Luke continues to accumulate stories of the authority of Jesus over the issues of disease and death – today with the account of a woman with a problem of bleeding being healed by simply touching Christ, along with the account of the raising of the young daughter of Jairus.

All of this happens around crowds of people who welcomed Christ’s return to their region, for they were all expecting him. The woman had to press through crowds that were said to be almost crushing Jesus. Along with the grievous nature of her illness, it also made her ceremonially unclean and essentially an outcast. But her faith was strong, and she gains immediate healing. By asking who touched him, Jesus is not seeking information; rather, it is about desiring the woman to state her faith publicly.

As a ruler of the local synagogue, it adds to the remarkable nature of the faith of Jairus. And even when he receives word that the daughter has indeed died, he continues to believe that Jesus can change the situation. The scene is rather ridiculous. At one moment the people are mourning the death, to the extent that Jesus tells them to stop wailing – that the girl is merely asleep. Yet at the next moment, they are laughing at him for saying such a thing. The crowds are fickle – and that is our point today.

Jesus, upon the raising of the daughter in the presence of just the parents and the inner core of the disciples, tells them to not tell anyone what had happened. Why? This is because he did not want the news of his deeds and the following of disciples to escalate at a rate too quickly before the appointed time of his final work in Jerusalem.

But in this passage, as in so many others, we see crowds of people who are in awe of Jesus, many of them believing (rightly) that he was the Messiah. They loved the miracles and all the good things that Jesus could do for them. But where were these masses of people at the very end? Yes, there were adoring crowds to some extent at the triumphal entry. But ultimately the masses were shouting for his crucifixion.

It was one thing to follow Jesus on the small stage and in the remote comforts of one’s own town, but it was another thing altogether to be associated with him on the big stage in Jerusalem, as Jesus was in the angry hands of the Sanhedrin and the Romans.

There is some timeless truth in this, isn’t there? It is one thing to be excited about Jesus in the relative comfort of the church community, but quite another thing to be associated with him in the hostile environment of our godless, secular culture. We desire that God does great things for us and we pray for his blessings in our lives, yet there is an inevitable cost to pay for discipleship in a world that is controlled (for now) by the king of darkness. But the cost is worth it, with rewards that are literally out of this world.

Luke 8:40 – Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”

46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”

47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.”

50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”

51 When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.”

53 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” 55 Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

I have one question today for readers to consider about our passage of Jesus driving demons out of a possessed man, resulting in their entrance into a herd of pigs that rush off a cliff into the sea: Should we call the condition of the pigs as having contracted a case of swine flu, or is it legionnaire’s disease? (You can’t get this depth of biblical analysis just anywhere!)

The region where the possessed man lived is in Gentile territory on the other side (eastern) of the sea of Galilee. This is the only recorded event from this trip that involved the stormy waters that were calmed. Is there a demonic element to both? Such is purely conjecture, but it is interesting to consider.

But what is clear in Luke’s writing (as a Gentile author) is that the mission of Jesus and the proclamation of the gospel is not going to be confined to the Jewish world. This is a major theme that Luke carries of course into the books of Acts.

The inclusion of this narrative is also to show that Jesus has the highest of divine authority – over the demons and fallen angelic workers of the kingdom of darkness. These demons (and there were many, as the name “Legion” implies – the word for the Roman military detachment of thousands) had entirely possessed this man. His condition is the most severe imaginable – naked, uncontrollable, driven from society.

Make no mistake about it, demons have significant powers. But wherever they come into an encounter with Jesus, they display a total meltdown. In the verbiage of Hans and Franz of Saturday Night Live fame, their “pumping of the muscle” totally leaves them and they wimp their way into complete “girlie men angels.”  (Again, you can’t get this analysis just anywhere!)

But in all seriousness, what frightens you the most at this moment of your life? Is it as scary as what this possessed man was going through?  Not likely. And the risen Christ who resides within you in the form of the Holy Spirit is that same power that caused these powerful demons to chicken out into a bunch of pigs who thought they were eagles!

