The True Jesus: Authority Over Death

Last week we saw how Jesus had authority over a terminal sickness.  The next section in Luke 7:11-17, shows that even if someone dies, Jesus still has authority over even death.

The story takes place about 12 miles up into the hills from the Sea of Galilee near Nazareth at the city of Nain.  Jesus and his disciples had left Capernaum and walked up to this city.  They were also followed by a large crowd that wanted to see what Jesus would do and hear what He would teach.

His Authority Over Death

As Jesus, disciples, and crowd approach the town of Nain, they are met by a funeral procession coming out of the city.  This tragic scene would be sad enough.  But, we are told that the situation gets worse.  The woman was a widow.  So she had already dealt with a tragedy of losing her husband.  Now she has the increased tragedy of losing her son and having to bury him.  Yet, even worse, this was her only son.  That means the woman would also be worrying about how she is going to live.  Who will take care of her?  Like Naomi in the book of Ruth, she has suffered great bitterness and yet we do not know if this woman has a Ruth like Naomi did.

It is in this moment that we are told that Jesus had compassion on the woman.  Now compassion is sometimes referring to the act of helping someone without regard to the emotions behind it.  But, here it is describing an inner emotion of love and pity that Jesus feels towards her.  This emotion leads Him to decide to do an act of compassion.  Jesus was not an unfeeling being that mysteriously did miracles.  Rather, he had compassion upon those who were bound by sin and sickness.  You might recall that when Jesus hears that Lazarus, His friend, had died that He wept.  So Jesus tells the woman to not weep.  Weeping and grieving is normal and God is not against it.   However, Jesus is about to turn her weeping into Joy.  He is giving her hope.  When the miracle worker says don’t cry, you begin to hope that He means He is going to help you.

Next Jesus steps up to the open coffin and simply speaks to the dead corpse.  This resurrection scene demonstrates the power of Jesus.  He does not require great build up and multiple attempts.  When you contrast this simple action to Elisha’s resurrection of the young boy in 2 Kings 4, you see the tremendous command that Jesus has over death.  This is not to put down Elisha, but rather to lift up the Truth about Jesus.  Jesus simply commands the young man to rise up.  This amazing power of speaking a word and flesh coming to life is parallel with God in the creation of Adam.  There he forms the man and then breathes life into the form.  The words of Jesus cause life to enter this dead body and further more heals the original problem that led to a death in the first place.  Thus God not only has the power to create, but also to recreate. 

Like the resurrection of Lazarus, this young man is brought back to life in a mortal body.  He is not immortal like Jesus was after his resurrection, but rather, restored to normal life.  He will eventually grow old and die of something else and at that point Jesus won’t be there.  The power of this story is not the hope that we can escape death if we have enough faith.  God does not show up in miraculous power in most of the sorrows of our life.  Even this woman could wonder where Jesus was when her husband died.  Yet, we see here that despite all of that Jesus does care.  God does care about the sorrow of mankind.  Part of the work of Jesus is to give man the evidence he needs to believe that God will overcome all those sorrows, even death.

In John 11 Jesus promises that a greater day of Resurrection is coming on the Last Day of this Age.  This is a day when Christ will command all the righteous to be raised from the dead and have eternal, spiritual bodies.  They are called spiritual because they are created by the Spirit of God.  But don’t be confused.  They are material bodies.

The apostles also pointed to this great promise as the Great Hope of all believers:  that we will be resurrected by Christ on the last day.  It is what makes all our sacrifices and difficulties in this life bearable.  Paul gives the most description of this event in 1 Corinthians 15 if you want to understand it more.  Let me just list some of these apostolic encouragements.  “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.”  1 Thessalonians 4:13-14.  “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:21-22. 

The People Are Amazed

There is a part of us all that longs to have been there or to see something as dramatic as this.  But the reality is that our faith is not made better or worse for having not seen it.  Many in the Bible who saw the miraculous went on to not believe God.  Thus God gives us evidence, but don’t fool yourself that it isn’t real just because you didn’t see it.

It says that fear came upon them.  In general this is a fear of realizing that this is no mere man.  Who is he?  What is he?  Yet, it also points to a fear of the Lord because the people began to give the glory and honor of this event to God.  His power and ability was so far beyond them that they were humbled in reverence and respect.  This was not a man to be trifled with.

