The Powerful Compassion of Jesus - Luke 7:11-17

The PowerfulCompassion

of Jesus

Luke 7:11-17

image: don

God Gives Us His Words of Eternal LifeLuke 7:11-17

Found on page 856 in our guest Bibles.

Today’s Scripture:

“I’m not afraidof death.

I just don’t want to be there whenit happens.”

~ Woody Allen

Soon afterward he went to a town

Luke 7:11

called Nain, and his disciples and agreat crowd went with him....

Luke 7:12

As he drew near to the gate, a manwho had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, andshe was a widow, and a consider-able crowd from the town was withher....

Luke 7:13

And when the Lord saw her, he hadcompassion on her and said to her,“Do not weep....”

Luke 7:14

Then he came up and touched thebrier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say toyou, arise....”

Luke 7:15

And the dead man sat up and beganto speak, and Jesus gave him to hismother....

Luke 7:16

Fear seized them all, and they glori-fied God, saying, “A great prophethas arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people...!”

Luke 7:17

And this report about him spreadthrough the whole of Judea and allthe surrounding country.

“This is a good story

and all, but I don’t know if I can buy it.”

Jesus of Nazereth...you crucified and killed by the

hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of

death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it... This Jesus, God raised up, and we

are all witnesses.

~ The Apostle Peter

Acts 2:22ff

QuadratusEarly Christian Apologist

Quadratus in a letter to Hadrian the

Emperor, c. 125AD

“The persons who were healed and those who were raised from

the dead by Jesus were not only seen

when they were healed and raised, but were always present also

afterwards...;

“...and not merely during the time that the Savior walked upon the

earth—but after His departure also they

were still there for a considerable time, so

that some of them lived even until our times.”

Quadratus in a letter to Hadrian the

Emperor, c. 125AD

Why does Luke include this event in his historical biography of Jesus?

Important Question

The cruelty of deathdoes not have the final word.

The powerful compassion of Jesus does.

Main Idea

Properlyidentify

Jesus

1

Image: Bart van de Biezen

“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as through dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not,

I am the first and the last, and the living one. I

died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death

and Hades.”

~ The Apostle JohnRevelation 1:17

“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear

the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live…. Do not marvel at this, for an

hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice, and come out….”

~ Jesus of Nazareth, Gospel of John, (5:25, 28-9a)

“Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the

Father after destroying every rule and every

authority and power…. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

~ The Apostle Paul1 Corinthians 15:24-25

Anchor yourhope inJesus

2

image: Lawrence OP

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more,

neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the

former things have passed away. And he

who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’”

~ Revelation 21

~ Aslan, The Last Battle “The Chronicles of Narnia”

“Have you not guessed?” Their hearts leaped and a

wild hope rose within them.

“There was a real railway accident,” said Aslan softly.

“Your father and mother and all of you are—as you

used to call it in the Shadowlands—dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.”

“The things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful

that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that

they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the

real story....

“All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page:

now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read:

which goes on forever: in which every chapter is

better than the one before.”

Don: http://www.flickr.com/photos/97224989@N00/4534960280/

Bart van de Biezen: http://www.flickr.com/photos/63195643@N00/4184705426/

Lawrence OP: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35409814@N00/5200997702/

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