One of the most prominent and significant words in the Old Testament is the conditional word, “IF.” The word occurs frequently in the Torah as the Law is expounded to the people, warning them that curses will surely come with disobedience and that the LORD will only bless IF you listen to His voice. It is painfully obvious that the LORD will only bless IF certain conditions are met.

Psalm 81:8 – “Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you; O Israel, IF you would listen to Me!”

:10 – “I, the LORD, am your God. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.”

In Psalm 81:14-16 a host of magnificent promises follow as the LORD declares what He will do IF . . .

81:13     IF My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways!”

In many ways, this word defines the old covenant. IF you meet these conditions . . . IF you obey the LORD, THEN you will be blessed. But this small word (IF) created an impossibly large obstacle, because the “IF” of the old covenant established a condition that had to be met and Israel consistently failed to satisfy the condition. The old covenant was a covenant of works focused on the condition of obedience. IF you obey the LORD you will be blessed. But the other edge of that sword was just as sharp . . . IF you do not obey the LORD, you will be cursed. You must meet the condition to be blessed. Under the old covenant you were always having to meet the condition of “IF.” Huge sections of the Old Testament are devoted to declaring the IF conditions of the Law. (Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy)

By contrast the new covenant in Christ is a covenant of certainties, a covenant in which the promises are already guaranteed to those who believe and in which our hope is sure and steadfast, anchored by Christ. IF you believe in the Lord Jesus, all the promises are yours, for Christ has accomplished your salvation.

The IF of the old covenant is vanquished by the cross.    SDG   rmb   7/15/2016

In the first part of this meditation (June 25), we considered the suffering of the Messiah Jesus Christ from the perspective of His daily exposure to the ugliness and the offense of sin. He as the Holy One, as very God in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3 NAS), had to endure a lifetime among those who were rebellious and disobedient and fallen. Surely this constant bombardment of sin from those around Him must have been a source of persistent suffering, but this suffering, while real, is mentioned only occasionally by Jesus, because the focus of the Scripture is on the very specific and purposeful suffering of the Messiah.

The suffering that is the focus of Scripture is the extraordinary suffering of Jesus the Messiah in which, on the cross, He received in Himself the just punishment for the sins of all the elect and thus propitiated the wrath of God against them (1 John 4:10; Hebrews 2:17; Romans 3:25). The primary suffering of Jesus is the suffering of the cross. This is the agony of bearing the full punishment for sin in His own body on the tree. This suffering is utterly unique, for only the chosen Messiah was worthy to bear the wrath of God against sin. Thus while sinners share with Jesus in the general suffering of this fallen world, no sinner shares in any part of the suffering of atonement, for no sinner is worthy or able to bear this awful suffering of the pouring out of God’s wrath. No sinner shares in this suffering, because this suffering is FOR sinners, not BY sinners. The awesome act of atonement is a work accomplished by Christ alone and in this atonement, Christ suffers utterly alone. The Chosen One hangs on the tree completely exposed to the full weight of the wrath of God with no one to comfort Him and no place to hide. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” How can any human being grasp the height or the depth of this divine suffering? Here we see the agony of God the Son as God the Father propitiates His wrath on Him, a wrath merited by the sins of God’s elect.

This is the true suffering of Jesus the Messiah. It is an exclusive suffering, experienced by Christ only and by Christ alone. It is a necessary suffering, in that our salvation depends on this atonement. It is a planned suffering, for Jesus Christ knew that He was sent to earth for this very suffering. It is a purposeful suffering, in which Christ, through His death, accomplishes the redemption of His people.

“. . . since Christ also suffered for you . . .”     SDG   rmb   7/12/2016

“But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter, so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.” – Jeremiah 18:4

The primary purpose of this verse and this passage is to give an illustration of the coming rejection and ruin of the nation of Israel because of their persistent rebellion against the LORD, because of their idolatry and because of “the stubbornness of their evil heart” (18:12). These sins and this rebellion led Jeremiah to prophesy of the future remaking of “Israel” (national, ethnic Israel) when, in Christ, all the elect from every nation are gathered into the church, which is true Israel. So the primary understanding of this parable of the potter is the destruction of the spoiled vessel of national Israel and the remaking of true Israel into the new and useful vessel of the church.

But there is also another secondary meaning here and it is this secondary meaning that I want to explore. In this writing I want to consider the parable of the potter as an illustration of salvation and sanctification, wherein the LORD, the master Potter, graciously finds particular spoiled vessels and puts these ruined vessels on His special potter’s wheel to remake them into vessels of honor, useful to the Master and prepared for every good work. So I want to explore this parable as a picture of the Lord’s saving and sanctifying work in the life of each one of His chosen saints.