The reaction of the townspeople is interesting. Rather than welcoming such a display of power and authority, they just want to avoid it completely. Is that not a picture of the common man in our world today?  Rather than submit to God and his rule, they would rather avoid him and keep driving the car of their lives themselves.

It is also interesting to see the response of the now formerly-possessed man. Wishing to go with Jesus, he is instead told to stay where he is, but to bear witness of God’s work in his life. This reminds us that God has a place for each of us, and it will not be the same place. We may not all get prominent roles on the stage of ministry with Jesus, but we all have a role to play – our place to work in the vineyard (to use another metaphor). But in any place – large or small, prominent or remote – we should be an active and public witness relative to the faith that has changed our lives and given us a new purpose.

As well, our faith inoculates us from contracting demonic swine flu or legionnaire’s disease! There is nothing ultimately to fear from the kingdom of darkness.

Luke 8:26 – They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” 29 For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.

38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

One of my favorite story illustrations I have used over the years is of a missionary family that I knew from the church of my youth. The husband was one of these techy, mechanically-savvy types of fellows who could fix just about anything. And on the mission field in Central America, he would go often from station to station, church to church, helping people with practical complications in a third-world context.

But there were times when even he would be a bit stumped, expressing some exasperation when a project was not going well. At those times it was reported that his wife would say, “Honey, do you want me to pray about this?”

And he was known to comically reply, “No, not yet. Give me five more minutes!”

We laugh at that, but we essentially do that all the time!  We either forget to pray and trust God in a difficult situation, or we passively think He is either disinterested or unable to actually help us.

The disciples displayed this sort of attitude upon the occasion of a storm descending upon them when crossing Galilee. These storms could come up quickly. And recall that a number of these disciples were more than just a bit experienced with boating.

Luke 8:22 – One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.

In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

Sometimes God allows perilous events in our lives to cause us to turn to him in trust and in throes of our desperation. It is then that He may prove Himself to be strong on our behalf – either solving the situation for us or giving us the fortitude to endure through it … perhaps even taking us by His grace to the final shore and harbor.

This calls to our minds one of the greatest of passages … Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 4:6,7)

So, from that passage, what difficulty of life is there that is excluded from being appropriate to bring before God? Nothing! We should think of life and our relationship with God as a continual conversation in prayerful dependence.

Holding out on bringing anything before the Lord?

Like probably most of you, I have a mixed bag of earthly family members. Among them are several of the most brilliant and accomplished people I have ever known, yet also there are some who would balance out the intelligence and success spectrum from the other end. Among relatives as well are some of extraordinary faith who embody a heritage that extends back to the foundations of the Swiss Reformation, yet also are some who have rejected faith values rather definitively.

I most especially love the analogy of the church as a family. Surely all of you at TSF hear me speak in these terms weekly. There is plenty of New Testament material that does the same, speaking of our adoption into the spiritual family, terming us as brothers and sisters in Christ. And for so many people, this new family is especially precious when the earthly family is in dysfunction and disarray.

As did Matthew and Mark, in our passage today Luke tells the account of the earthly family of Jesus being nearby and sending word to him within the crowd of their presence. He does not choose to drop everything and run out to embrace them …

Luke 8:19 – Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”

21 He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”

Joseph is apparently out of the picture, perhaps dying at a relatively young age. Jesus had half-brothers, though we should rather accurately surmise that they were not early followers. And to use a modern, street term, Jesus appears to “dis” his family. He rather identifies his true family as those who hear the word of God and put it into practice. Note that this is more than studying it and understanding it, but not applying it. (But recall that it is his brother, James, who will later write that we should be doers of the Word and not just hearers! He got the message!)

But how do we balance human family and spiritual family?  That can be a challenge. We have responsibilities with our biological family, especially as parents. And when we become attached to the greater, eternal family of faith, we should not just blow off our earthly relatives. Of all people, we should first want them to understand truth and be a part of the true and better family – that of the redeemed sons and daughters of God through our brother, Jesus Christ.

