Don't Cry (Luke 7b)

“Don’t cry”

Luke 7:11-17

Key verse 7:13-14

What do you think is the most beautiful English word? Probably you can think that love, peace, or smile is the most beautiful word. According to a survey, the most beautiful word people have chosen is mother. In some sense, the word mother includes love, peace, smile, strength, and all kinds of good meanings. Mothers do anything for their children, sacrificing themselves. So, we all appreciate their love and keep Mother’s Day very special. Just before Mother’s Day, Kevin Durant, professional NBA player, was picked up as MVP and made an emotional speech. He said to his mom, "You made us believe, you kept us off the street, put clothes on our back, food on our table. You didn't eat, but made sure we ate. You sacrificed for us. You're the real MVP." Despite their so bad home environment, his mom has made him strong and made him what he is now. Yes, mom will and can do everything for their children. However, even mom becomes helpless and collapses if her child is dead.

I happened to read some blogs posted in circileofmom.com by moms who lost their children. One mom said, “I lost my oldest boy to a drunk driver 5 years ago. He would be 30 this year in just a few days. I see the topic is will the pain go away. For me the answer is no...For other Mothers and Fathers going thru a loss like this I have no promises that things will be better - we all heal at different paces. But you will form a scar tissue over this…I want so much to believe he is away at college or on deployment anything except for the reality of him being dead…”

Today, we are going to talk about a mother, whose son died young. She became totally helpless before the power of death. No one could comfort or help her. But Jesus said to her, “Don’t cry.” Then she was greatly comforted and her joy came back. Are you helpless before the power of death like this woman? Are you deep in sorrow and pain? Come to Jesus and hear his word, “Don’t’ cry.” I pray that we all may hear his word and rise and our joy may be restored.

In the previous passage, a centurion sent some Jewish elders to ask Jesus to come and heal his servant, who was about to die. But soon he realized that he could not bear the coming of Jesus to his house, so he asked Jesus not to bother coming but to just say the word. He believed that Jesus’ word had authority to heal his servant. As he believed, his servant was cured by Jesus’ word. This miracle showed Jesus’ authority on his word. In today’s passage, Jesus performed a much greater miracle in a town called Nain. Nain was about 25 miles southwest of Capernaum. It was a small town sitting on a mountain near the Plain of Jezreel the most fertile area in Israel. Here Jesus performed an unprecedented miracle.

¹¹ Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. ¹² As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.

Soon after he healed the centurion’s servant in Capernaum, Jesus went to Nain along with his disciples and a large crowd. The crowd following Jesus talked about what Jesus had done in Capernaum. They were amazed that Jesus healed an almost dead man by his word even without seeing or touching him. They expected that Jesus would do something great in Nain as well. As they were approaching the town gate, they encountered with a large crowd coming out of the town. There was a funeral procession. When a person died, Jewish people washed, anointed, wrapped the dead body and then buried it as quickly as possible to avoid the stench of decomposition. When Jesus was approaching the town gate, the town people were carrying the dead body to the burial site, which was outside the city.

The whole town was saddened by the death of the man. They knew the dead man very well. He was a young man and the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. His death was a great tragedy to the family. Since the only son died, his mother was left alone and the family line could be cut off. The town people grieved greatly over the dead man and his mother as they followed the funeral procession. The people looked at the body carried to the burial site with an empty mind. The young man, who used to be their friend and their neighbor, was no more in this world. As the funeral procession continued, more people joined it. It was heartbreaking to see the mother crying by her dead son. The dead son was her only hope since she was a widow. Who could protect and provide for her? Whom should she depend on? How could she live without her son? She could no longer feed him, hug him, eat with him and laugh together. Now she had no son who could celebrate her birthday and Mother’s day. Death took everything away from her. She called her son’s name again and again, but her son never opened his eyes. The sorrow and pain of mother who lost her kid is so enormous to bear.

Here is another blog posted by a mom who lost her kid recently. “The pain is unbearable and I’m not sure I can do it much longer. I long for my own death and the only thing that stops me is not wanting to hurt the ones here who to depend on me. This will be the 5-year anniversary and I’m still in deep distress. I long to be with my baby! This world is so cruel!”