In this light, then, the first thing that I want to consider is the utterly ruined condition of the vessel. Notice that in our study verse “the vessel is spoiled in the hand of the potter.” Before the Lord begins His rescuing work in our lives, the vessel of our life is utterly ruined. Our condition is not slightly flawed in need of a little touch-up work. Rather, sin has made us into vessels which are spoiled beyond remedy. When we were in our unsaved condition outside of Christ, we had no hope and were without God in the world. It was not patching and repair of the vessel that we needed; rather we were irredeemably spoiled and could only be saved if someone had the power to demolish the spoiled vessel and remake it into another vessel that was pleasing to the Master. And this is exactly what God does in Christ. The “old man,” who is the spoiled vessel, is crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) when a person believes, and is buried with Christ in baptism unto death (Romans 6:4a), and then the “new man,” who is the remade vessel, the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), is raised to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4b) and the new self is created in the righteousness and holiness of the truth (Ephesians 4:24).

So the first consideration is the utterly ruined condition of the vessel.

The second thing to consider is that, while the vessel on the potter’s wheel is utterly ruined and must be remade if it is to be pleasing to the potter, there is nothing in the vessel itself that makes it worth remaking. We are all spoiled vessels (Romans 3:23), and there is no desert and there is no merit in any ruined vessel. All are equally ruined and all are equally in need of being remade. By His sovereign choice, God remakes into vessels of mercy those He graciously calls (Romans 9:21-24).

So the second consideration is that no spoiled vessel deserves to be remade, but some are remade by the sovereign choice of God.

The third thing to consider is that we are dramatically remade in our new birth. The vessel is utterly ruined and is hopelessly beyond repair and then God the Holy Spirit causes us to be born from above (“born again”). When we, as ruined vessels, call upon the Lord for salvation, in that moment we are remade. In that first moment of faith in Christ we are justified, redeemed, regenerated, converted, saved and united with Christ. We have been remade and have passed from death to life (John 5:24). We have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Colossians 1:13-14). Our spoiled vessel is remade into a new vessel in the moment when we trust Christ.

The fourth thing to consider is that once our gracious God has remade us into useful vessels, He continued to remake us day-by-day as we, in sanctification, grow in practical holiness. Our inner man is being renewed day by day (2 Cor. 4:16). As we continue on life’s journey and persevere through trials; as we meditate on Scripture and as we cry out to the Lord in prayer; as we proclaim His excellencies and drink the pure milk of the Word; as we suffer for His name’s sake and hope for heaven and keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we are being remade by the Spirit of God. So the vessel you were at salvation is not the vessel you are now is not the vessel you will be tomorrow, for the remade vessel is a vessel that continues to be remade and to grow.

The fifth and final thing to consider is that all remade vessels will one day be glorified vessels. God’s grace remakes ruined vessels into saved and useful vessels. Through His Holy Spirit, God’s grace remakes saved vessels into more and more sanctified vessels. And God will ultimately remake us into glorified vessels. Then we will be like Jesus (1 John 3:2) and we will be conformed to His image (Romans 8:29). All who have been remade into Christ will be raised in glory and power (1 Cor. 15:43) and will bear the image of the heavenly beings (15:49).

The Potter will remake all His chosen vessels into glorified vessels to praise His holy name forever. Amen.

SDG    rmb    7/10/2016

In seeking to understand the good news of the gospel, it is necessary to first understand the bad news of our condemnation. For the harsh fact is that your sin and my sin is the central issue before our holy God. Since that is the case, we need to understand something of the nature of sin.

First of all, we need to understand that it is not the degree of sin that condemns me, but it is the fact of sin that condemns me. God does not grade on a curve, such that a moderate amount of sin is allowed, but that a lot of sin demands a recompense. The Bible teaches that one sin merits eternal condemnation. The proof of that is that Adam was condemned for his first sin. In eating the fruit, Adam sinned against God and was thus banished from the Garden of Eden and was separated from God. Not only this, but Paul makes clear that God’s judgment on mankind arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation (Romans 5:15). Adam’s one transgression plunged the entire world into sin. One sin is all it takes to condemn me. Therefore I cannot say, “I may be bad, but I’m not as bad as some people.” I may be condemned for a few “small” sins or condemned for many blatant and big sins, but the result is the same. Condemned is condemned, and this is not a question of degree. If there is one sin on my record, one transgression against one of God’s holy commandments, then I have earned eternal condemnation. There is either perfect righteousness or there is condemnation for my sin and there is no in between.