But what a wonderful blessing it is to have an eternal family that is built around a common faith in the greatest of all truths!  It is always for our personal good that we maximize this divinely-established gift. Just as it is a bit crazy to only check in with close family on Christmas and a 4^th of July picnic, it is actually crazier to not work to be intimately involved with the eternal family that is found in the church of Christ.

The purpose of light is to penetrate, not to be lit and then covered or hidden away – that’s rather stupid!  Here is today’s brief, three-verse passage, and then I’ll tell you a story about my grand-dog.

Luke 8:16 – “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. 17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. 18 Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

For several days while one of my sons is out of town with his family, I am keeping their dog for them. William is a long-haired, black dachshund. Most of you likely know that my own precious pup is a white Jack Russell Terrier.

Just a little bit of light can go a long way in revealing things. At nighttime, just the minimal light of a hallway nightlight or the moon through the windows makes my own dog sufficiently visible. But the situation is different with William. In just two evenings, I have stepped on him twice, closed the bedroom door on him once, and laid down on top of him on the bed – not seeing him and knowing he was there. So I am turning on lights when I move about now, just to make sure I don’t crush the poor thing.

The purpose of light is to reveal. Christ is the light that has come into the world to reveal truth. He is the living light, and the word of God is the written light. The Psalmist (119:105) wrote that we should honor God’s word as a lamp for feet and a light for our path (William’s favorite verse this week!).

Additionally, we become lights of truth as the Word of God ignites life within us and the Spirit lives through us. Paul wrote that we should be “… children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.”  Our life in Christ is not to be hidden but to rather do what light does … shine.

Once upon a time there was a boy in a Christian family who was a great soccer player and who as a young teen wanted to go to a six-week long, elite, summer sports camp. It was not Christian-based, and his godly parents were uneasy about this extended exposure. They finally allowed it, speaking quite extensively to the boy about how he was to not let any secular influences shake his faith. At the end of the time, as the parents picked him up and asked about this part of his summer experience, he said, “Everything was fine. They never found out that I was a Christian!”

Oops! Wrong application.

For us to have the light of truth and then to essentially hide it by not making it a featured part of our lives is rather … well … crazy!  But as we let it shine, we find that we grow and learn more and are better able to be effective lights that penetrate the darkness.

So, go light up your world today!

The primary pastor of my childhood and teenage years – the one who so encouraged me to pursue ministry and gave me opportunity after opportunity when in high school and college – was killed in a tragic automobile accident during my second year at Dallas Theological Seminary. I had previously arranged with him that I was to return for the upcoming summer to do an internship at that New Jersey church. The fellowship did have me come, though the internship was rather under the direction of the assistant pastor who had now become the senior pastor.

Though this man was not much younger than the pastor who had died, he had entered ministry later in life from a layperson’s career and was therefore not a veteran pastor himself. In our meetings he would often quote for me various lessons he had learned from our mutual long-term pastor during his handful of years with him.

One of these themes relates to our passage of interest today about the parable of the sower, which should probably be better termed the parable of the seeds.

This still somewhat raw, middle-aged pastor had been in the ministry long enough and in that church for enough time to have witnessed the sadness of people who drift away from fidelity to faith and service. Asking the older, long-term senior pastor about this when discussing yet another drifter, he told me that the only answer he got was … “Just read the parable of the sower and seeds to get your answer.”

True. So true.

That internship was 38 years ago. And now some four decades later, I have done even more ministry time than those two men combined, and I have lived to see this happen over and over.

I think this has to be about the saddest thing in a pastor’s life, other than perhaps presiding over tragic memorial services of dear people, while walking with their families. It is just terribly grievous to see people who at one point in life were excited about serving God within the church context, but then witnessing them drift away to even a status of total disinterest. Oftentimes I have seen the roots of the declension in their lives, yet other times I have been totally surprised. Social media exacerbates this painful observation. How can this current person who is flaunting a raucous life be the same person who was once a worship leader or classroom Bible teacher?