Who could understand the sorrow and pain of the mother who lost her only son? She was as good as dead like her son. A large crowd from the town was with her and consoled her, saying, “Don’t’ cry.” But the mother refused to be comforted and cried more. As the mother cried more, they also cried together. They saw what the end of life was like. They also saw what the end of their lives would be. Nothing! No one could replace her dead son and relieve her of her sorrow and pain. All they could do was mourning together.

This sad story was about not only the mother and the town people but also all of us. Death is real. Death is everywhere. It comes at any time to anyone. It takes away our loved family members, our friends, and what we have achieved and earned. Death is invincible. No one can defy it or flee from it. We humans cannot but surrender to it. Even young men and women die.

Death also has influence. The impact of death is enormous in every corner of our life. In fact, most of our sorrows and pain are caused directly or indirectly by death. Many young people suffer from all kinds of problems, such as drug and alcohol addiction, depression, and suicidal thought. Fifty percent of young people have felt suicidal. Death makes people miserable, empty, sad, and powerless and eventually takes everything away from us.

Jesus saw people mourning and weeping here and there. Even his followers stopped talking at the funeral procession and became emotional. Even some of them thought that Jesus could not do anything with the dead man. Jesus saw the shadow of death covering the whole town. In such a situation, what could he do? In funeral, people accept the reality of life, yielding to the power of death. It seems natural. We become solemn and sedated. And we just try to comfort the family and participate in their sorrow. That is all we can do. It is rather awkward and strange to do something else in that atmosphere.

Here Jesus was challenged by death. He should either turn around and come back later or join them in their sorrow. But what did he do?

¹³ When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

First, Jesus comforted the mother and had compassion on her. According to custom, the bereaved mother would walk in front of the dead person, so our Lord Jesus would see her first as he was entering the town. His heart went out to her and comforted her, saying, “Don’t cry.” Jesus deeply sympathized with her and shared his deep concern for her. Jesus Lord knows your sorrow and pain and wants to comfort you as well. He also says to you, “Don’t cry. I understand your sorrow, pain, and suffering. I am with you.” Jesus is the Lord who empathizes with us. (Heb 4:15)

However, when he said, “Don’t cry,” he meant much more than simple comfort. Jesus not only sympathized with the mother but also wanted to do something good for her so that she would not have to cry anymore.

Jesus went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearer stood still. Bier was a kind of stretcher that serves as an open coffin used to carry the dead body to its burial place. By touching the brier, Jesus stopped the funeral process because they did not need to go to the burial site anymore.

Jewish people would not touch the bier or coffin because they will become unclean. (Num 19:11,16) But Jesus was unconcerned about that because his influence went in the other direction. What did he do?

¹⁴ Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 

The young man was already dead. He was in the dominion of death, which no one could overcome or undo. But Jesus commanded the dead man to hear him and obey his word. Jesus commanded death to release the person. He claimed the man’s life back.

“Young man, I say to you, get up!” “Young man, listen to me. I am commanding you to get up.” Who is “I” here? Who can say this? Only the author of life, the Creator God, and Almighty God! What happened to the dead man then?

¹⁵ The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

At his word and power, death could not take its hold on the man anymore and had to obey. Death withdrew and the life in Jesus entered the dead man instead. Jesus brought the dead man back to life. The young man sat up and began to talk, “Mom, where are you?” Why are you crying? Why am I here? What’s going on, mom?” The dead could not talk. So, obviously the man was alive now.

Can you imagine how joyful the mother was? She could not believe what she saw. His son opened his eyes and began to talk. He was looking for her. She was stunned by this miracle. She hugged and kissed her son and touched him again and again to make sure if he was alive. “O, my son, you are alive! Thank you, Lord. Thank you Jesus!” Her sorrow turned into joy. Her son’s resurrection also brought her back to life.

As such, Jesus gave the man back to the mother. He granted her to have her son back. By doing so, Jesus truly comforted the mother as he had said to her, “Don’t cry.”

