Friday, July 31, 2020

2020.07.31 Hopewell @Home ▫ Luke 7:11–17

Questions from the Scripture text: How long after healing the centurion’s servant does Luke 7:11 happen? Where does Jesus go? Who goes with Him? Who else? To what does He come near in Luke 7:12? What was happening there? How many sons did the dead man’s mother have? How many husbands did she now have? Who else was with her? What does Luke 7:13 call Jesus? What did He see? What did He feel? What did He say? What does He come to in Luke 7:14? What does He do to it? What do those carrying it do? What does Jesus say? How does Luke 7:15 describe the one who obeys what Jesus commands? What two things does He do? To whom does He present him? What comes upon all (Luke 7:16)? What do they do? What two things do they say? Where else were these things said (Luke 7:17)?
Behold the pity, purity, power, and praise of our Redeemer!

Behold His pity. This is quite different from the previous healing, where a delegation entreated Him to do something. No one here asks Him to do anything. Here, He acts simply out of the abundance of goodness that is in Him. “When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her.” And she was in need of compassion. She had been brought very low, losing both her husband and her only son.

Ordinarily, it is not compassionate to tell the bereaved not to weep. Jesus Himself wept for the bereaved (cf. John 11:33–35).  But our Lord’s “do not weep” was not a superficial “chin up” with nothing more than a pat on the back or a sympathetic embrace to support it. He could support it by removing the cause for weeping. And so will He do with all of His dear ones!

Behold His purity. It shocks the pallbearers, and they stop. Can anyone who is clean touch the unclean (corpses were unclean as were lepers, cf. John 5:13) without being defiled? But the purity of our Lord is such that He cannot be defiled. He can eat and drink with sinners (cf. John 5:29–32). He can touch lepers. He can even touch the dead! If we come by faith, we need not shrink from drawing near Him. He has purity enough for Himself and for purifying us!

Behold His power. His Words are not just to be obeyed, but they themselves give the power to obey. We are deluded when we think that we are able to obey the Lord Jesus. But here there can be no illusion. The young man is dead, and being carried out to be buried. But our Lord and His Words carry within them all power necessary to obey them. So it is with us at the first, when He commands us to spiritual resurrection unto faith in Him. And so it is with us, all along the way, that the same Word by which He instructs us is powerful to enable us to obey Him.

Behold His praise. There can be no doubting that it happened. Many of his disciples were there, and a large additional crowd that followed Him (Luke 7:11), as well as another large crowd from the city (Luke 7:12). And, though we know not whether their hearts were changed, still their verbal response rightly responded to the Lord Jesus. He is the prophet like Moses (Luke 7:16, cf. ). And God had visited His people by Him—in fact, He is God! The report goes everywhere (Luke 7:17), even as at the end every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess Him to be Lord. Shall we not so confess Him now and always? Let us be quick to respond as the angels continually respond!
In what do you most need the Lord’s compassion? For what command do you most need His power? How are you developing the habit of continual praise?
Suggested songs: ARP146 “Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah” or TPH239 “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven”

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