“YOUNG MAN, I SAY TO YOU, GET UP!”
Luke 7:11-17
Key Verse: 7:14
“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!’”
God had blessed our Easter bible conference with the words of God in the Luke’s gospel. We have learned Jesus’ love that sacrificed himself 100% to forgive all our sins completely. Such forgiving love cleans, heals, and saves sinners, even the worst sinner like the criminal crucified with Jesus. We have learned that Jesus was raised from the dead according to the scriptures. Though we did not see him with our eyes, we are witnesses of His death and resurrection because we see by faith in the word of God. Thank God for the surprising message by P. Ron Ward. His message is actually about what amazing changes Jesus’ death and resurrection bring in our lives. “Young men will see visions, old men will dream dreams.” It is possible because the risen Jesus sends the Holy Spirit. Thank God for the presentations of “Pilgrim’s Progress” by our Vision Team. Though they are young, they testified how deeply they understand spiritual meaning of the stories and even shared their personal and propounding applications. Praise the Lord! It is the work of the Holy Spirit who opened their mind to understand. Let us pray for Dream, Vision and Young Leaders Team to be witness of Jesus’ death and resurrection by believing the Word of God, the Scriptures.
In today’s passage, Jesus raises a dead young man back to life. In the NT, there are three specific accounts of Jesus raising people from the dead- Jairus’ daughter, Lazarus, and the young man in this story. Especially, this reveals that Jesus is the source of true comfort and the life-giver. From day to day we live in this world, experiencing many things. Though everyone wants to be happy, most of people are often discourages, fearful, despairing, sorrowful, and anxious because of this or that reason. When we carefully consider what bothers us, the root cause is the power of death. Death is all around us. Death is so powerful that it rules people’s minds and hearts. A six-year-old student shot his teacher in Virginia; a 28-year-old woman shot dead six people including 3 children in Nashville; a 25-year-old bank employee opened fire at his workplace left five dead. These facts tell that people are suffering under the power of death. Many people whose bodies are alive are dead inside, living without meaning or hope or vision. Instead, they are filled with fear, sorrow, hatred, despair and all kinds of complex. How can we get out of it and live a meaningful and fruitful life? Jesus said to the widow: “Don’t cry.” Jesus said to a dead young man lying in a coffin: “Young man, I say to you, get up!” May Jesus’ words of life give us victory over the power of death, so that we may live our lives to the full.
First, “Don’t cry” (11-13).
After healing a dying servant of the centurion, Jesus left Capernaum and went to a town called Nain, a town in Galilee, not far from Nazareth. His disciples and a large crowd went along with him. Following Jesus, they had talked each other how Jesus had healed various kinds of sickness, how he had drove out demons, especially how he healed the servant of the centurion, the man with leprosy, and the paralyzed man. Also, they discussed each other about Jesus’ powerful teachings. They were full of life, hope and excitement. Most of all, they followed Jesus with high expectations of what miracle or teaching Jesus would do next.
As they approached the town gate, they met a very different group of people. It was funeral procession. A dead person was being carried out. He was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the town was with her. We do not know how she lost her husband first. But, since then, she had lived such lonely, helpless and sorrowful life without a head of the house. Fortunately, she had an only son. He must have become her source of hope, joy and meaning of life. He grew and became a young man. As he grew, she could have hoped to rebuild a big family through him. She might have secretly searched for the best marriage candidate for her son. But one day, this young man died. We don’t know how. All we know about the shooting tragedy in Texas last year that took the lives of 19 children. Do you know just this year 74 people have been killed or injured by guns at schools? I cannot fathom the immense sorrow of the parents, siblings, relatives and friends of each child after such terrible tragedy. This young man’s death must have devastated the widowed mother. She lost the whole world, since her son was everything to her. Was there anything she could do? Nothing but crying. In her deep grief, she wailed endlessly. Then, what could anyone do for her? Nothing. No one could say anything to her. All they could do was stand beside her and cry together with her. Death is like a cruel tyrant, ruthlessly oppressing mankind. It does not show any sympathy over a little one even. No matter they are rich or poor, wise or foolish, famous or unknown; no one can resist or cheat death. Where did the power of death come from? It was the consequence of man’s disobedience to God’s word (Ro 5:12). Romans 6:23a says, “The wages of sin is death.” Under the power of death, all live in slavery of the fear of death. Under the power of death, all cannot but become sorrowful, despaired, and fatalistic. One thing we could do for each other is to cry or mourn together. Grieving over the death of loved ones, we together become helpless and miserable.
Then, look at verse 13. “When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” What did Jesus do? First, Jesus saw her and his heart went out to her. Here “his heart went out” means to have great compassion that comes from one’s deepest heart. It tells that Jesus is not indifferent, but he knows all what are in our hearts. Though no one knows our deepest fear, shame, or anxiety, Jesus knows all things. When we suffer with anguish, sorrow, and pain, Jesus actually suffers with same anguish, sorrow and pain that we are feeling. That is why he is our perfect High Priest who empathizes with all our weaknesses and intercedes for us. (Heb4:15)
Second, Jesus said “Don’t cry.” The town’s people mourned with her and encouraged her to cry more and more. That was all what they could do for her. Humanly, she needs to have grieving process to go through such time of tragedy. That is the comfort the world could give. Otherwise, she would be sick in her mind and heart.
