Luke 7:11-14 New Living Translation (NLT)
11 Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. 12 A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. 14 Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.”
The 7th item we will need in our Journey 2016 is compassion. Compassion is an emotional response to a calamity in the life of another. Three points:
- compassion means "suffering with"
- compassion flows out of God's love...Jesus was compassionate
- the opposite of love is apathy - a lack of feelings for someone, unresponsive to their needs
We must have compassion...it is essential on our journey if we are going to represent Jesus.
1. Luke 7:11 - Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him.
The most beautiful place to be is in the center of God's will. Jesus went to the village of Nain, which was an out of the way place. Our journey may take us some place we never thought we would be.
2. Luke 7:12-13 - A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said.
Our journey may introduce us to some down and out people. In these verses we are told that Jesus joined a funeral procession, in which there was a widow, who was burying her son. Jesus had compassion on her. God doesn't send us somewhere without a purpose. There is someone who needs our compassion.
3. Luke 7:14 - Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.”
Our journey will teach us that no one is too broken for Jesus to mend. The custom in the society that this widow belonged to was that male lineage was very important. She had lost her husband in death, and now she was burying her only son. She had lost it all, and would have no place in society. She was totally broken. Jesus came along with compassion to this out of the way place, to a broken widow, and touches her son and raises him from death. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus still brings resurrection, and still heals brokenness. Today we are sent to be Jesus to others, to bring hope in a broken, dark world.
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