was considered unclean, yet He is not defiled. What does this reveal about Jesus’ holiness and His ability to deal with sin and death? [29:46]
3. The dead body makes the reality of sin and death impossible to ignore, while Jesus’ word brings life. How does this help distinguish what the Law shows from what the Gospel gives? [30:05]
4. Why can Christians be certain that Christ’s forgiveness and promise of eternal life will not fail, even when death and guilt feel very real? [31:23]

Application questions

1. When grief, sickness, loss, or fear of death enters someone’s life, what makes it hard to believe that Christ truly sees and shares that sorrow? How can the compassion of Jesus for the widow shape the way that person brings pain to Him? [26:20]
2. Human compassion can be limited by inconvenience, distance, or self-interest. Where might those limits show up in a person’s relationships, and what would it look like to show practical care for someone whose suffering is easy to overlook? [26:43]
3. God’s mercy does not rest on a sinner’s worthiness or spiritual strength. When is a person especially tempted to think that sin has made him or her too far gone for God’s compassion? [27:23]
4. The sight of death exposes human powerlessness. How can admitting powerlessness before sin, guilt, and death lead a person away from self-reliance and toward trust in Christ? [35:11]
5. Christ comes to sinners in their uncleanness and weakness in order to forgive and cleanse them. What guilt, failure, or shame does a person need to bring honestly before Christ rather than trying to hide or fix alone? [35:25]
6. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper rest on Christ’s death and resurrection, not on the strength of human devotion. How might this truth bring comfort to someone who feels spiritually weak or uncertain? [32:56]