Another question is if the faith of that person was ever truly genuine in the first place. Have they merely drifted away, or were they never really rooted in the Lord? Ultimately, we cannot know for sure, though this passage would seem to indicate that a truly rooted person is going to produce some measure of fruit and not be indiscernible from the unbelieving world.

This parable is particularly uncomplicated, because Jesus himself gives the interpretation. The seed in the Word of God; the soils are the conditions of the hearts of those who hear it. For some, the Word never really gets started, whereas for others, there are besetting conditions – poor soil or external factors. In any event, we note from the parable that any problem is not the condition of the seed, but rather the condition of the soils.

The most convicting element in this parable for most of us who would be reading this devotional is some measure of identification with life’s worries, riches and pleasures.  Pleasures of this life may oft allure, and enjoying the good gifts of God is not wrong, though making it a prime focus of life would be. It is perhaps easier, especially in a troubled and evil world, to have excessive worries that minimize our faith foundation. If this fearful fretting is in the area of financial security, we may find ourselves accumulating and trusting in riches rather than God’s sustenance.

Probably with those whom I know have drifted away, I should be bolder and share this passage with them, asking the question, “So where do you find yourself in this parable? We’re all in it somewhere … so, what person are you?”

What person are you?

Luke 8:1 – After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’[Isaiah 6:9]

11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

After all these many years of pastoral ministry with literally several thousand sermons and teaching notes collected, there aren’t many passages remaining that I have not spoken on at one time or another. And looking back at my handwritten sermon notes on this passage that I presented 20 years and one week ago, I opened with a unique illustration that set up the scene of our passage today.

The illustration spoke of an imaginary conversation between then Vice President Al Gore and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. The scene was at the State of the Union Address where they would be seated next to each other. This annual event features a lot of publicly polite posturing. Everyone is being nice and putting on a pretty face, but everyone knows that there is a tremendous amount of tension just beneath the surface.

This is something like what it must have felt like in the scene depicted in this passage with Jesus being invited to a dinner in the home of a Pharisee. This is not an event of like-minded people getting together to exult and revel in their common values and theological beliefs. Added to the scene is a well-known, local woman of ill repute who is “making a scene” by crying and anointing the feet of Jesus.

To really understand this passage, we need to get back into the Eastern culture of the times. Likely this was a larger than average house. We know also that Jesus was drawing a lot of attention and followers everywhere he went. Surely everyone in town knew of this event happening in this particular house. And though it would seem odd to us today, when an event of this sort transpired, it would not be strange in that culture for onlookers to gather around and watch what was happening.

Understand also how a meal like this (think of the Last Supper also) was done in those days. Guests “reclined at dinner” on couches, leaning on one side with their heads toward a common table in the middle. So the woman in this passage would have access to the feet of Jesus as they extended away from the central table.

If someone comes to visit our home today in our culture, we greet them at the door with a welcome and a handshake, etc.  We invite them in and offer to take their coat and hang it up for them. In that culture there was the greeting of a kiss, water for washing feet provided, and oil as a sort of refreshing agent. None of this was done for Jesus – it was a very cold welcome as they began the dinner.

Jesus, Simon the Pharisee, and other guests are attempting to have this dinner with the very audible commotion of this sinful woman who is at the feet of Jesus, crying and filling the air with aromatic smells of the ointment. Though nobody is calling attention to her, everyone sees her – not knowing how to handle the situation appropriately.

The Pharisee is thinking to himself that this popular, yet disgusting fellow named Jesus cannot be any sort of prophet as believed by many, or else he would know that kind of woman this is. And in knowing that, he would not allow this awkward scene to continue. He would tell her to get lost.

And of course, Jesus knows he is thinking these very thoughts. Rather than confront that directly, Jesus launches into a parable and breaks the ice completely. The contrast is between someone who has a relatively modest debt forgiven, versus another person who has a substantial debt erased by the same lender. Who will be more grateful? The obvious answer is given by the Pharisee – the one with the greater debt.

