In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

Every once in a while, something happens that is so important that it calls for one of those enormous headlines on the front page of the newspaper. The end of World War II called for headlines like that. “We win!” And “Victory!” in huge print appeared in newspapers all across the land.

Today, let’s try to imagine that we were in the region of Galilee. And let’s pretend that they had newspapers. The newspapers would have been mentioning the large crowds that were following this traveling preacher named Jesus. But then one day the headline says in huge letters...

Well, this gets your attention. Nain isn’t that far away! It’s just to the south of Nazareth, southwest of the Sea of Galilee. Maybe you’ve even seen it. The large headlines encourage you to read the story. It says that there were two large processions moving toward the gate. Jesus was leading a large crowd of people into the town. He was followed by his disciples and many other people. Meanwhile, at the very same time, there was another large procession coming out of town.

Now, this was what we would call an ancient traffic jam. Towns were surrounded by walls to protect the citizens from enemies. So, everyone who came into town and everyone who went out of the town had to pass through the same gate. Well, here comes Jesus and this large crowd of people into the town, and at the same time there’s a funeral procession. There’s a large group of people coming out of town to bury a young man. Jesus watched as the dead man was being carried out. He was a young man, the only son of his mother. She was familiar with death. Her husband had died before this. All she had left was her son, and now he died, as a young man. She cried and sobbed as she walked. And many people in the town of Nain were sympathetic toward this widow. There were many people who were in this procession.

This speaks well for the town of Nain. They cared for her. They felt sorry for her. You know, when one of our fellow members dies, it is good for us to care for those who survive and mourn. It is good to attend a funeral to comfort the family members, or in a case like this, the only one left. So, these people took the time from their usual activities to spend time with this widow and walk in this procession. What they did was very nice.

But what Jesus did was better. Luke rightly calls Jesus “the Lord,” for he is, in fact, the Lord of all, the Lord of life and death. When Jesus saw this sad widow, he had compassion on her. “His heart went out to her.” He told her that she could stop crying now.

Before anyone gets the wrong impression about this, let me explain. Jesus was NOT saying that it’s wrong to cry when someone dies. He himself cried outside the tomb of Lazarus. No, what Jesus was saying was that this widow did not need to keep crying because... he was going to do something about her sorrow.

The NIV says that Jesus went up to the coffin. Actually, it probably wasn’t so much a coffin as a funeral bier or a stretcher. They didn’t tend to have coffins as we think of them. Jesus went up to that stretcher they used to carry this dead young man, the only son of this widow, and Jesus touched it so that the pall bearers stopped and stood still. Then Jesus did something amazing. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” When Jesus said this, he used the power he always had as true God in the flesh, and he returned this man’s soul to his lifeless body. The man’s soul entered his body again, and he came back to life. Jesus raised him from death! “The dead man sat up and began to talk.” Wow!

That’s news! That’s news worthy of a huge headline! Jesus stopped a funeral procession and raised the deceased to life! This proves that Jesus has power over death.

1. He has power over death.

Jesus proved that by raising this man to life. And, notice that Jesus was able to do it with his own powerful word. He said, “I say to you, get up.” Later, Jesus would raise the daughter of Jairus in a similar way. Then, he would raise Lazarus too. Jesus has power over death!

He said, (Jn 11:25) “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” Jesus is the Lord of life. He has that kind of power. On the Last Day, Jesus will raise all the dead by that same power. Never doubt it! Jesus has power over death! And with that power, that divine power, Jesus raised the young man to life. Then, Jesus “gave him back to his mother.” Can you imagine the scene?

Here was this widow. Her husband had died. Now, her only son had died. She was walking in this procession, crying at her loss. Now, in a matter of seconds, everything changed! Jesus stopped the procession, raised her son to life, and gave him back to her. Can you imagine it? Jesus didn’t say, “M’am, I’m sorry for your loss.” He was saying, “M’am, here’s your son, alive again.” Wow!

Do you think she might have mustered up a “thank you”? Do you think she felt grateful? It was almost unbelievable, except that it happened! She received her son back from the dead! She didn’t have to bury him. The funeral procession stopped right there. Jesus’ procession just got larger. The procession of Jesus brought life. The funeral procession was bringing death. Life met death, and life conquered death. Jesus won! Jesus changed everything! What a scene.

As we might imagine, the people were astonished. (16) “They were all filled with awe and praised God.” They were “filled with awe.” When’s the last time you were filled with awe. We read this about people as they spent time with Jesus. Right after the disciples watched Jesus calm the storm, they were filled with awe. It is good for us to really concentrate on what Jesus did so that we too are “filled with awe.” I mean, he has power over death!

Now, when something like this happens, it is to be expected that people will try to come to grips with it. It’s like there’s a reporter there with a microphone in his hand asking people, “What do you think this means? Who is this Jesus?” Well, many of the people said, “A great prophet has appeared among us.” Now, for some of them, I suppose it might have meant that they didn’t quite get it. Maybe some of the people just thought that Jesus was like Elijah or Elisha. Still, maybe there were some there who knew their Bible prophecies really well. One of the promises about the coming Savior came through Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 18, where he said, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” The promised Savior would be the great Prophet. He would be true God and true man in one person...

And maybe that’s what some of the people meant when they said, “God has come to help his people.” Let’s think about those words for a while.

2. “God has come to help his people.”

Sure, it meant that God had helped the people. But it meant more than that. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son to be our Savior. His one and only Son is God in the flesh! Jesus is the God-man. Jesus is “Immanuel” – God with us. Jesus is God! And so, whenever Jesus helped people, “God was helping people. Jesus came to help his people means that God came to help his people.

That’s profound! But Jesus didn’t just help those people. He’s helped you and me and all people. He hasn’t just conquered death for that youth of Nain. No, Jesus conquered death for all of us! Sin brought death, but Jesus has brought life! Jesus lived a perfect life for us, then he suffered and died to pay for all of our sins. He conquered death when he rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. And so, whoever believes in Jesus will not perish, but will have eternal life! Jesus said, (Jn 11:25) “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.”

Surely, God has come to help his people! That’s what people were saying then. And the news spread all over that region. We have that same good news to share today! God has come to help his people! Jesus conquered death for us. Jesus is our Savior!