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GOD’S HEART IS BIG ENOUGH FOR ALL OF US… Luke 7:7-11 KEY VERSES: (V13) WHEN THE LORD SAW HER, HIS HEART WENT OUT TO HER AND SAID, “DON’T CRY.” AND… (V14) THEN HE WENT UP AND TOUCHED THE COFFIN AND THOSE CARRYING IT STOOD STILL. Compassion is not a snob gone slumming. Anybody can soothe his conscience by an occasional venture to feed the hungry or the visit the sick. But have you ever taken a real trip down inside the broken heart of a friend? To feel the sob of the soul…the raw, red crucible of emotional agony? To have this sadness become almost as much yours as that of your soulcrushed neighbor? Then, to sit down with him…and silently weep? This is the beginning of compassion. · OUR TEXT TAKES PLACE IN A TOWN ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CAPERNAUM · THE DISCIPLES HAD NOW REJOINED JESUS · TOGETHER THEY WERE ENTERING THE GATES OF A VILLAGE. · THE CROWDS FOLLOWING JESUS HAD GROWN…AS I IMAGINE THAT WAS THE PLACE TO BE, AS JESUS MINISTERED THROUGHOUT THE LAND. · THEN JESUS SEES A FUNERAL PROCESSION · DEATH OF THE ONLY SON OF A WIDOWER · (NIV)…V13- WHEN THE LORD SAW HER, HIS HEART WENT OUT TO HER AND HE SAID, “DON’T CRY.” · (KJV)…V13- AND WHEN THE LORD SAW HER, HE HAD COMPASSION ON HER, AND SAID UNTO HER, WEEP NOT. OUR ENGLISH WORD FOR “COMPASSION” IS A WEAK TRANSLATION OF THE HEBREW WORD FOR “SYMPATHY”. · SO HERE IS A QUESTION TO CONSIDER… Why was Jesus so moved on this occasion? 2 PERHAPS JESUS SAW HIS OWN MOTHER IN THAT WIDOW… OR AN AUNT OR NEIGHBOR WHO EXPERIENCED WHAT NOW FACED HER. JESUS NOT ONLY GRIEVED THE UNTIMELY DEATH OF A YOUTH, BUT HE SHOWED THE DEPTH OF HIS CONCERN FOR A WOMAN WHO LOST NOT ONLY HER HUSBAND, BUT AN ONLY CHILD AS WELL. WIDOWHOOD IS HARD ENOUGH IN OUR OWN CENTURY. THERE IS EMPTYNESS, LONELINESS. SOCIAL LIFE OFTEN IS CENTERED AROUND FAMILIES, BUT THE FATHERLESS AND THE WIDOWS ARE TOO OFTEN AT THE FRINGE. AS LUKE REPEATIVELY EMPHASIZES, THIS WOMAN WAS EXACTLY THE KIND OF PERSON THAT JESUS HAD COME TO HELP. JESUS NOT ONLY HAD COMPASSION, HE ALSO HAD POWER… THE ABILITY TO RESTORE LIFE AND MAKE WHOLE AGAIN. · (V14) THEN HE WENT UP AND TOUCHED THE COFFIN AND THOSE CARRYING IT STOOD STILL. AND HE SAID, “YOUNG MAN, I SAY TO YOU, ARISE.” · (V15) AND THE DEAD MAN SAT UP, AND BEGAN TO SPEAK. AND HE GAVE HIM BACK TO HIS MOTHER. CAN YOU IMAGINE THIS SCENE…PICTURE IN YOUR MIND WHAT THIS CROWD HAD JUST WITNESSED? A MIRACLE… JESUS HAD CLAIMED AS HIS OWN… ONE WHOM DEATH HAD SEIZED AS ITS PREY. JESUS TRIUMPHED OVER THE GRAVE AND HE PROMISES… THAT BECAUSE HE LIVES… WE ALSO SHALL LIVE IN HIM. · BECAUSE OF HIS COMPASSION AND POWER…THERE IS HOPE EVEN IN TRAGEDY · IT IS THAT HOPE THAT REPRESENTS OUR SALVATION 3 THIS STORY ILLUSTRATES BOTH OUR SALVATION AND JESUS’S COMPASSION. BEFORE JESUS’S DEATH ON THE CROSS… THE WHOLE WORLD WAS DEAD IN SIN… JUST AS THE WIDOW’S SON WAS DEAD. BEING DEAD… WE COULD DO NOTHING TO HELP OURSELVES… WE COULD NOT EVEN ASK FOR HELP. BUT GOD HAD COMPASSION ON US… AND HE SENT JESUS TO RAISE US TO LIFE WITH HIM. THE DEAD MAN DID NOT EARN HIS SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE, AND… WE CANNOT EARN OUR NEW LIFE IN CHRIST… BUT WE CAN ACCEPT GOD’S GIFT OF LIFE, PRAISE GOD FOR IT, AND USE OUR LIVES TO DO HIS WILL. ACCEPTING GOD’S GIFT OF LIFE… WE ARE CALLED INTO ACTION THERE WOULD BE NO STORY OF SIGNIFICANCE HERE… IF JESUS HAD JUST WATCHED THE FUNERAL PROCESSION PASS BY… WHAT MESSAGE WOULD WE GLEAN FROM JESUS IF HE HAD JUST STOOD BY? JESUS ALLOWED HIS COMPASSION AND LOVE FOR PEOPLE TO MOVE HIM… A GREAT EXAMPLE FOR US ALL… AS CHRISTIANS (LOCAL PASTORS) WE ARE CALLED TO RESPOND… PARTICIPATORY COMMITMENT ON OUR PART… AN OPPORTUNITY TO ACT… 4 AS JESUS DID FOR THE WIDOW… CHARLES SWINDOLL REMINDS US IN HIS BOOK THE “FINISHING TOUCH”… THAT TIME IS SHORT. OPPORTUNITY IS KNOCKING. PLEASE ANSWER IT. SWINDOLL GOES ON TO SAY THAT THERE ARE… FOUR THINGS COME NOT BACK: · THE SPOKEN WORD · THE SPENT ARROW · TIME PAST · THE NEGLECTED OPPORTUNITY JESUS HAD AN OPPORTUNITY… AND HE TOOK ACTION THAT DEMONSTRATED HIS “PASSION FOR COMPASSION” DO YOU HAVE A “PASSION FOR COMPASSION?” HOW DO YOU REACT WHEN YOU COME ACROSS MISFORTUNE? ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHRISTIAN GROUPS IS 4HIM… ONE OF THEIR SONGS THAT THEY SING IS ABOUT GOD’S COMPASSION… 5 4HIM SONG LYRICS THE CHORUS READS LIKE THIS… COMPASSION TO LEAD THE WAY…DRAW BACK YOUR BOW… SHOOT STRAIGHT FOR THE HEART LET LOVE GO… WITH ALL OF YOUR MIGHT… SET YOUR SIGHT THE WORLD IS THE TARGET…. THE ARROW IS THE CROSS… LET US LOVE AT ANY COST TO LOVE GOD… LOVE PEOPLE… IS THE CENTER OF THE MARK LUKE 7:13 “WHEN THE LORD SAW HER, HE HAD COMPASSION ON HER, AND SAID UNTO HER, WEEP NOT” TO GOD BE THE GLORY THAT GIVES US OUR GREATEST VICTORY…AMEN |
