THREE DEATHS AND A MIRACLE
[9-minute read]
WHAT IS THE PASSION OF CHRIST? Some of us may recall Mel Gibson’s evocative movie that depicted the epic life and suffering of Jesus leading to the crucifixion. The dictionary describes passion as a powerful human emotion or expression. Those who prefer less intense and dramatic connections with people may find it undesirable and dangerous!
What can we learn from Jesus about Christian passion? Let’s turn to Luke 7:11-17 and the account of Jesus walking into the path of a funeral procession. Jesus had entered the town, Nain, with a large crowd who had followed Him (v11). He saw an older woman with another crowd. They had all the artefacts to suggest that someone had recently passed – the mourning clothes, the sad faces, the tears, the casket and the pall-bearers. In fact, “a large crowd from the town was with her” (v12).
(Depending on where you live, some funeral processions are culturally rich and does not exclude neon lights and loud music or chanting that goes on for days!).
Then, Scripture tells us, “When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, “Don’t cry.”(v13). Don’t cry is not the same as saying you should not cry. The Lord’s response did not minimize her grief and sadness. When He said ‘Don’t cry’, He was telling her that He could see that she had lost a young son, a man in his prime with a full future ahead of him. He could see her dreams of a growing family in the foreseeable future shattered. He knew that the conversations and stories she wished to pass down to the grandchildren were no longer possible now. He could see that the person she had touched, comforted and attended to when he was was now gone. Her pain went beyond facing an empty nest; the funeral signaled the end of her life purpose and future. After all, she was a widow and he was her only son.
The bier might have carried a lifeless body, but what Jesus also saw, on full display, were three deaths in her life: the demise of her husband earlier on, now her only son and also her dreams.
Here are three lessons about godly passion distilled from Luke 7:11-17:
1.PASSION WITH COMPASSION
Passion can put so much zeal and fire in us, but if we lack compassion, we can miss so much that connects us with the heart of God for others. The compassion of Christ (or Christian compassion) would set aside all human agendas and fears to serve the passion and purpose of God’s heart. Compassion is not the sympathy we feel for someone’s loss or when we share their sadness. Compassion shows up without invitation. It is a godly sensitivity that guides us to walk with someone in their time of need.
That day in Nain, Jesus could not have arrived any earlier or later but in God’s perfect timing for a miracle to take place. Arguably, He did not have to stop for anything that was unplanned on His ministry agenda. There were so many widows in those days that did not justify him stopping to comfort the first one He met. What about the outcry of other widows who have lost their loved ones? What kind of response would be appropriate to address their pain?
But the Lord saw the pain and fear in the widow as she faced the prospect of living with the seed of future generations in the family now gone. He could see that the crowd of townsfolk around her would soon disappear, leaving her to face a future shaped by powerlessness and poverty. Today, Jesus is still passionate about every opportunity to help people see and know who God is. His compassion often showed up in unlikely places.
If we are not mindful, we can act in ways that so subtly brush aside someone’s struggles because they make us uncomfortable. We can over-rely on our social norms to tell us when to send a timely text or flowers, when to show up at a funeral, or make a hospital visit and we do little else in between. Christian compassion is a sensitive and intense human-to-human connection. It makes no excuse for being absent, distant and silent when our action can make a difference. It does not only mourn, it also rejoices with others (Romans 12:15).
May we not be so caught up with the exigencies of our own life that we fail to demonstrate this quality of Christian compassion everyday. To be sure, being compassionate is not about dishing out standard solutions or removing someone from a difficult situation, but more about lending someone our faith, hope and courage to hang onto the Word of God in difficult times.
Steve Maraboli puts it best by saying that a kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.
2. TOUCH THAT’S NOT STERILE
The best of us – pastors included - have our reservations about people who are different from us in terms of personality, culture, wealth, education or lifestyle choices. We are careful to avoid doing anything that invites controversies or speculations, or anything that makes us guilty of trespassing the social norms.
But not for Jesus: He showed no concern for cultural hangups. As soon as He told the widow ‘Don’t cry’, “He went up and touched the bier they were carrying” her son on. Perhaps touching the bier was a signal to the pallbearers to stop the procession: or it was the Lord’s signal that the funeral would terminate right there and then! Because the next thing He did was to say to the deceased, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” (v14). Instantly, “ the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.” (v15). The dead man came back to life and began speaking as though not a moment had passed since he (literally) departed.
If Jesus had allowed Himself to be constrained by concerns about risks and cultural taboos, He would have just offered a word of comfort to the widow and walked on by.
Do we need to examine our fear of social embarrassment, or any thinking that we rely on to justify our avoidance of social risks that hold us back from any potential life-changing outcomes for ourselves and others?
3. SPEAK LIFE FOR GENERATIONS
Children are impressionable learners. When we speak of impacting the future generations, we automatically think of children. But in the recount of the Lord’s encounter with the widow in Nain, there were no children involved. Jesus approached only the widow and then her single adult son.
Maybe it’s time to rethink how we can impact generations. Think about the young adults around you who will be parents in the near future. Think about the young parents you know who need a godly adult role model, or someone to be there for them as they straddle the logistical nightmare of children's school schedules, extracurricular and social activities. Think about the singles who are fearful of commitment and intimacy because of the disappointments they experienced in early life. Think of the single parent family and their very lonely existence. Think about the empty-nester. Think about the mental health of parents in every stage of the family life and how it impacts their future generations.
In plain language, speaking life to generations is not just about showing children the love of God and teaching them godly values.
Jesus spoke life to a dead man by saying to him, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” (v14). Likewise, many young adults today are struggling with dead dreams, dead marriages, dead emotions, and a future that looks dead and bleak. How can we demonstrate to them the heart of our God who is “close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18).
When Jesus gave the young man back to his widowed mother, it was a miracle that restored the seed, destiny and purpose back to her life (v15). And who witnessed it? Both crowds – those with Jesus and the towns folks in the funeral procession – “were all filled with awe and praised God.” (v16). Together, they declared, “God has come to help His people.”
Our obedience to God does not need our opinion or experience. And the one who feels that he is too small and insignificant to change anything needs only to encounter a sandfly or a mosquito!
Read about a Singaporean couple, Lam Bao Yen and Rudy making the difference in the everyday life of people in war-torn Ukraine.
What is God saying to you now about your engagement with the people He puts in your life - your family, your neighbor, your colleague, an estranged friend. You don’t need to go to Ukraine to take God’s lead and grow in obedience to Him. Every life you turn around brings positive changes to the generations that that person impacts in their God-given role and capacity.
Being disciples of Jesus Christ is not about making sure we go to church every week and that we fulfill other expected roles and duties. Godly compassion is not about performing duties; it’s about making timely human-to-human connections that make a difference in how someone will experience God’s love. That day in Nain, “When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her…” (v13). The timeliness of Jesus’ arrival revealed the incredible heart of God. May we, too, carry the same heart of God mindfully everyday.
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 24 June 2023.
