Notes of a sermon preached at St. Andrew’s Eaton on the morning of 3rd November 2024.

11 Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him.  12 As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town.

We’re up in Galilee, just five miles from Nazareth.  A crowd of people is approaching Nain.  Jesus is leading the way.

Another crowd is coming in the opposite direction.  You hear them before you see them.  It’s a funeral procession.  At the front is a solitary woman,  Some time before, her husband had died.  Now, she has lost her only son.  His body is being carried on a bier stretcher).

13 When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.”

That’s a pretty insensitive thing to say!  But Jesus is about to do something about this horrible situation.  And he doesn’t wait to be asked.

14 Then Jesus came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still.

The funeral procession stops in its tracks.  The crowd falls silent.  There’s an air of anticipation.  What’s he going to do?

And Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!”

Is he trying to be funny?  Has he totally misunderstood the situation?  Is he crazy?  No!

15 The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

The young man is restored to physical and mental health.  (I wonder what he said!)  Jesus gives him back to his mother – what an astonishing and beautiful reunion!

16 Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has looked favourably on his people!” 17 This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.

I would like to focus on verse 13 – ‘He had compassion for her’

And I would like to speak out of my personal experience of Christ’s compassion over the past couple of years, during which time my dear wife Sarah has been recovering from serious illness.

Those who have put their trust in Christ can:

(i) Feel Christ’s compassionate presence

When a child is hurt, the parent ‘kisses it better’.  When you are upset, your friend puts her arm round your shoulder, or just sits silently with you.  Sometimes, it makes all the difference just to know that someone who cares about you is with you.

Psa 23 – ‘Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me’.

John 14:18 – “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

During the first few weeks of Sarah’s illness, when the outcome was still very uncertain, I felt God’s loving presence in a new and special way.  And so I felt distress, but not despair.  I would not say that I was being strong, but that I was being strengthened.

(ii) Experience Christ’s compassionate power

Compassion on its own is mere sympathy.  Power by itself is blind force.  But they are found in together in the Lord Jesus.  He is both able and willing to help.

And, through the skill and dedication of many health professionals, and the over-riding providence of God, Sarah not only survived, but thrives!  Yes, she still misses her ‘old life’, but she acknowledges too that she has been ‘richly blessed’.

My thoughts are similar to those of the apostle Paul, on the recovery fro serious illness of his dear friend Epaphroditus:

Phil 2:27 – ‘God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, so that I would not have one sorrow after another.’

And so we were thrilled, last July, to gather with family and friends for a Service of Thanksgiving, to mark God’s goodness to us during Sarah’s illness of ongong recovery.

(iii) Believe Christ’s compassionate promises

When I didn’t know whether Sarah would live or die, I was mightily supported by God’s ‘precious and very great promises,’ (2 Pet 1:4).

1 Cor 15:19 – ‘If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.’

Phil 1:23 – ‘I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.’

2 Pet 3:13 – in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.’

Yesterday, Sarah and I visited a dear Christian lady.  She loves the Lord, and has served him faithfully for many years.  She is now frail in body and mind.  She is packed up and ready to go.  She told us: ‘I just want to go and be with him.’  Is that a morbid thought?  No – it’s an expression of a glorious hope!

(iv) Be supported by Christ’s compassionate people

2 Cor 1:3 God is ‘the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.’

He comforts us, not so that we may be comfortable, but so that we may comfort others.

When Sarah was very ill, I was visited by a Christian friend who shared his story of experiencing God’s consolation during a very difficult time.  A little later, another Christian friend did the same thing.  They had both experienced God’s compassion, and were able, out of their experience, to bring comfort to me.

I pray that those who read this may know in their own lives something of Christ’s compassionate presence, his compassionate power, his compassionate promises, and his compassionate people.