We must understand that God’s standards are absolute. Man’s standards are relative and are lenient, but it is not before man’s throne that you must appear. You are either perfectly righteous or you are a sinner and are utterly ruined, and there is no third option. Are you perfectly righteous in God’s eyes? Have you lived in perfect obedience to God’s holy laws? You will stand before God’s throne, God’s judgment seat (Romans 14:10) and in that moment your righteousness will be compared to the righteousness of Jesus Christ. How does your righteousness compare to the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ?

Many people will say, “Surely if my good outweighs my bad, then God will accept me and I will go to heaven.” The God of heaven, however, does not have scales, but judges in absolute terms. For the Bible declares, “The soul that sins, it will die,” (Ezekiel 18:4) and “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) There is no verse in the entire Bible that gives a sinner any hope that he can earn his way to heaven by doing good works or that any number of good works will somehow count more than his sin. In fact, the Bible says just the opposite: “All our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.” (Isaiah 64:6) Have you ever sinned against God? Have you ever broken even one of His commandments in thought, word or deed? Your only hope for heaven is the complete absence of any sin. If that does not describe you, then you are condemned for your sin.

Many people will say, “I think I’m basically a pretty good person,” but the Bible says, “There is none righteous, not even one,” (Romans 3:10) and “The heart is more deceitful than all else and desperately sick,” (Jeremiah 17:9) and “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) The question is not whether you are “basically a pretty good person”, but the question is whether you are a perfectly righteous person or not. Have you lived a sinless life of perfect obedience to God’s laws? If not, then you are unrighteous and are condemned.

The Bible sometimes speaks of people who have leprosy. In Bible times, leprosy was as feared a disease as cancer is for us today. The Bible also uses leprosy as a picture of sin. How so? A person would examine their skin in search of an open sore, which would indicate they had leprosy. If there was one spot of leprosy, it meant that the person’s entire body was full of leprosy. The disease had spread that far. This is analogous to sin. You can be assured that if there is evidence of any sin in a person’s life, it means that their entire life is contaminated with sin. The disease has spread throughout your life. The point of the illustration is to show that, if you can find evidence of any sin in your life, then it means that there is sin throughout your life. In the Bible it says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” (James 2:10)

The point of this discussion is to show that mankind has a terrible problem. Each one of us has sinned before the holy God of the universe and we are thus condemned. The fact that I have sinned against God and have violated His holy commandments means that I am under His condemnation. It is from this terrifying situation that I must be rescued. The building is on fire and I must find a way to escape the flames. I must be rescued or I will perish and will spend eternity enduring God’s righteous wrath for my sin.

What is the answer to this terrifying dilemma? The answer is to repent of your sins and to run to Jesus Christ in faith, asking Him to cleanse you of your sin and asking Him to save you. Jesus lived the perfectly sinless life that is required by God’s holiness and is required by God’s holy law and Jesus died the death that sin required so that those who place their faith in Him will receive His imputed righteousness and will have their sins forgiven.

If you have ever sinned, you are condemned by a holy God. Regardless of the extent of your sin or the degree of your sin, the fact of your sin condemns you. Therefore, you must fly to Jesus Christ to be saved from your sin.

SDG   rmb   7/10/2016

In the last few months I have been spending extensive time in a very deep and detailed study of 1 Peter, and in that study I have reached the passage on 1 Peter 2:21-24 where Christ leaves us an example of suffering. From this passage I wanted to take an “aside” from the study of the epistle to explore this concept: A prominent fact of our redemption is the profound idea that our Savior, the sinless Son of God, suffered. How is it possible that God suffered? How can it be that God would take on human flesh so that and for the express purpose that He would suffer and die? From this it becomes evident that suffering is a necessary consequence of all humans after the Fall, such that even the One who had no sin is subject to the effect of the Fall. To have human flesh is to experience the suffering of the flesh. He who has flesh will suffer, because that is the necessary result of the Fall. Thus Christ fully and knowingly accepted the suffering that came with living in a fallen world among fallen people, the suffering that was the result of man’s sin, when He took on the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3).

