What Kind Of Son Is He?

What Kind Of Son Is He?

¹¹ Afterward he was on his way to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd were traveling with him. ¹² Just as he neared the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the town was also with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said, “Don’t weep.” ¹⁴ Then he came up and touched the open coffin, and the pallbearers stopped. And he said, “Young man, I tell you, get up!”

¹⁵ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Then fear came over everyone, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people.” ¹⁷ This report about him went throughout Judea and all the vicinity.

We have to spend some time thinking about things…

…when we are asked, “And who do you say that I am?”

I know Jesus is not asking His disciples this in our text for today, but…

He is here actually showing who He is in what He says and what He does.

Many will and have said who they think Jesus is. Many will ask you who He is.

There are many versions and ideas of who Jesus was, and is. But we always need to go to what He says and does for the right one.

Let’s have a look at our text to better answer those who ask.

We are going to start by stating what kind of Son He is, as this is a very important part of God’s own nature.

Now where I grew up out east, the first-born son was always supposed to be the doctor or lawyer. Same as in Luther’s day. Luther was supposed to be a lawyer, but he disappointed his father—and we should be thankful.

It was the last-born son that was supposed to be the churchman—the priest, the monk, pastor or minister.

But not in Jewish society—not according to the Bible. The first-born was to be dedicated to the Lord their God. Like Samuel was…

And that was Jesus. A Rabbi. The Teacher. The one who was knowledgeable in the Bible, God’s Law and the traditions of the elders.

He was, of course… and…

Here He was, preaching and teaching as one with authority.

One who could say YES, and NO, and not both yeah and nay at the same time …as did the other teachers… pastors… priests… waffling back and forth in only their opinions.

Here He was coming in the Name of the Lord with signs and wonders…

Forgiving sins!

… and cleansing them of its effects.

And demons had to obey Him! Finally! Finally, God has answered their prayers…

So, a huge crowd was following… like a tsunami wave moving with Jesus at its crest.

And then…from the other direction came another crowd. Mourners.

Supporters of this widow from Nain.

Now the Bible does not tell us why there was this crowd. Maybe she was a prominent lady from an important family. Maybe she was well liked. Maybe she was highly pitied because not only had she lost her husband, but now her only son—the heir and… the one who should have been there to carry on the family name.

So sad…and desperate—and in some ways…this was the case from both directions–

This widow’s situation is obviously sad…but so too the other…followers of Jesus who knew so little…hoped for so much, but not for the right things…

These crowds of people who would leave them both eventually…

But here they all were…these two crowds that were about to collide.

Jesus and the widow who was with her dead son on the stretcher…both heading for burial.

Behold, your son…behold your mother…

…those Words should come to mind, although not quite yet uttered by Jesus… to Mary and John.

But… now… as a Rabbi, what was expected of Him… was for Jesus to turn aside and stay away. The son of this woman from Nain was dead and therefore unclean.

By coming into contact with him, Jesus would also become unclean.

Remember the Levite and the Priest crossing to the other side of the street?  …so as to avoid the man lying in the gutter… and who they thought could have been dead… on that road to Jericho?

Expected behavior. Yeah. Mustn’t touch a dead body. Really?

That was the answer from the teachers of the Law and the Scribes and Pharisees. Not God. Not what God meant…

So, what kind of Son, was Jesus?

First, He was in whom His Father was well pleased. Not so much Joseph, although probably him too…

…but what mattered more was God the Father.

And as for His mother Mary? This text demonstrates what kind of Son He was—listen to the Gospel account again:  ¹³ When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said, “Don’t weep.” ¹⁴ Then he came up and touched the open coffin, and the pallbearers stopped. And he said, “Young man, I tell you, get up!” ¹⁵ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

This WAS God the Son, who gave Isaac to Sarah, and through Elisha, that other widow’s son back to her. And Hannah got Samuel after being barren for so long… and then five more children after Samuel.

And what about Jairus’ daughter? Yes, she too was given back to her mother and father.

The Son of God, the Word of God in Flesh says through the writer to the Hebrews, that because of what Jesus has done, “Women received back their dead by resurrection.”

Mothers receive back…their children…by and because of the resurrection.

Because He is the resurrection and the Life.

But…by rights, yes, Jesus should not have touched that dead man. He would become unclean according to God’s Law.

Jesus’ response is: “Yes…and your point is?”

That is why He came. That was what He was doing there. That collision was no accident.

He came to take all that…our corruption… from our sin and its result… death …and give us His life.

He came to absorb this into His clean body.

He was there to exchange His cleanness for our filthiness–that stench of death…

…that most unnatural of things…

…the rot of His good creation…

…the decay of what He built…

…what He wove together in the hidden parts of this boy’s mother….

And give him life again…

…so as to give him back to his mother.

And Jesus would take that death, along will all the others…with the sins that caused it…with Him…

To and for His own death and burial.

That was where Jesus was headed when He “ran into” this crowd.

That widow was going to bury her son, but instead they collided with life itself… Himself…

… and that changed their direction.

Jesus was alive and was expected by the crowd to keep going…

He had a stop to make first.

Not just here tough… to return this boy back to His mother, but to the cross.

This so that He could give many more sons… and daughters… back to their mothers…and fathers…

So that He could give them back to His Father in Heaven.

Then… after it is finished… He would keep going.

Up and out to fill the universe, the first born of many brethren to come…up and out just like He did on Easter morning.

Yes, returning Mary’s Son back to her… and this time… it would permanently….

Because HE is the resurrection and the life.

That is what kind of Son Jesus is. That is what kind of Big Brother Jesus is to us. That is WHO JESUS IS…

And so, when people ask, tell them this story. Not just about what happened as these crowds intersected, but what happened after…

When He gave His Mother back her Son… on that early Sunday morning…

…but not just to her, but back to all of us…

CHRIST IS RISEN!

Amen.

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