However, Jesus did not do so. Instead, he said “Don’t cry!” Only Jesus could say this because he was able to solve the problem that tormented her. Only Jesus would do something that wipe out her tears. His words were more than emotional sympathy. It was his decision to bring real comfort to her so that she did not need to cry any more. People gave her temporal or emotional comfort, but Jesus would root out the source of her sorrow. That’s why we need Jesus who takes away the root of our sorrow.
In order to do this, what did Jesus do? Jesus made himself like us, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a faithful and merciful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people once for all (Heb 2:17). Isaiah depicts Jesus as the one who suffered for us, saying, “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain…Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering…he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isa 53:3-5).
Jesus says to each of us, “Don’t cry.” Jesus is the source of true comfort. This comfort does not come from man or the world. Whenever we are feeling sad or loss, remember Jesus who said to a sorrowing widow, “Don’t cry!” He is our hope and salvation. Jesus is the joy of living. We can also comfort others who are suffering under the power of death, only when we receive the comfort Jesus gives,
Second, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” (14-17).
Look at verse 14. See what Jesus did for her. Jesus went up and touched the bier they were carrying the young man on (14a). According to the law of Moses, touching the bier like this would make a person unclean (Nu 19:16). According to Jewish custom, no one should interfere with a burial procession. But, Jesus stopped the funeral procession, went up and touched the bier.
How could he possibly do so? It is because Jesus is the Holy God who can create life, the source of life, who can make anything clean. (Lev21:8b) It is impossible for Jesus to become unclean. On the contrary, Jesus makes whatever he touches clean. Once a man with leprosy came to Jesus. No one wanted to touch him, nor go near to him. however, Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. It did not make him unclean. Rather, it made the leper clean completely.
After touching the coffin, Jesus spoke the dead young man, saying “Young man, I say to you, Get up!” Then, An amazing thing happened. The dead man sat up and began to talk: “Good morning everybody!” He was alive again. Jesus gave him back to his mother. Truly, Jesus turned her sorrow into joy. Now, she could make a big smile. Now, she had a reason to live—not just because of her son, but because of Jesus who is the source of comfort and joy and the source of life. Here we learn several things about Jesus.
First of all, Jesus has authority to give life. Jesus is the Creator God who gives life. (Jn1:3-4) His words are life-giving words, so that anyone who hears will live. In John 5:24-25, Jesus said, “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. 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” (Jn 5:24-25). The word of Jesus gives new birth and new life to all who hears and believes.
When I entered a college, I was already dead in sin with full of despair. Until then, I had seen 3 deaths. The first death is my father’s by car accident. I was just 14 years old. I was filled with fear, insecurity, uncertainty of the future, and the terror of loss and worries. Another death was my nephew’s sudden death by heart attack at his age 22. I was shocked by the cruelty of death. It did not show any mercy or sympathy. The other one was the death of my college friend killed during a student demonstration against Korean government. Under the power of death, I could not find any reason to continue to study or to live. Death made everything meaningless like dusts in the wind. However, Jesus’ words changed my life. While I wrote a testimony based on Mark2, Jesus spoke to my heart “Son, your sins are forgiven,”(Mk2:5) While I confessed all my sins and accepted his death for my sins, my heart was burning within me by the word of God. New life came into my soul and I could get up and live my life with new purpose to serve God. Since then, I have lived as a campus shepherd for over 30 years. This is not just my story; there are so many who have been brought from death to life by Jesus’ words. Jesus’ words give us true joy and hope. Jesus’ words give us the meaning of life and purpose. The words of Jesus are the words of life that raise the dead to life. Let’s listen to Jesus’ words so that his words may make us alive.
Secondly, Jesus has hope for young men. Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” This young man in this passage was dead, lying down in a coffin. Young men should be dynamic, passionate and visionary. They should work hard and study hard and dream about their future. They should grow to spiritual leaders, bible teacher, shepherd who can change this campus, this nation. But sadly, many are like dead lying down under the power of death. They like to watch YouTube or Tick tock stream endlessly. They love to play video games in which they usually die again and again. They are satisfied with C’s, and see no necessity to prepare for the future. Many don’t accept responsibility for their words and actions and deny any sense of accountability. Just like the dead man, in reality they are too powerless to do anything. It is because they are under the power of sin and death. They cannot get out of bad habits, guilt and self-condemnation by themselves.
Jesus is not indifferent for the young man. Rather, Jesus has compassion on him. Jesus has hope for him to become strong enough to fight against their sinful nature and grow to be a man of God. Jesus has hope for him to become a visionary leader who can change the world even. Thank God for Jesus’ hope and vision for young men among us. Through GLEF, Jesus has kept on speaking the word of life to the next generation. May God bless Dream Team and Vision team to hear the word of Jesus through GLEF, IBS, and personal Bible Studies, so that they may get up from their selfish and narrow mind; they may get up from their sin problems; they may live the life of shepherd and bible teacher for campus students who are like the dead young man.
Jesus says, “Young man, I say to you, Get up!” We have little strength or power. But when we hear Jesus’ words, he gives us strength to get up. Jesus’ words have life-giving power! The words of Jesus has the power and authority which created all things. We all should hear the word of Jesus. “Young man, I say to you, get up!”
Look at verses 16-17. This funeral procession which was full of death changed to the procession of praise of God. Who could make such wonderful change? It is Jesus. Jesus is the resurrection and the life, overcame the power of death. Let’s pray for many young men to hear Jesus’ words and get up! Let’s pray for older people too, to “Get up!” and be alive in heart and spirit and serve God fruitfully. Let us pray that many young men may get up from their sin and grow to be a kingdom of priest and a holy nation through 1:1 Bible Study.