Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Friday
September 10, 2020
Pastor Rick Kabrick
The Gospel of Luke. Part 4. CH 7-8. Pastor Rick Kabrick
Now remember in the timeline of the Ministry of Jesus, this is before HE would take HIS disciples to Caesarea Philippi and ask them: Who do people say that I am? They will reply some say you are Elijah.
Nearly 800 years before the LORD did this miracle, the Prophet Elijah also raised a boy from the dead.
Remember Elijah was regarded as THE Prophet of Israel, he was very popular among the Jews of Jesus day, as well as today.
The whole land was apostate. Of all the people in the Northern Kingdom only a small percentage remained who had not bowed to Baal and the false gods. So it was as Elijah gets direction from the LORD to move out.
Being comfortable can easily become lazy, and while there is a time to relax and be comfortable there is no time when we are to be lazy.
GOD sometimes isolates people for a time, perhaps putting them in humbling circumstances, to teach them faith and patience and to prepare them for a mission in HIS service.
We must be where the LORD wants us to be to fully reap the blessings HE has in store for us.
The food being brought by the ravens is no more miraculous than the withholding of the dew and the rain. When Elijah, or anyone else, truly puts the LORD first and is totally obedient to HIM, GOD will provide their necessities, and sometimes in spectacular, miraculous ways.
If this woman was a woman of faith, her faith was gone. She had basically run out of faith and was resolved to die. However, the GOD was about to show her HIS power.
Remember Elijah was a Prophet of the LORD and he was speaking for the LORD here. And whether or not she believed in the GOD of Israel she did what Elijah commanded.
Elijah learned the lesson that GOD will provide back at the brook beside the Jordan River. The woman would learn it as well. If she was a Jew, she was living in a pagan land. She needed some encouragement and she would get it in a miracle.
Well both seemed to doubt the plan of GOD, maybe she was a believer maybe not, but she would be for sure next.
Jesus 800 years later would raise another widows son. And the city of Nain was in the same place as this ancient city. And when the LORD Jesus Christ did it HE did it to give HIS Disciples a shot of faith. They too would have a mission that would require faith. And the Messiah was constantly teaching them.
First impressions don’t always give us the true picture of what GOD has instore in HS plan.
Our Perception equals our reality but not necessarily the truth.
The same is true for some of you. Your in a place of comfort, that’s fine when we are there we are to rest. As Paul said we learn to be content, we rest in the LORD.
But when the LORD says move, you gotta move, and sometimes after the initial move, the move doesn’t look like what you thought it would. But trust in HIM.
That’s where the Disciples were at when the LORD brought them to the town of Nain, where 800 years before Elijah had raised a child from the dead, or resuscitated him.
And so the LORD gave them a shot of faith. The LORD will do the to us, be aware of it, look for it, you’ll see it in HIS timing.
She was present at the Cross and burial. She was there with other women who had prepared spices and burial ointments to anoint Jesus’ body when they discovered the empty tomb.
Many Scholars believe Joanna may have been a key source of much of the detailed information Luke included in his writings about the life of Jesus.
And Joanna, no doubt, stepped down from her aristocratic social position when she chose to follow Jesus. What a privilege she had, she was one of the first people to share the good news of Christ’s Resurrection.
This was a parable that the LORD’s audience could easily understand. In fact, HE was at the sea of Galilee and those who were listening could probably actually see a sower doing this in a field nearby.
This may seem like a startling statement but Jesus indicated that HIS closest family is made up of those who hear and obey GOD’s word.
The LORD uses the same word for stop or shut up as HE does when HE silences the demons. The word means “shut up”. Notice the Disciples are beginning to realize HE controls the natural world just like HE controls the Spiritual world.
These demons did not want to become inactive. And for whatever reason, the LORD accepted their proposal.
Notice that the demons can’t even afflict pigs without the permission of GOD.
Draw from that what you will.
Here we have a daughter around 12 years old and as we will see next, a woman who was suffering for 12 years. 12 the number of authority.
This woman whose identity is not known knew the Word of GOD, she knew MAL 4:2, “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.
Jesus was often mocked and ridiculed. Men ridiculed HIS origin.
Men ridiculed HIS actions.
Men ridiculed HIS claims to be Messiah. And of course at the Cross HE was mocked.
It is interesting that there is an opposite here. Jairus had twelve years of happiness with his daughter about to be shut off, or at least it seemed that way.
The woman had twelve years of agony that seemed hopeless to heal that was about to be ended.
– Jairus was an important man, the ruler of the synagogue. The woman, well we don’t even know her name.
– Jairus was probably wealthy, The woman was poor because she spent all her money on doctors.
– Jairus came publicly. The woman came secretly.
– Jairus thought Jesus had to do a lot to heal his daughter. The woman thought all she needed was to touch Jesus’ garment.
– Jesus responded to the woman immediately. Jesus responded to Jairus after a delay.
– Jairus’ daughter was healed secretly. The woman was healed publicly.