Sermon Tone Analysis

COMPASSION 25

JESUS HAS COMPASSION UPON THE GRIEVING

Luke 7:11-17

(cmpas25.doc)

*COMFORTED BY GOD*

 

        The story is told of a mother who was trying to calm her fretful little daughter who had climbed up on her lap.

Soon her loving embrace and tender caresses quieted the 4-year-old's uneasiness.

But the mother herself was grieving and feeling very said, for she had just laid to rest her own dear mother, who in days past had been such a spiritual help to her.

Looking up, the little girl saw her moist eyes and asked sweetly, "Mama, do you want to be holded too?"  Then the mother's tears began to flow freely, and the child hugged her and whispered, "Mama, God will hold you, won't He?"  The woman was both chided and consoled.

Looking to the Lord in her grief, she found grace and solace.

It has been said that God often digs wells of joy with the spade of sorrow.

Today we have a story that illustrates the Lord's concern and compassion towards those who are grieving.

Notice with me please Luke 7:11-17.

Follow along silently as I read this aloud for us.

/(Let's begin to explore this narrative by using the format that we have become familiar with.)/

I.

THE CIRCUMSTANCES (OR SETTING).

The events of this narrative take place in a city called Nain.

There is nothing particularly distinctive about this city.

As a matter of fact, the circumstances here are very normal; i.e. for Jesus.

We see Jesus, the multitude, and the disciples.

Jesus continually ministered to the multitude and the disciples were continually exposed to the lessons of their training.

What is the repeated activity of your life?

Who is your discipler?

/(We have the circumstances, let's move on and consider:)/

 

II.

THE CHARACTERS.

\\ /(In any narrative there is usually a protagonist, or hero, and an antagonist or villain.)/

1.

The Antagonist.

This is one of those stories where there is no stated antagonist.

Yet, if you look closely, I believe you will see an antagonist materialize before your eyes.

Do you see him?

I do!  His name is Death!

Death is an antagonist!

Death is an enemy of human beings!

I have chosen to personify death, because death is often personified in the Bible and in literature.

Death is our enemy from a physical perspective, because he robs us of our life.

Death is an enemy from a spiritual perspective, because He punishes us with the outcome of sin.

Sin has brought disease, famine, suffering, and death into our experience.

And Death is an enemy from a fear perspective.

The Bible says that some people are subject to slavery all their lives, through the fear of death.

Even though some people today have a flippant attitude about death, the people of Bible times had a great fear of death.

2.

The Protagonist.

The protagonist is Jesus Christ.

He is portrayed as such by the direct description of the storyteller, the other character's responses and his own words and actions.

/(Let's hurry on and consider this portrayal by considering:)/

 

III.

THE CONFLICT (ACTION OR PLOT).

There is seen here a spiritual conflict concerning ministering to those who are in grief.

Jesus had done much to help those who were hurting and hopeless in other ways, but what could He do for one who was grieving over a loved one?

Herein lies the suspense of this narrative.

The suspense of this story surely revolves around our curiosity with respect to how Jesus will respond to the widow and the funeral procession.

Notice first that Jesus saw her.

Jesus always displayed great insight and foresight.

You are probably saying, "He should display these characteristics because He is God!"

It is true that He was God in the flesh, but it is not true that He directly used the power of His deity.

No, Jesus worked all miracles and did all ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Consequently, He is our example of ministry!

We should have our sight and our insight sharpened by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

We should clearly see people, their plight, and their pain.

We see too little, when we do not see what is going on in the lives of people we come in contact with.

Not only did Jesus see this woman, He felt compassion for her.

 

felt compassion */4697 splagchnizomai /*"to have the bowels yearn," "to be moved in the inward parts," "to feel compassion."

/splagchnizomai/ is from

 

/4698 splagchnon/ "an intestine."

/splagchnon/ "b. the bowels were regarded by the Hebrews as the seat of the tenderer affections, especially kindness, benevolence, compassion; hence equivalent to our /heart/, [/tender mercies, affections/, etc.]."[1]

 

compassion /splagchna/ "The verb gives the oriental idea of the bowels as the seat of compassion."

Compassion is "a deep feeling for and an understanding of suffering with an accompanying desire to relieve that suffering"  (Webster's Third New International Dictionary).

I am so glad that it says He *felt* compassion.

Compassion is a feeling and God has deep feelings for the suffering of people in general, and His children in particular.

Jesus had a deep feeling for and an understanding of the pain of grief.

"How?" you ask.

Jesus had a face-to-face relationship with God from eternity past; but when He decided to come down to earth and die upon the cross to save mankind, He gave up that face-to-face relationship.

While Jesus was in the flesh, there must have been times when He felt as if God was dead.

We know that He experienced something like this on the cross, because He cried out, "My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken Me?"

He had to experience tremendous grief and loneliness while here on earth.

Therefore, He knew what that woman was feeling.

He could relate, because He was feeling the same thing Himself!!!

        His words to her were, "Do not weep."

Jesus is the only one in the universe who can say those words to a grieving human being, because He is the only one in the universe who can wipe away the grief.

He said do not grieve because of what He was about to do!

He was not saying, "Do not weep, because it is wrong to weep."

He was not saying, "Do not weep, because you are a Christian."

He was saying, "Do not weep, because He was about to raise her loved one from the dead!"

We would have to say, "*Weep on, I understand, and Christ cares!*"

 

 

*LOVE AND SORROW*

 

        A lady who had lost her husband was questioning her spirituality, because she thought it was wrong to grieve so deeply.

Although she was confident that her departed loved one was with the Lord, it was difficult to talk about him without weeping.

Then one day her pastor pointed out something that was very helpful to her.  "When you love deeply," he said, "you make yourself vulnerable.

That's why, when a dear one is taken, the suffering is so severe.

But not to love is even worse.

You cannot fully live without loving!"

Tears flow freely from the fountain of a love-filled heart.

It's O.K. to cry at the passing of a loved one.

As a matter of fact, it is  therapeutic to cry at the passing of a loved one.

The more special the loved one lost, the more tears are likely to flow!

 

/(Let's move on to:)/

 

IV.

THE CLIMAX OR CULMINATION.

Jesus said, "Do not weep," then He raised the young man from the dead!