The Theocrat

THE RAISING
OF
THE YOUNG MAN FROM THE DEAD

The Word of God presents
the Lord, the Coming Messiah,
as being "full of compassion."

The God of love, the God of
justice, the God of mercy, the
God of hope, is also the God
of compassion. The word "com-
passion" has the meaning of
bearing the sorrow and suffer-
ing of others; and expresses
itself in pity, mercy, condo-
lence, and sympathy. It has
been rightly said, "There nev-
er was a heart truly great and
generous that was not also ten-
der and compassionate." Com-
passion was indeed an out-
standing attribute of our bless-
ed Lord. No other understood
so keenly the sufferings of
those in trouble: and no other
was as ready and able to al-
leviate those sufferings. When
He saw the afflicted multi-
tudes, He had compassion up-
on them; when He saw their
need of food, when He beheld
them as sheep without true
shepherds, He had compassion
on them. This Lesson sets forth
Jesus' great spirit of compas-
sion as manifested in the rais-
ing of the widow's son from
the dead, thus turning deep
sorrow into gladness and joy.

I
JESUS' COMPASSION UP-
ON THE WIDOW--Verses
11-13; Psalm 42:1-5, 8-11;
86:11-15; 111:1-4; Mic.
7:18, 19; Mark 2:3; 3:10,
11; Is. 40: 1-8; 63:9; Mat-
thew 9:35, 36; 14:14-16.

The incident of the raising
of the widow's son is found on-
ly in the Gospel of Luke. This
miracle took place the next day
after Jesus had left Caper-
naum, where He had healed
the leper and the centurion's
servant. Jesus perfectly prac-
ticed the motto quite preva-
lent today, "Do a good deed
every day," for He did many
good deeds each day. His en-
tire ministry was one of "go-
ing about doing good." As Je-
sus, with His disciples, ap-
proached the little town of
Nain, He was met by a com-
pany of mourners attending
the funeral of a young man.
It was brought to Jesus' atten-
tion that this young man was
the only son of his mother
and that the mother was
a widow. Jesus realized the
plight of this woman: depriv-
ed of her husband as the bread-
winner, and being obliged to
depend upon her son for sup-
port, she now found this reed
also broken.

The incident is full of mean-
ing not only from a material
standpoint, but also from
a
spiritual standpoint.

II
JESUS' CALL FOR THE
YOUNG MAN TO ARISE
Verse 15; John 5:25-
29; I Cor. 10:13; I Thess.
4: 13-18; I Tim. 3: 16;
I John 3:16-18.

Jesus changed the "vale of
tears" into a fountain of joy.
He appeared on this sad scene
at the right moment. The wi-
dow thought she had been for-
saken by the Almighty, but
God knows how to make ad-
versity work out for good. To
the mother in her distress, the
Lord said, "Weep not." He
touched the bier, indicating
that the procession should
stand still, and then uttered
the thrilling words, "Young
man, I say unto you, Arise!"
An amazing thing took place:
"He that was dead sat up and
began to speak." It is a self-
evident fact that the young
man could not arise from the
dead by his own power; neither
can one "dead in trespasses
and sins
bring himself into
new life. Jesus alone has pow-
er to impart physical and
spiritual life. The Son of God
came into this world to make
possible the release of those
held captive by Satan and to
deliver them from the bond-
age of sin and death. Jesus
could say of Himself, "As the
Father hath life in Himself,
so hath He given to the Son
to have life in Himself." Jesus
spoke of the blessing of "ever-
lasting life" which those hear-

ing His voice would receive
when they passed "from death
unto life." When Christ comes
in the Rapture to receive His
own, then the dead in Christ,
together with the living saints,
will be given immortal, glori-
fied bodies. Jesus proved on
three occasions that He had
authority to raise the dead: the
first instance was that of
Jairus' daughter; the second,
that of the young man carried
to his burial from the city of
Nain: and the third, that of
Lazarus, who had been in the
tomb four days. For that young
man, life took on a holier and
greater meaning than before
because he had come in con-
tact with Jesus. When ever-
lasting life is imparted through
the new birth, then "old
things" pass away and
"all
things become new."

III JESUS GLORIFIED AS
THE GREAT DELIVERER
Verses 16-17; II Sam.
22:1-7; John 1:12-14; 3:
16, 17: 17:4, 5; Acts 4:
12; II Cor. 1:9, 10; 5:17;
Heb. 2:14, 15; 7:25-27.

When Jesus had brought the
young man back to life and re-
stored him to his mother, great
fear came upon all present and
"they glorified God, saying
that a great Prophet is risen
up among us, and that God
hath visited His people." The
story of this miracle quickly
spread abroad, not only
through all Galilee, but also
"throughout all Judea." Jesus
proved Himself, indeed, the
Great Deliverer, the mighty
Savior and Healer, sent of God
to bring deliverance to those
held captive by Satan's shack-
les. Jesus alone can "save to
the uttermost" those who come
to God by Him.

CAN YOU SAY THAT
SINCE YOU HAVE RECEIV-
ED CHRIST INTO YOUR
HEART, LIFE HAS TAKEN
ON A NEW MEANING AND
A HIGHER PURPOSE?

These weekly Bible lessons, punch-
ed for loose leaf folder, may be ob-
tained by mail for $1.00 a year.