Part Three
Read Luke 7: 11-17
First, I want you to notice what Jesus felt. The verse said, “His heart went out to her.” The word from the original language of the Bible translated here is “splagna.” The word splagna refers to your intestines, and basically it means to have your guts twisted or ripped out. It’s that feeling you get in your stomach when you see the starving child in Africa, or the people who just lost their house to a fire. And it just makes you feel sick inside. That’s splagna. And that’s what Jesus felt when he saw this dead boy, this woman who had just lost her only son.
The second thing I want you to notice is what Jesus did. Sometimes we have an emotional reaction to someone’s pain, but we don’t do anything about it. It could be that we don’t care enough. Or that we can’t, there’s just nothing we can do.
Well, Jesus felt something, and then he does something about it. He cares enough, and He’s able. So what does He do? The verse says He walked up, and He touched the coffin.
Now they didn’t have coffins like we do, with sides and lids. For them, a coffin was just a flat piece of wood … they’d lay the body on it. And most likely Jesus didn’t walk up and touch the wood underneath the body. What I think we’re supposed to understand is that He touched the body. His heart goes out to this woman and, ignoring the religious policies, he touches her son, her dead son. He was like, “You guys don’t understand. Your boundaries would keep me from showing the compassion I must show, and so your boundaries need to be crossed.” Jesus touches her son, and instantly he’s alive again! And Jesus walks the boy over to his mother and hands him to her. But Jesus is not only giving her back her son, he also gives her back her hope, because she had very little just a few moments earlier.
Two things I want you to notice: First, how Jesus felt and second, what Jesus did. And here’s why: If you’ve been hurt, or you are hurting, you need to know how God feels and what God does about your pain.
WATCH THE VIDEO
So what can Jesus do about brokenness and hurt? Exactly what he did for the woman in Nain and exactly what He has started to do in the lives of Donnie and Scott from the video.
He can fix it.
He can bring healing.
He can bring hope.
See Jesus isn’t someone who lived, He’s someone who lives. And healing hurting people isn’t just something that happened, it’s something that happens.
And it’s something that can happen in your life. Whatever’s happened to you, whatever you’re dealing with, however you’re feeling, Jesus can bring healing and hope to your life.
We are in the middle of the story. There is suffering in our story, but it’s only the middle of the story.
Because we have a God who is for us, who is for the hurting
Because Jesus came and hurt right alongside of us, and offers to touch us and bring healing
For now, there’s hurting, but God is for us, and there is coming a day when he will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. He will make everything new.
Simon's bit: That's a difficult one with the current situation we find ourselves in but its the truth. Lamentations 3:33 tells us that God does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone but we live in a messed up world that has strayed far from God’s plan. Suffering was never part of God’s plan but Jesus CAN BRING HEALING AND HOPE so lets pray that He will in this terrible situation.
This text is based on extracts from the book and study guide “God For The Rest Of Us”. If you would like a full study guide please contact me. The book is available in various formats from Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rest-Vince-Antonucci-Kyle-Idleman/dp/1496407164/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1584870057&sr=1-1