In
Luke: 7:11-17 Jesus and His Disciples Encounter the Funeral Procession of a
window's son as they are about to enter the town of Nain.
Jesus
and his disciples, as they are about to enter the Galilean town of Nain,
encountered a funeral procession for a windows' only son coming out through the
gates of the town in their direction.
Jesus
is moved and looked with compassion upon the mourners. As the
procession and Jesus intersect one another, Jesus reaches out and touches the
funeral pallet on which the dead young man is lying.
Jesus
gently touched the pallet and miraculously the young man is raised to
life, whole and well and restored to his mother. All those who walk in the
funeral procession see it and they all praised God.
Only a
Gentle Touch
The
whole world, around Christians, walk along in the procession of
death, living in ignorance, or misunderstanding of who Jesus is.
It may
be possible that all that might be needed, is to have someone
show compassion upon them as they walk along in this life, and
with just a gentle touch enter their lives, if but for a moment, and reach
out and touch them to bring life and restoration to the procession of
death in which they walk.
The
people around us may not need confrontational evangelism or accosted on
the street corners or the intrusive pounding upon doors of their lives, but
maybe, only the gentle touch of Jesus which brought that funeral procession to
a standstill and allowed him to raise the dead and restore a
widow woman's son to her.
Jesus brought life to a dead situation and caused people to praise God and a powerful witness of God’s love and Grace was demonstrated powerfully to many. The touch of Jesus was motivated out of his compassion for the "lost”, the lonely, the broken, the suffering.
Jesus
didn’t halt them to engage them in a heavy theological lecture or debate on the
"Indeterminate State" and or the
resurrection, nor did Jesus rebuke their grief, nor bring judgmental
criticism to bear against them, our Lord simply reached out with
compassion and gently touched the situation.
That
gentle touch brought them to a stop which allowed Jesus to bring life again and
the restored the relationship between the widow and her son whom she thought
was lost to death.
The
Funeral Procession of the World
The
world walks in a mournful procession, as we encounter those who drudge along in
grief or uncertainly, or the difficulties of this life, do we, as
Jesus, did, and does, looked at them with compassion? Can we reach out with
just a gentle touch, not heavy handedness or confrontation?
Jesus’
gentle touch brought the whole possession to a standstill, that is; Jesus got
their attention and brought life out of death. Jesus can use each
of us today and reach out and gently touch the lives of those
around us to bring life. Scripture calls this same gentleness that the Lord has,
as evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives.
"But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith," Gal:5:22
This gentleness,
the fruit of the Spirit, is the kind of gentleness Jesus showed at Nain it
is life giving. It is the kind which touches the lives of those around
us can get their attention and bring life to their situations.
The
Apostle St. Paul encouraged the young pastor St. Titus, as well as all
Christians down through the ages, to show gentleness to those around us.
"To
speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness to
all men."Titus:1:3
Jesus
could have this compassion toward all because he understands our all of
our pain and suffering first hand, he came as one of us, and is even in his
glorified humanity is still one of us.
Jesus
has compassion upon us in our times of grief. Jesus touches our lives
gently.
"For
as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same; Heb:2:14
"For
every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining
to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: He is able to
deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself
is subject to weakness." Heb:5:1-2
Jesus
knows and understands our struggles and can, and does touch our lives with
his gentleness. Jesus brings life and restoration to us, we, as Christians,
should do likewise as our Lord did that day at Nain, and touch the lives of
others with gentleness; so that there can be life and restoration, and
they too may give to glory to God.
Benediction: May we each and all, like Jesus, touch the lives of
others with a life-giving gentleness, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen
Rev. Todd Crouch, Pastor
Topinabee Community Church
Topinabee, Michigan
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