And Jesus zings him with the application. I love this question Jesus asks: “Simon, do you see this woman?”  Haha! That is great! EVERYONE sees the woman, but did Simon the Pharisee SEE the woman? Simon saw her as a woman beyond hope and any worthiness of grace. Jesus saw her as a woman who recognized her need of a savior, expressing her faith and gratitude. The Pharisee saw Jesus as a despicable fraud, whereas the woman saw Jesus as the Messianic Son of God who could forgive her sins and give her a new life.

It is all about seeing – then and now. We need to see ourselves as lost sinners. We need to see Jesus also as the hope for all mankind, the one who saw us in our sin and paid the price with his blood. Therefore, God no longer sees us as enemies, but rather he sees us as his adopted sons and daughters. Beyond this, we no longer see other people in the same way; we see others – whomever they are – as mutually-lost sinners who need to be reconciled to God by seeing them as those for whom Christ died (2 Corinthians 5). In this, we see ourselves as God’s ambassadors to a lost world.

So, what do you SEE?

Luke 7:36 – When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

“The proof is in the pudding” is a phrase that has actually been around for centuries. It of course means that you can’t know the genuine nature as to how good something is until you experience the results. 

We are a very pragmatic generation; we like to see things that work, and we tend to reject things that do not. But this is not actually new.

John the Baptist had done God’s will and accomplished the work set out for him. He had been faithful in his preaching ministry, and though quite the eccentric, he had seen incredible results. But after what was a relatively short time, he finds himself in prison with things looking bleak for his future. Having been confident that Jesus was the Messiah King, John had pointed to him … but there was no kingdom. He was hearing about the growing fame of Christ, but where’s the kingdom?

Luke 7:18 – John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, 19 he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

20 When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”

21 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. 22 So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 23 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

Jesus says there is proof in the pudding. The prophetic word about the coming Messiah was being fulfilled as in the words of Isaiah 61:1,2.  No, the kingdom had not yet been established, but the king was clearly upon the scene.

We don’t know exactly what John thought about the response, though I believe his faith was likely affirmed by the words and the news. And Jesus speaks more to his own followers about John…

24 After John’s messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 25 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. 26 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is the one about whom it is written: “‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ [Malachi 3:1]

28 I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Yes, John was a prophet. The proof was in the pudding of what they had seen and heard about him – fulfilling the prophecy of Malachi about the ministry of a forerunner in the spirit of Elijah. And his human greatness was beyond a prophet, literally the greatest of men. And at this point, Luke adds an editorial note …

29 (All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. 30 But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)

The masses of the people had experienced the truth in their relationship with John, even the worst of sinners were touched by him and baptized. This was proof! But those who should have been most able to identify the proof and the truth were those who had rejected both John and Jesus.

31 Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:

“‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.’

33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ 35 But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”

John was a crazy eccentric by religious leadership standards. And Jesus was too independent and disconnected from enshrined powers to be legitimately embraced. Both had associations that were troubling for the elite.

But Jesus references a parable to illustrate the entire situation. The leaders of that day were like children who sang a song and wanted others to dance, but the “others” annoyed them by not dancing along. And on the other extreme, the “others” would not cry over a sad tune. Rather, the people who followed John and Jesus were “pudding proof” that this was the message of truth.

The gospel never has been (and never will be) a sort of pudding that is generally accepted by the powerful and erudite classes of this world. They don’t want to taste it. Rather, the truth and efficacy of it is proven over and over by the changed lives of those who have trusted in it – most often the simple and ordinary people of the world. “Taste and see that the Lord is good!”

I hate, hate, hate death!  Now there’s a headline!

Death really is the great enemy. We have profoundly seen in the past two weeks the sorrow it brings.

The pain of death is muted to some extent when it is a person who has lived a long life, only to suffer at the end from extended illnesses and body failure – the eventual death granting the individual and his or her family a sense of relief and release.

