Luke 7:11-17

“Don’t Cry”

Not every father is the same. --- One father may be very affectionate; very comfortable with showing his emotion; a hug, an embrace or an arm around the shoulder all come very naturally to him. Another father, however, may not be as comfortable showing his emotions; awkward, forced and clumsy would all be words that would describe his physical attempts to display affection. Inability to show affection, however, does not mean that a father does not deeply love his children. At just the right time, under just the right circumstances, that father may rise above his own comfort level simply to offer his child the comfort that she needs.

In fact, a movie could probably be made about father “number 2” – the awkward, uncomfortable, clumsy father – and his teenage daughter. Tragedy strikes – a boyfriend humiliates and embarrasses her publicly before breaking up with her; or her best friend is killed in a car accident; or she is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Whatever the tragedy, she is moved to tears. She is alone, in her room, on the floor, arms wrapped tightly around her knees, head and face buried.

Father number 2 lightly taps on the door, steps into her room and immediately his heart goes out to her. Forgetting his own inhibitions and his own emotional reservations, he gets down on the floor, sits next to his daughter and pulls her close. She puts her head on his shoulder and he tightens his embrace. “Don’t cry,” he says softly. “You’re not alone. I may not allows show it but I want you to know that I love you more than words could ever explain. I want you to know that I am here to help.”

“Don’t cry.” Jesus will speak those words this morning. He will tell a widow who had just lost her only son not to cry. He will say 1.) not only does my heart go out to you but 2.) I want you to know that I am here to help. --- Must have been nice. It must have been nice to hear such kind and heartfelt and comforting words. Don’t cry. My heart goes out to you. I’m here to help. Wouldn’t it be nice to hear Jesus say that to us? It is nice – and we know that because that’s exactly what he says to us every day. Let’s take a look at the sermon text for this morning from Luke chapter 7.

Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

 Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”  The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.”  This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

Two worlds collided at the gate of that small town. Jesus and his disciples and the large crowd that had been following him were going into the city and, going out of the city, was a funeral procession that carried the only son of this widow. Time stopped – or at least it appeared to. Both processions suddenly came to a halt. Why? – Because, as Luke records, “When Jesus saw her, his heart went out to her.” Jesus saw this woman and her circumstances and her loss and he was filled with compassion.

Humanly speaking, Jesus did not know this woman but that did not prevent him from caring about her. --- Who is our neighbor? Here Jesus is living out what he would later preach in his Parable about the Good Samaritan. Anyone who needs our help is our neighbor. That help began with an encouragement. “Don’t cry.” This was not a rebuke. Jesus was not angry. He was not reprimanding her. This was Jesus’ way of saying, “Not only does my heart go out to you but I want you to know that I am here to help. I am here to dry those tears.”

Jesus helped by doing what only Jesus could do. He gave this woman back her son. He raised her son from the dead. He spoke to the young man – he spoke to death itself – and he said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” Immediately he sat up in this open-air coffin and he began talking – one can only wonder what he said. Ultimately, that doesn’t matter; what matters is that he could talk; that he was alive to talk; that Jesus had displayed his power over death; that Jesus had come to help his people – and that he had the authority and the ability and the power to help his people.

The people said as much, “A great prophet has appeared among us. God has come to help his people.” Did their eyes of faith see Jesus as the Prophet whom God had promised to send them, from among their own brothers, who would be greater than Moses? Did their eyes of faith see him as the Son of God? – As the Promised Messiah? – As their Savior from sin? What their eyes of faith saw or didn’t see doesn’t change whom they were looking at. Jesus of Nazareth, the one whose heart went out to this woman and who was there to help was all of the above. He is the Son of God, the Promised Messiah and the Savior of the world.

And the same Jesus who brought that funeral procession to a halt – not simply by physically stopping those who were carrying the coffin but by eliminating any need for a burial that day – the same Jesus who comforted this woman in thought (having compassion), in word (don’t cry) and in action (he gave her back her son), is the same Jesus who puts his arm around us in the Gospel and says, “Don’t cry. My heart goes out to you. I am here to help.”

Isn’t that amazing to hear and to think about and to know? As alone as we can feel in this world, as alone as we can be in this world, we are never truly alone. Jesus is there with us. Even balled up in tears on our bedroom floors, Jesus is there with us. In solitude and loneliness, Jesus is there with us. In life and in death, Jesus is there with us. Through depression and illness and surgery, Jesus is there with us. Through marriage problems and financial stress and unfulfilling occupations, Jesus is there with us – and his heart goes out to us. Filled with compassion and love, he reaches out to us and he says, “Don’t cry. I’m here to help.”

How do we know? How can we be sure? – Because his heart went out to us long before we were ever born. His heart went out to us long before he created the world. With nothing good in us, with nothing good about us, seeing our lost condition, knowing our helpless circumstances, moved only by his grace and mercy, his heart went out to us and he chose us to be his very own. His heart went out to us in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned. By reaching out to them, by promising them a Savior, he reached out to us, he promised us a Savior. His heart went out to us in Bethlehem when he came as a tiny baby, a human being, so that he could take our place under law. His heart went out to us in Jerusalem where he willingly and with amazing determination submitted to God’s plan of salvation.