But not only did He suffer as all who have a fleshly body suffer, but He suffered more than any other human. What do I mean? I have this in mind, that while you and I suffer in the flesh because we are sinners and receive this suffering as a consequence of our own sin, He bears His suffering because of the sins of others. We suffer justly, but He willingly endured a lifetime of “unjust” suffering (1 Peter 2:19 – “when suffering unjustly”). He willingly endured suffering His entire lifetime, but His suffering was of an entirely different nature than ours. Since He was God in human flesh, His suffering was likewise entirely “other.” He suffered in a way that is incomprehensible for us, for He, the sinless One, suffered because of constant exposure to the horror of sin and to the ugliness of sinners. In His untainted and unstained holiness, He endured a lifetime among those who are unholy. This was His daily and constant suffering. This was one way that the Messiah suffered.

But there was a much more intense form of suffering that our Messiah also endured, and that will be the subject of the next blog.               SDG    rmb    June 25, 2016

Psalm 40:1-3 (NASB)

I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry.

He pulled me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay.

And He set my feet upon a rock, and held my footsteps firm.

And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear, and will put their trust in the Lord.

WAITING PATIENTLY

Notice that the psalmist waited patiently for the LORD. This is because the disciple is in a dependent relationship with the LORD. The disciple must wait for the LORD. She must wait for the King to come to her. Here is one of the mysteries of our relationship with God: that we know that He hears our cries and that He is eager to have fellowship with us and that He loves us and has sent His Son to die for us, and yet He is also sometimes slow to appear in our presence. He is the King and He comes when He, in His divine and perfect wisdom, knows that the time is right. And so in faithfulness and obedience, the disciple waits for her King. She cries out . . . and waits for the King to choose the time when He will come to her. The LORD is the sovereign one. He is the Master and we are the servants. And so we wait patiently, knowing that our loving King is coming soon and that He is never far away.

THE LORD HEARS OUR CRY AND ACTS POWERFULLY ON OUR BEHALF

As the psalmist continues to cry out, the LORD inclines His ear and hears the cry of His children. “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ear is open to their cry.” (Psalm 34:15) When the LORD deems that all is ready, He acts in a way that only God can act. The LORD answers prayers in a way that declares that it was Him that answered. He uses answered prayer to declare His power and His presence. And so here He pulls David out of the pit of destruction and sets his feet on a rock and then holds his feet firmly in place. Not only is this David’s physical deliverance, but it is also an obvious picture of what Christ has done for every believer. The LORD has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14).

A NEW SONG SO THAT WE CAN BE HIS WITNESSES

Once the psalmist has been delivered and has been set in safety out of reach of his enemies, he feels like singing and praising the One who delivered him. The LORD has delivered David and He will deliver you. And when the victory comes, we are to sing praises to our great Savior. A song of praise should flow from our lips as we “proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9) Our God is great and He has promised to never leave us and He is with us like a dread Champion (Jeremiah 20:11), and so we praise Him and let the world know that He is to be feared above all gods (Psalm 96:4). “You are great and do wondrous deeds; You alone are God.” (Psalm 86:10) As we declare His glory among the nations, many will see and fear and will trust in the LORD.

Application: The applications are straight-forward. Wait patiently for the LORD as you pray persistently, knowing that His ear is bent toward you and that He loves you and that He will answer when the time is right. Meanwhile, persevere and be steadfast and keep your eyes fixed on Jesus as you continue to live for Him. The LORD will act on your behalf.

SDG   rmb   6/6/2016

“The sower went out to sow.” Thus begins one of Jesus’ most famous parables. This is the story of a man who scatters seed liberally and randomly and about four different types of soil which yield four different harvests. My intention here is not, however, to explain the full parable and its meaning, but is only to consider this short opening sentence and see how the word of God speaks to us through this sentence. I believe there is rich instruction for us related to evangelism. Let’s explore this short sentence phrase by phrase.

THE SOWER went out to sow. First, we read of the sower. Who is the sower? I believe this is a description of the disciple of Jesus Christ, because every disciple of Jesus is to scatter the seed of the word. In Mark’s version of this parable, it is said, “The sower sows the word (4:14).” So the disciple sows the word of God. Notice that the sower is defined by what he does. The fundamental task of a sower is to scatter seed, or to sow. A sower who does not scatter seed reveals that he is not truly a sower. And what is the seed? According to Luke 8:11, “The seed is the word of God.”

A primary task of the disciple is to proclaim the gospel, the word of God. In Matthew 4:19, Jesus said that His disciples would be fishers of men. Now He is saying that His disciples will be sowers of the word of God. So one of the distinguishing marks of the disciple of Jesus is that he or she is a sower of the word of God, whether that means the whole Bible or it means the gospel of Christ.