But when there are other circumstances and events that take the life of a person prematurely, the pain is so much more profound. In my pastoral years I have had church family friends lose a child to SIDS, and we remember the sadness of Chris Lewis passing as a little boy. Several times I have had to preside over the vehicular deaths of teenagers. And we could all make quite a list of folks from just our own church family who have passed away early due to cancers and a host of other deadly maladies. The palpable pain can almost be cut with a knife.

There are few passages in Scripture that so vividly speak to the emotional side of the soul as does this one today about the raising of a widow’s son. An evenly more particularly emotive text is the account of the raising of Lazarus as recorded in John 11. In both passages, we see that Jesus cares deeply; he is moved also by the evil of death and the separation and sadness it brings.

In John 11, twice in the passage it references that Jesus is deeply moved: once when he sees the weeping sisters and others, and then secondly as he walks into the tomb. I have often said at funerals when referencing this account that it may well be that the shortest verse in the Bible can have the longest meaning in the moment of sadness … John 11:36 – “Jesus wept.”  He knew he was going to momentarily turn their sorrows into joy, yet his heart of compassion moved him deeply to empathize with their pain.

And in our passage today in Luke, we see the same emotion within Jesus. The sight of a widow who is in the process of burying her only son touched him deeply, and the text says his heart went out to her…

Yet death happens … to everyone. God is not in the business of solving that problem here. But He is in the business of solving it for eternity. The raising of this young man (and of Lazarus later) was to demonstrate the power of Christ over death. The news spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country that a great prophet had come among the people and the nation. But Jesus was more than merely a prophet, he is also the great high priest and the king of kings.

News ought to spread about Jesus, and not just then, but now especially. Through the work of Christ, the everlasting life that is offered is so much better than raising a boy or raising Lazarus – both of whom died natural deaths eventually. Jesus has solved the greater death issue of eternal separation from God.

News of that sort had ought to spread! And who should be telling it?  Here is the answer: go to that room in your house filled with plumbing and look into the shiny thing on the wall above the sink.

Luke 7:11 – Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

One of the great joys of my coaching years in the high school was to lead one particular athlete to Christ. He became interested in reading and understanding the Bible. Though I attempted to get him to start with something like the book of John, he insisted that he was going to read it from beginning to end, starting with Genesis. I wasn’t sure he’d stick with it, but he did. He was tenacious about it and would write down lists of questions to ask about what he was reading. He had no religious background or biblical knowledge base to go on.

His questions were great fun to answer. He simply could not believe how crazy it was for the Israelites to have seen all the things that God did for them, yet not believe and rebel AGAIN! As he discovered more and more of these stories unfolding of their lack of faith, he would talk about this with an amazed humor.

Over a period of time, he came to truly understand the gospel message, and with the background of all of the evidences of God’s hand in history, it was a simple matter for him to trust in God in faith. There was such an unblemished purity to his faith and conviction. It reminded me of the faith of the centurion that believed in Jesus Christ, as is in this passage from Luke 7 …

Luke 7:1 – When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

A centurion was a Roman military officer that command a “century” – averaging about 80 men, ranging in size from 60-100 soldiers. Five or six combined centuries of soldiers would make up a “cohort” with the most senior of the centurions in command. And 10 cohorts, or about 5,000 men, would comprise a Roman “legion.”

Centurions were the most called-upon Roman officers to make things happen and get things done. And we see them in a number of stories in the gospels and Acts, and they are surprisingly presented in a very positive light.

Centurions would be men who were very predisposed to the value of truth. They were people who understood authority structures … people who were thoughtful about the bigger picture and not just caught up in the emotions of the moment.

The Centurion here in Luke 7 had become convinced that the monotheistic teachings of Israel contained truth rather than the craziness of the Greek gods. He was quick to see Jesus as the Christ of the Old Testament, recognizing the miracles as authenticating him. Therefore he was well ahead of most Israelites in appropriating this understanding.

His faith was pure, simple, pointed, and uncomplicated. There was no doubting in his mind as to who Jesus was and what he could do. There is a timeless lesson in this mental posture. There should be no hesitation in our conviction that God is able to accomplish great things, simply because of who he is.