They glorified God.  To whom do we give glory of all the amazing things that are happening in our day?  Don’t we glorify ourselves?  Even our technology is made possible by the glories of God’s creative genius.  Yet, we do not praise Him for His wisdom.  Instead we laugh at such quaint notions as a God, and praise ourselves.  The generation that doesn’t stand in awe at the greatness of God expressed through His creation, brings judgment upon itself.

They also declared Jesus a true prophet and a visitation from God.  Prophet is meant here in that most of the prophets did miracles to help the nation believe that what they said was from God.  But the emphasis was on the fact that they spoke for God.  Through this resurrection the people of Nain recognize Jesus as a prophet.  One who is truly sent by God to speak to His people and direct them.  However, we are warned in Scripture not to accept miracles as proof of the Truth.  So how do we know?  First the miraculous gets our attention.  Next we take the teaching of the “prophet” and we compare it to the teachings of the Bible.  If they do not match then we don’t listen to the prophet because they are not from God.  Lastly, if they predict something and it doesn’t come to pass then we know for sure that they are not a true prophet.  Was the teaching of Jesus true to the Old Testament?  The New Testament makes the case that He was the ultimate prophet of God.

Lastly, the “visitation from God” is a reference to the fact that God doesn’t always seem to be active in our life.  From time to time, however, He shows up.  These visitations can be good or bad, it depends on us.  Israel had been suffering under one empire after another and were longing for deliverance from God.  It seemed like He was not showing up.  They longed for a visitation of deliverance.  However, if we are not living right and crucify the deliverer when He shows up, then we are going to have a visitation of judgment.  The good news is that Jesus took the Judgment of God upon Himself so that those who put their faith in Him could avoid it.  That truly is amazing.  The amazing grace of God can be ours by picking up our cross (the things we have to die to) and following Jesus in faith.  God promises us eternal life in glorified bodies, but in His time.  Can you trust Him?  Turn to Jesus today.

Authority Over Death Audio

The Spiritual Sickness of Sin

One of the effects of sin and The Curse is sickness and disease.  God created the earth and it was very good.  However, because of man’s rebellion it went from very good to death and decay.  Now today we are going to see the problem of Leprosy in Luke 5:12-16.  Though the term used in those days is not the technical terms that we use in medicine today, the descriptions of the disease are very clear.  It was contagious and thus those who had it were quarantined outside of the city.  What started as a small spot on the skin would eventually cover their whole body.  From what we know today, leprosy does not actually cause flesh to rot.  Rather, starting in the extremities and on the skins surface it destroys the nervous system and our sense of touch.  The lack of pain and feeling is what leads to injury and destruction of the flesh.

The late Dr. Paul Brand, a pioneer in treating leprosy, said, “I cannot think of a greater gift that I could give my leprosy patients than pain.”  He later co-authored a book with Phillip Yancey, “The Gift of Pain.”  It is a sad irony that those who suffer in this way should lose physical pain and yet gain even greater inner pain.  Let’s look at this passage.

Leprosy Is A Picture

In verse 12 we are told that Jesus was in a certain city when a man who is full of leprosy falls down before him and begs, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”  We often wonder why God allows things to be.  I don’t want to make the mistake of being so quick to say Jesus even heals leprosy, that I miss the fact that this leper is a human being who has been through much grief.  Even his statement to the Lord evokes pity and compassion.  Why was he a leper?  For whatever reasons, we do know that God didn’t create the world with lepers in it.  We are the ones that brought sin, sickness, and death into the world.  One thing is true leprosy is one of those diseases that gives us a very horrible picture.

Leprosy first is a picture of incurable disease.  Regardless of the name of the disease and the century that one lives in, mankind will always face diseases he cannot “fix.”  People in these situations end up spending all their money and their emotional capital on treatments and experiments that leave them poor, broken and without hope.  Often they are quarantined or in a bed isolated from others and under a death sentence.  They have become a danger to themselves and others and they feel all alone.  Regardless of whether or not we find a solution for leprosy, there is always something else, whether it be AIDS or Cancer, etc… 

Leprosy is also a picture of the reality of sin.  Because the inner effects cannot be seen, we can tend to think that there are none.  One of the reasons why God allows sickness, disease, and death is because it gives us a material picture of what sin does spiritually.  Just as leprosy destroys by first desensitizing the God-given nervous system in our bodies, so sin desensitizes the individual’s God-given conscience.  We come to think that our sin is no big deal.  But it doesn’t stop there.  Over a series of being desensitized we come to no longer feel the bite of conscience and spiritually injure ourselves and others, even to the point of spiritual death.  The hideous images of what leprosy can do in the natural should point us to the hideous things that sin does in our heart.  The contagion of sin can only truly be appreciated in the face of the bacterial and viral onslaught in our own day and age.  These things always start small, only a small spot.  Yet they spread and destroy the whole body if not brought in check.