The sower WENT OUT to sow. In order to perform the task required by his title, the sower must go out. He must grab his seed and he must leave where he is and go out and find someplace to throw his seed. The sower must physically leave the comfortable and the familiar and go out in search of soil that may receive the seed and may produce a harvest.

Just so, the disciple grabs the seed of the word of God and goes out to find a place to throw that seed. He goes out to the field of his workplace and scatters the seed. She goes out to her daughter’s soccer team and scatters the seed. The point is that the disciple grabs the seed and GOES OUT. The field will not come to them, so they go out to the field. The disciple is sent out by his Lord (Matthew 28:19; John 20:21) and so he GOES OUT.

The sower went out TO SOW. This verb gives the purpose of the activity. Why did the sower go out? What is his goal, his motivation, his intent? The sower did not go out to aimlessly wander and to conserve his seed. No! He went out for an express purpose, and that purpose was to take his seed and scatter as much as possible to attain the hoped-for result of a harvest. The sower went out TO SOW. (Consider Isaiah 55:10-11, where the LORD says that His word will not return to Him empty without accomplishing all His desire.)

In the same way, the disciple fills his heart and his mouth with the seed of the word of God, the gospel, and then goes out with the express purpose of proclaiming the word to bring in a harvest of souls. There is a compelling reason why the disciple risks going out and sowing the word, and that reason is to “turn men from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God (Acts 26:18).” The sower went out to sow, because it is only when the disciple of Jesus Christ goes out into the darkness and sows the gospel of salvation that men and women will be reaped as a harvest for Jesus Christ.

So can it be said of you, “The sower went out to sow”?   SDG   rmb   4/27/2016

On this occasion, Simon the Pharisee had invited the upstart Rabbi into his house for dinner. He did not really want to invite Him, but common courtesy and religious decorum required that one teacher invite another teacher into their house, and Simon was not one to be rude to an up and coming religious peer. So he invited this Jesus to come to his house to dine.

As dinner progressed, Simon was probably bored and fairly indifferent toward his guest. “He doesn’t seem very impressive to me,” he probably thought to himself. “I don’t see what the big deal is about Him. He’s perfectly ordinary as far as I can tell and His teaching is good, but unremarkable. In fact, He doesn’t even seem to know much about the latest rabbinic ideas at all. Yes, very ordinary, indeed.” Simon has made up his mind about this Jesus, and he sees Him as over-rated and forgettable, and certainly the farthest thing from the Messiah.

As Simon is thinking these thoughts and making up his own judgment about this Rabbi, suddenly the proper and reserved atmosphere of the dinner is disturbed, for a “sinner” has somehow entered the house. Certainly uninvited, this immoral woman has discovered that Jesus is nearby and she has grabbed an alabaster vial of perfume, the most expensive thing that she owns, and pushed her way past the dignified guests to take her place at the dusty feet of the Lord of the universe. It is there at Jesus’ feet that this woman will worship Him. For she, like Simon, has made her own judgment about Jesus, but her conclusion is very different from Simon’s. She has concluded that He is the promised Messiah and that He is the sovereign Lord and that He can forgive her sin. And so this woman, this “sinner” worships the Lord Jesus with reckless abandon. In pure humility and adoration she showers affection on Him, utterly unconcerned about herself or her reputation or what other people may think of her. Her only desire is to worship this holy man, Jesus, with her whole being and with everything in her, kissing His feet and wetting His feet with her tears and wiping His feet with her hair. All the while she is pouring expensive perfume out on His dusty feet. Her worship of Jesus is extravagant and unrestrained, and because of her evident love for Jesus and because of her demonstrated faith in Him, Jesus forgives her sins. Yes, by her faith she is washed clean from all her sins and walks away a forgiven woman.

Luke often contrasts the Pharisees and the “sinners” (5:31-32; 7:36-50; 15:1-32; 18:9-14; etc.), showing that the stoic and strict religion of the Pharisees bears no resemblance to the robust, vigorous new life of the true disciple, while also showing that “sinners” often demonstrated saving faith and were more willing to repent than their religious counterparts. Religious people believe they are good enough to deserve entrance into heaven on their own merits, while sinners are eager to hear of a God who is merciful and gracious and who will forgive the sins of everyone who places his faith in Jesus.

And here Luke also shows that where there is a difference in faith toward Jesus, there is also a difference in worship. So here he contrasts the sort of bored and indifferent treatment that Simon the Pharisee gives Jesus with the unrestrained and reckless adoration given to Him by the “sinner.”

