South End |
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Gate
of Grace Two
crowds collided at the gate. One was entering while the other was exiting. The
group entering was full of excitement, still buzzing from the miracle Jesus
performed 20 miles up the road in Capernaum. The group exiting was full of
sorrow, escorting a body to be buried. It was a funeral procession. Though
there were many people in the procession, one woman stood out from the others.
She was nearest the stretcher. Her despair was deeper. Her sobbing was stronger.
Her tears were thicker. This woman was not mourning the loss of her grandpa or
great uncle. It was not the corpse of her father or friend, either. It was the
corpse of her son — her one and only son.
“Soon
afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd
went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had
died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and
a considerable crowd from the town was with her” (Luke 7:11-12). This
was a double tragedy. Not only had this woman lost her son, she was a widow. One
would be hard pressed to find someone more pitiful than that. Her husband was
gone, her son was gone, her means of support was gone, her family line was
gone… can you imagine? When Jesus saw the woman, He felt compassion and
uttered three words: “Do
not weep” (Luke 7:13). Coming
from any other person, those three words would have seemed inappropriate. This
woman had lost everything. Her world was turned upside down. Parents are not
supposed to bury their children. The most precious person in her life had been
snatched away, and she was about to place his body next to the other most
precious person in her life, who had also been taken. Furthermore, she had to
worry about her future in a society that was not exactly “widow friendly.”
If anybody had a reason to weep, it was her! But
Jesus was not any other person. He was the Son of God. He was the Creator
walking among the created. He knew her thoughts and felt her pain. Her broken
heart broke His heart. Those three words (“Do not weep”) stood for another
three words (“I love you”). Then, in dramatic fashion, He approached the
body. “Then
he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said,
‘Young man, I say to you, arise.’ And the dead man sat up and began to
speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother” (vv. 15-16). Wow!
Jesus halted the funeral procession by walking over to the stretcher and
touching it. This would have made Him ceremonially unclean according to the Law
(Numbers 19:11-16) and been incredibly shocking to the onlookers. The
pallbearers stood still. The crowd fell silent. All eyes were on Jesus. A
nervous anticipation overtook the sorrow. “What is He about to do?” There
are three recorded cases of Jesus raising the dead in the Gospel accounts. All
of them involved Him issuing a command: To the widow’s son: “Young man,
arise” (Luke 7:14); To Jarius’ daughter: “Child, arise” (Luke 8:54); To
Lazarus: “Lazarus, come out” (John 11:43). And every time the gates of Hades
swung open, life swooped back into the body, and the person immediately obeyed
His voice. Interestingly, the same voice that raised these people will one day
raise all people from the dead (John 5:28-29). Jesus
never used the word grace, yet no one has ever defined it better. He was grace
personified. He was a walking, talking, living manifestation of God’s
unmerited favor bestowed on an unworthy world. He was a place of refuge for the
weary, teary, and leery. Certainly, we can see His grace at the gate of Nain. Conclusion The
gate of Nain took on new significance for the widow. It became the gate of
grace. It was the place where life was restored, hope was renewed, and tears
were wiped away. It was the place she met Jesus, and her life was never the same
after that. Have you met Jesus at the gate of grace? |