If you think I am stretching it use disease as a metaphor for sin then look at 1 Corinthians 5:6.  Here Paul told the Corinthians, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”  He uses yeast as a picture of what sin does within an individual and a group.  If you put up with just a little bit it is going to affect the rest.  So you need to deal with it before it gets hideous and horrible.

The Solution For Both Is Jesus

Whether we are talking about a physical problem or a spiritual one, the solution for both is Jesus.  The leper had come to believe that Jesus could heal him, because Jesus had been healing others.  Why not me?  Even though he has the most horrible and fearful physical curse of his day, the man breaks the law and social custom to beg Jesus for health.  Somehow we need to get to that same spot in our own life where we are on our face before Jesus begging for spiritual health.  The good news is that God is looking for you.  In Luke 19:10 Jesus said, “I have come to seek and save the lost.”  Later he gave his disciples a Great Commission in Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”  This aspect of Christianity is coming into more and more ill repute: calling people to turn to Jesus.  Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice.”  In all of these we see two things.  We need to find Jesus, and graciously he is calling and looking for us.  If your heart truly wants healing, you will find Jesus and He will find you.  Now clearly spiritual healing is far more important than physical healing.  And, even if we are physically healed, all will eventually grow old and die.  No matter how hard we pray for “healing” of old age, God is going to let us grow old and die.  Yet, he has promised The First Resurrection to those who believe.

The second thing we find with this leper is that he humbled himself.  He is not supposed to interact with people.  He is breaking the law and he knows it.  Yet, he has his face in the dirt begging Jesus for a miracle.  Now it is not as important that his face is in the dirt than that his heart was that humble.  Until we are spiritually humbled to the point that we cease worrying about what we look like, we may never reach the humility needed to receive salvation from Jesus.  We have to see ourselves and others as completely unable to fix the problem.  Jesus is my only hope!  This cry is the cry of the humbled and thus humble.  When we get to the place where we are humble enough we are free to ask him to do what we cannot do for ourselves.

Notice the word “clean.”  We must want to be clean.  It seems obvious that a sick person wants to be well, but it is not always the case.  Have you ever encountered a person with emphysema who needs to carry an oxygen tank around with them and yet still wants to smoke?  Often getting well requires us to give up things that bring on the problem.  Am I asking Jesus to clean the surface but not deal with the root of the problem?  Jesus heal my lungs so I can smoke them to death again!  Is this what we want?  “To want to be clean” is not wanting only our problems fixed, but rather, wanting the root of those problems and sin cleaned away.  The leper speaks of his skin being cleaned, but the same word is used of moral and spiritual cleansing in our hearts and life.

We must also believe in Christ’s ability or power to heal us.  He would have never approached Jesus if he didn’t believe that Jesus could actually heal him.  Now many look at Jesus, the Bible, and His Church as antiquated relics of a bygone era that never had any real power.  Now I would challenge you to recognize that no matter how ancient this culture was, these people understood the devastation of disease for which even today we do not have a cure.  We can only mitigate the effects and speed of progression.  It is quite patronizing to the point of idiocy to think that they couldn’t recognize and be amazed that one day a man who had been blind from birth could all the sudden see.  One day a man whose skin was obviously covered with leprosy was suddenly completely clear skinned.  This is something that takes real power.  This is the kind of thing that Jesus did frequently.

The man also cries out to Jesus.  It is one thing to want healing and salvation.  It is quite another to step out and ask.  Many people get to the tipping point of calling upon Jesus and yet hold back.  If you have been holding back from calling out to Jesus for salvation, don’t hold back any longer.  You must cry out to him for mercy in order to receive it.

What Jesus Shows Us About God

Now let’s look at the response of Jesus.  Now in Hebrews 1:1-3 we are told that Jesus is the “brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.”  The point is this: if you have seen Jesus then you have seen God the Father..  God who is invisible makes himself visible in Jesus.  Thus in this situation Jesus helps us to see the Truth about God’s heart for the hurting, both physically and spiritually.  The actions, thinking, and words of Jesus are exactly the actions, thinking, and words of God the Father.