Every one of us must reach his or her own conclusion about who Jesus is, and what we conclude will manifest itself in how we relate to Jesus. In other words, my opinion of Jesus will manifest itself in my worship of Jesus. Do I relate to Jesus with unselfconscious joy and heartfelt worship or do I relate to Him with bored indifference, staying detached and distant and cold? If someone looks at how I worship Him, would they conclude that I love Him with all my heart?

O, that I would worship as this woman worshiped, and not remain trapped in my safe and sedate and refined expressions of love for Him! O, that we would worship the Lord Jesus with the reckless abandon of a sinner who has been forgiven of many sins and adore the One who has told us, “Your sins have been forgiven.”   SDG   rmb  4/25/2016

In the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus, we frequently see the Lord performing astounding miracles of healing or acts of power without the slightest effort or fanfare. What is almost as remarkable is the matter-of-fact tone with which these astonishing acts are related by the gospel writers. What do you think? Does stopping a hurricane with the sound of your voice warrant at least a little notice and maybe a headline? But for Jesus, this was completely routine. When you are the Creator God, there is no act that requires effort.

In the seventh chapter of Luke, there is another such miracle that occurs, this one in the midst of a funeral procession. As we set the scene, we see that Jesus is entering the town called Nain. He is followed by His disciples and also by a large crowd. As this huge entourage enters the city, they are met by a funeral procession coming out of the town. You can imagine what kind of a hush falls over the crowd traveling with Jesus as they meet this funeral procession. Here is a sad and hopeless situation. The only son of a widow is being carried out of the city to be buried. The widow has lost her husband and now has lost her son. Thus she is left with no real hope for the future. How is she going to survive when her husband and her only son have died? The path ahead is black indeed.

But there is no situation that is hopeless when Jesus Christ is there. What happens in Nain? First, Jesus sees the situation and has compassion on the woman. Imagine this, that we have a God who is compassionate toward hurting, desperate people. Jesus not only sees the situation, but He also decides to do something about the situation. But what can be done? The son of the widow has died and no one but God alone can overcome death. There is no human who can overcome the finality of death.

Instead of sadly walking away, however, and showing respect for the dead and the grieving, in the presence of the entire funeral procession and His own large entourage, Jesus walks up to the coffin and stops the funeral procession. The people must have wondered what Jesus was going to do. “Jesus, the guy is dead. Please don’t do anything embarrassing or silly. Let’s just go on and let’s not bother this poor widow.” At this point there is no one in the funeral procession or in the large crowd following Jesus who is not perfectly aware that the young man on the coffin is dead. After all, that’s why they are going in the funeral, to bury this dead young man. “It’s over. Let them grieve and let’s move on.”

What happens next is beyond remarkable and beyond astonishing. In the presence of all these people, with them all hearing His every word, Jesus speaks to the corpse and commands the corpse to get up. Try to grasp what is going on. A flesh-and-blood human being is standing there and is speaking to a corpse, telling the dead man to get up, much like you would tell your sleeping son to get up on a Saturday morning. All the people, who know with absolute certainty that the young man is dead, hear Jesus speak to the corpse. “Is He out of His mind? The boy is dead. There is nothing that You can do, Jesus.”

Instead of submitting to hopelessness, Jesus Christ assumes control of the situation. “Young man, I say to you, ARISE!” The Lord of the universe speaks and none can resist. The One who rules over all and who is sovereign over life and death, commands the boy to get up. Death must yield its grip. His spirit returns to him and the corpse sits up and begins to speak.

How do the people respond when they realize that God is in their midst? They are filled with fear and begin glorifying God saying, “God has visited His people!” Jesus has performed yet another miracle.

LESSONS:

1. Jesus has compassion on those who are desperate and grieving. He calls those who mourn ‘blessed.’ (Matt. 5:4; Luke 6:21) We have a Savior who is compassionate toward ordinary people. “He knows our frame and He is mindful that we are but dust (Ps. 103:14).” Jesus has suffered, so He can understand how painful it is when His people also suffer (Hebrews 4:15; 2:18).
2. Jesus Christ is more powerful than death. Death is subject to the commands of Jesus. Just as He raised the son of the widow of Nain, and just as He raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43ff), even so He will raise us from the dead when He returns. Because of Jesus Christ, death has no victory and the grave has lost its sting (1 Corinthians 15:55). The power of death has been broken by Jesus’ death on the cross (Hebrews 2:14-15).
3. The proper response to Jesus Christ is to fear Him with a reverent fear and to glorify Him as our great God.

SDG    rmb   4/18/2016