“Young Man, I Say to You, Get up!” (Luke 7:11-17)

“When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” 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!” (Luke 7:13-14)

Jesus went to a town called Nain 25 miles southwest of Capernaum. This city still exists in the name of Nein. It means ‘green pastures’ and ‘lovely’ in Hebrews. As Jesus approached the town gate the dead person was carried out in the funeral procession. It was a seemingly normal part of life because it could be seen anywhere in the earth. But it was not a usual one because the dead man was the only son of his mother and she was a widow.

This is the most sorrowful and devastated scene in our human community. No wonder a large crowd from the town was with her, at best trying to comfort the widow who lost the only son. Our Lord saw the grief-stricken mother and His heart went out to her and said, “Don’t cry.” This is the voice of the Creator who made the heavens and the earth.

Our Lord was not grieved by the death of man at all because He is the life and the resurrection. He was deeply moved and troubled because He saw how much the people were suffering by the power of death. Hearing the news of the death of Lazarus, Jesus went to Bethany where his sisters Martha and Mary lived. There our Lord was deeply moved and wept for the people who were gripped with the fate of death.

“When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked. ‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied. Jesus wept.” (John 11:33-35)

The green pastures and lovely place turned into grey barrenness and dry wilderness where the power of death was forcefully smearing and covering over the lost race. That is why our Lord Jesus was sent, particularly to Nain to demonstrate the power of life and resurrection and to make it truly green pastures and lovely place.

So, when our Lord Jesus said, “Don’t cry,” it meant there was no need to cry in the midst of sorrow and grief. Jesus was saying the woman to trust in God who said to Moses, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”  (Mark 12:26-27)

“Don’t cry.” It’s a command not a suggestion to humanity. Yes, the Lord Jesus commands not to cry because in Him there is no death but life in full.

Then Jesus 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!” Lord Jesus did not call him, “Dead man” but “Young man” as if the man was sleeping. In Christ Jesus it is true that there is no death. It’s like a sleep, says Jesus. “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” (John 11:11)

Hearing the voice of the life and the resurrection, the dead man sat up and began to talk, showing that he was made alive. Jesus gave the man back to his mother. How did the people react at this? People were all filled with awe and praised God, saying “A great prophet has appeared among us. God has come to help his people.” (Luke 7:16)

God has appeared among us in the grief-stricken barrenness and wilderness to give true life. God has come to help the sorrowful people like us with the Lord of life and resurrection. No one dared to ask Jesus to raise the dead man. No one invited Jesus to come to the funeral. But God so loved the world that He sent His begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.