First we see that God wants to touch the sick.  Though quarantines were involved to protect people from the sick, God can touch the sick.  He cannot be affected by sickness or sin and so he has no fear to touch them.  I mentioned Dr. Paul Brand earlier.  He tells a story of when he first went to India to work with lepers there.  He didn’t speak the language and had patted a leper to let them know that he would help them.  The person broke out in tears.  Why?  His Indian helper explained that the man had not been touched by anyone for many years.  Something so simple as human touch can convey a world of care, compassion, love, and help.  In Jesus God touches us.

God is also full of compassion.  Jesus couples his touch with the words, “I am willing.”  This is such a tender picture of God’s compassion toward mankind.  There is a part of us that might rebel and say that he hasn’t done that for everyone.  But the point is that the physical often is what brings us to see our need of the spiritual.  Even in the midst of our sinfulness and fallenness, God is compassionate toward the lost and works to bring them to himself so that he might heal them.

We also see that God is full of power to do what we need Him to do.  Jesus could heal the body, but also could heal the sin-sick soul.  Physical healing is never an answer in and of itself.  Even in perfect health, these bodies will grow old, decay and die.  Short of the Second Coming, we will have to face death.  It would be a tragedy to only be physically healed and yet not ask for our sins to be forgiven and covered; to not ask that our hearts be set free from sin’s grip.

Lastly, Jesus sends the man to go to the temple and be a witness to the priests and his community that God is still moving in power.  Has God touched your sin-sick soul?  Has he touched you and made you clean, and whole spiritually?  I testify to you today that he can take your life no matter how ruined, destroyed, and damaged it is and heal it if you will only cry out to him like I did.He

Spiritual Sickness audio

The Calling of Believers

As we approach the New Year it is helpful to evaluate where we have been and where we are headed.  This is true for both groups and individuals.  It is has been common in the last several decades for companies to develop a mission statement.  Such a statement lays out the purpose of the company in one or two brief, clear sentences.  Probably not very many individuals do this.  But it might not be a bad idea.  We all need to be reminded from time to time about our main purpose.

Today we will be looking at 1 Peter 3:8-12.  This section begins with the word, “finally.”  Peter started with some general comments to the believers, but then moved to some very specific groups within the church.  He starts with citizens, then speaks to slaves, then to women, and then to men.  Here he does not mean finally in the sense that he is done with the letter.  But rather, finally in the sense of wrapping up this section of directives to Christians both specifically and generally.

How We Should Treat One Another

Peter reminds the believers how they ought to treat each other.  He will speak to several different things, but begins with the mind.  He calls them to be of “One Mind.”  This “one mind” that we are to all have is not the mind of the leader or each of us fighting for our mind to be “the one.”  But rather we are to have the mind of Christ.  The mind and thinking of Jesus needs to be what all believers use in their words and deeds.  Paul speaks to this in 1 Corinthians 2:16 when he says, “We have the mind of Christ.”  There are two ways to look at the mind.  We can first focus on the purpose or goal of the mind.  Jesus was focused on glorifying the Father.  He did nothing for himself.  But rather did all things to bring glory to God.  He only spoke the words of the Father and only did the deeds of the Father.  The second area is one of attitude.  The mind of Jesus operated in a humble way that was willing to submit to the plan of the Father.  Thus in Philippians 2:5 it states “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus.”  Paul goes on to talk about how Christ lowered himself to the lowest place.  If we all operated from such a mind this would be a different place.  We need to work and pray every day that God would help us to think like Jesus.  This starts by reading the Word of God and moves to trying to do it and ends in prayer as we wrestle with God over what we discover.

Next Peter calls them to have compassion towards each other.  The word literally means “to suffer with someone.”  It is natural to want to avoid negative things and difficult situations.  When someone is suffering, it affects those who come around them.  We are way too quick to “sniff out” suffering people and run from them.  We are called to suffer with each other, to have compassion on each other.

Next he calls them to brotherly love, Philadelphia.  This is a family type of love.  When brothers are young and immature, they often step on each other’s toes and don’t have great feelings for each other.  However, later as they mature, they realize that no one else understands them and what they have been through like a family member.  There is a strong bond that is more and more appreciated over time.  So are we going to be stuck at the stage of Jacob’s 12 sons back in the book of Genesis?  Or, are we going to go on to the brotherly love they found later when they wept with Joseph in Egypt?