Until this event, Jesus had healed many sick people. In the previous passage, he healed an almost dead person. But here Jesus raised a real dead man for the first time in the book of Luke. (cf. 8:40–56). This event demonstrated Jesus’ authority over death. Earlier, we saw the stark contrast between the funeral procession and Jesus’ procession. We saw the collision between death and Jesus. But death cannot overcome our Lord Jesus. The funeral procession could not go further. It must stop there before Jesus because Jesus is the author of life, the Creator God, and the resurrection. Jesus stopped the death procession and moved the man from death back to life.

Jesus said in John 5:24-26, “²⁴ Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. ²⁵ Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 

Only Jesus has overcome death and has authority over it. So the one who hears his word and believes in him will be alive again and overcome the power of death.

There lived a boy. One day, he went swinging with his sister. But soon he began to drown. He was on the verge of death. Then his sister jumped into water to save him. He was barely saved, but his sister did not make it. He grew to become a good-looking man, but he suffered from a guilty sense, trauma, and the power of death because of his dead sister. He became timid, selfish, and dark inside so he could not associate with people well. Though he was handsome, no girls wanted to date or marry him. While he was deep in sorrow and pain, he heard the voice of Jesus through Bible study. “Don’t’ cry, young man. I say to you, get up.” Gradually, Jesus’ word began to change him and finally he could be free from his guilty sense and the power of death. And he was totally heeled from trauma. Instead, the life of Jesus came into him and changed him. Now he lives a happy life with his beautiful wife and three children. Praise Jesus!

As such, the one who hears his word will be raised again and back to life. The one who hear his word will be saved and comforted. In Jesus, we have no more sorrow, pain, darkness, depression, and failure. We don’t have to cry again. Do you hear Jesus’ word now? “Don’t’ cry, young man. I say to you, get up!” Let’s praise Jesus who truly comforts us, heals us, and saves us from the power of death by his almighty word.

How did the people respond to this miracle? They recognized God’s presence in Jesus and were filled with fear and praise.

¹⁶ They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” ¹⁷ This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

All the people there, including the town people, Jesus’ disciples, and the crowd following Jesus, were appalled by this miracle. They wondered, “Who is this man?”

They immediately recalled similar miracles performed Elijah (1 Kings 17:17–24) and Elisha (2 Kings 4:8-37), who revived widow’s sons. They were only prophets who resuscitated the dead and so they were regarded as great prophets. They said, “Jesus has raised the dead man. A great prophet has appeared among us.”

The people of town came to understand Jesus in line with those great prophets. But Jesus was greater than them. He was the very prophet Moses prophesized, whom God would raise among Israel. (Num 12:6; Luke 4:23-24; 7:39; 9:8,19; 13:33; 24:19) In other words, Jesus is the Messiah God had promised, who would rise from the dead and also save his people from their sin and death.

The people also said, “God has come to help his people.” By performing this miracle in front of the whole town people, Jesus revealed that God has come to visit his people. They saw God’s presence and his mercy among them, which Israel had awaited for a long time. “See this miracle. Who else can do this? God is with us. He did not abandon us. Praise the Lord!”

Interestingly, the word “Lord” in verse 3 is used mostly to refer to God until this event. But here the author Luke used it in reference to Jesus. In other words, Lord God made his presence among them through Jesus. Jesus came as Lord God to brining salvation to his people and also to Gentiles as we saw in the previous passage.

Earlier, when his son John was born, his father Zechariah praised God and his work of salvation.

⁶⁸ “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. ⁶⁹ He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David.” (1:68,69)

God has come to us in flesh to save us from death. He is Jesus Lord!

This amazing news about Jesus quickly spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

This event is the precursor to what he is going to do from now on. Jesus came to defeat the power of death and rescue us from it. By defeating the power of death through his death and resurrection, Jesus saves people from the power of death and bring the dead back to life.

We humankind are under the power of death. As soon as we are born, we head to death. In the course of time, we suffer pain and sorrow due to death. There is no way out. Yet, here is God’s solution. He sent Jesus Lord who sympathizes with us and can save us from death. He says to us, “Don’t’ cry. I say to you. Get up!” Do you hear his word? Jesus is calling you into light out of darkness and the power of death. Hear his word of life and rise.

By David Yun