Next he speaks about being tender hearted.  This speaks to our intentions and actions.  Do they come out of a heart that seeks the good of others?  Do you have good will towards them or ill will?  Our Father demonstrates this attitude in John 3:16.  He so loved the world that even though it was in rebellion to him he gave his only begotten son so that WHOSOEVER would believe on him would not perish but have everlasting life.  Such good heartedness leads to God not crushing the rebellion, but making it possible for everyone to make a choice.  He is willing to forgive.

Next we talk about being courteous.  This is simply being “low minded.”  Not low in the sense of being bad, but low in the sense of being humble.  We are courteous to people when we not only think lowly of ourselves but also when we in “honor prefer them above ourselves.”  No matter how great we are in this world’s eyes, we ought to recognize how Christ lowered himself and served us as if we were the greater.  Can we follow him in this example?

Next he speaks to a “payback” attitude.  We need to stay away from an evil for evil, revenge oriented attitude.  Even if we don’t seek revenge, we can fall into a low form of hostility towards others because of things they have done.  We act like a bunch of banty roosters around each other, strutting, and pecking at each other.  This ought not to be among God’s people.  In fact it is the opposite of what our Lord commanded us in Matthew 5:44-45a. 

“I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven…” 

We are not called to curse people, but to be a blessing to them.

Thus Peter ends with the call to blessing.  God has given us as a blessing to this world.  After the cross, he could have sent legions of angelic warriors to slay all mankind.  Instead, he sends us as his ministers of peace.  He speaks a gracious word of reconciliation to the world.  That doesn’t mean there isn’t a judgment day.  It just helps us to see why we are here.  We are here to bless the world in the name of Jesus.  Now, blessing is not defined by the world.  It is defined by Truth and Reality, and thus by God himself.

Reminded Of Our Inheritance

In the second part of verse 9, Peter reminds them of the inheritance that is theirs in Christ.  Our inheritance involves some things in this life, but it is ultimately and largely in the Age that is coming.  However Peter does remind them of this blessing with its present reality of enjoying God’s goodwill or favor.  So let’s break down exactly what Peter is saying in the second part of verse 9.

First he says “knowing.”  They have come to know certain things that should affect their present treatment of one another.  Sometimes we can forget or choose to ignore these realities.  This is complicated by a spiritual enemy who works in many ways to assail our mind.  The more he can get us to lean on our natural mind more than the mind of Christ, then the more he can cause us to fall in this spiritual battle.  Thus, this mental battle can keep us in the spiritual battle, or knock us out of it.  This battle is for our soul and the souls of others.

Next he says that they were called.  This is a reference to the fact that they are disciples of Jesus.  Jesus had come up to certain ones and called them to follow him.  In a similar way, believers are followers of Jesus.  He has purposefully called us and we have intentionally followed him.  It was a personal choice to follow the purpose of Jesus.  However, when the way gets difficult, it is easy to pull back from what we are called to do.  Will I turn back and walk away from Jesus?  Or will I, like Judas, continue to hang out with Jesus only to betray him in the end?  It is our inheritance to be followers/disciples of Jesus; to take our place among that great company of people who belong to Jesus.

Lastly he reminds them of their blessing by quoting a passage from Psalm 34.  It begins by listing some natural blessings such as life, and long life.  But it goes on to a largely spiritual blessing, in which God is favorably disposed to us.  So as he determines we see him favorably disposed to hear our prayers and to answer them (not that we get whatever we want).  But ultimately this favor of God is demonstrated in what he is bringing us to; making us to be like him.  God is actively against those who reject his ways, but he is favorably disposed towards those who embrace his ways and his nature.  Our inheritance is to be transformed to the point that we are like God.

Final Thoughts

If these things were easy the apostles would not have kept reminding us about them over and over.  We can shrink back from these things for different reasons and need to be encouraged in them.  In this world evil tends to be “rewarded” immediately.  So we can be tempted and leveraged by our own fleshly desires.  We need to remind ourselves that the delayed reward of righteousness (aka our inheritance) is better in the end.  It is better because it is eternal and it is better because it makes us to have a place wherein we can have a relationship with God and be like him.

Happy New Year!