The Power of Jesus’ Word [5-11-25]

May 11, 2025

Luke 7:11-17

“The Power of Jesus’ Word”

We ended last Sunday with a note on God’s sovereignty. There is an underneathness point to Luke 7:11-17. That’s why we’re spending a second week on it.

First, the passage:

Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Why does Jesus go to Nain? To perform a miracle. It is not an occurrence of happenstance. Jesus goes to Nain for a specific purpose. Why Nain and not some other place? There have to be all kinds of other people with all kinds of tragic, horrible, painful issues that could use Jesus’ healing touch. There also have to be other dead people in other places whose funerals were going on at the same time as the one in Nain whose families would have been overjoyed to see them raised to new life. Are you with me on that? Why here…why now? Why not someone else, somewhere else?

Nain is where God determined, according to His sovereign will, for Jesus to be. As Luke has already made clear, God and Jesus are One. They are of one mind. They are of one purpose. So Nain is where Jesus must be.

What, then, do we mean by God’s sovereignty?

Here’s God’s sovereignty, in simple terms:

God's sovereignty, in simple terms, means God is the ultimate ruler and is in complete control of everything. He is the source of all power, authority, and existence. Some say this doesn't mean He's dictating every single action, but rather that He has ultimate authority and purpose over all things, including history, nature, and human affairs.

Let’s now add the complicated parts.

First, nothing can stop God. Nothing can stop God’s purposes. As Job 42:2 says, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” That just might be the best definition of God’s sovereignty in the Bible. No one can thwart God’s determining will. And no one can – or should – second guess God.

Here's another way to put. This time, from Isaiah 46:8-10:

“Remember this and stand firm,

    recall it to mind, you transgressors,     remember the former things of old;for I am God, and there is no other;    I am God, and there is none like me,declaring the end from the beginning    and from ancient times things not yet done,saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,    and I will accomplish all my purpose.’”

In other words, there’s nothing that God purposes that He does not accomplish. Nothing can stop our God. 

The second big truth is that God’s sovereignty is governed by His wisdom. As Paul says in Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” God never does anything whimsically. God does nothing in a meaningless or random way. Just because we don’t understand something doesn’t mean it is without God’s infinitely wise purpose. That is huge. And once you understand it, you will live joyfully in the midst of any triumph, trial, or tragedy.

Third, God’s sovereignty is governed by His justice and mercy. As Paul says 

in Romans 9:14, “What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!” God never wrongs anyone. Never. But God’s justice is not the highest aim of His wisdom. That place is reserved for His mercy. We glorify God for His mercy and grace toward underserving sinners. That’s us. As we’ve seen in Luke, God’s sovereign plan is to save sinners through the death of His Son. As Paul says in Romans 15:9, “And in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.”

Finally, when the conversation turns to God’s sovereign will, many will talk about His permissive will and determining will. The bottom line is that from before the foundation of the world, God has sovereignly ordained all that happens in our world. Either through His determining or permissive will, nothing happens outside of God’s knowledge. God is in control of all things.

Here’s the final affirmation from Paul about where our hearts and minds need to be concerning God’s sovereignty. Turn to Romans 8:26-39…

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died - more than that, who was raised - who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Now, back to Nain. Notice Jesus doesn’t appeal to God or perform any action. He raises the dead man by the power of his own authoritative word. That’s in line with Luke’s proclamation that Jesus is Lord. When Jesus goes to Nain, Luke is telling us that God is visiting His people. You want to talk about God’s determinative will? It’s on full display in Nain. 

Here’s something you might want to write down:

JESUS CHRIST HAS AUTHORITY OVER DEATH.

We have before us the full display of God’s compassion. In Jesus Christ, He is the God of all comfort. How wonderful that the Creator of the universe cares about this family…cares about this mom…cares about this son. He is 

the God of all comfort, in ways we’ll never fully understand.

I close with a letter seeking clarity and then a clear statement of faith.

First, the letter.

“My mother died a few months after giving birth to me. Whenever I asked how she died the answer was that she passed away in her sleep and no one knew why. I just learned a few years ago that she had cancer when she was pregnant with me. She chose not to have chemotherapy to protect me. Carrying me through the birth severely weakened her and led to her death a few months later. I don’t think I’ll be able to ever forgive myself because from what everyone has told me, she was a wonderful woman.”

Here's the response.

“As a mom, I can tell you that your mom never regretted the decision she made. Not for a second. You are made of everything that was best about her. Cancer may have ended her life, but getting the chance to create yours was her shining moment. She faced the end with nothing but peace, knowing that you would live on where she couldn’t. Sweetheart, you have nothing to forgive yourself for. You did not take her from this world. You are how she remains in it.”

I share that not because it is from a Christian perspective. I share it because it is life affirming…because it celebrates life…and because it shows how good things come from difficult choices. God’s sovereign purpose is worked out in the lives of people who don’t even recognize it.

The clear statement of faith comes from Malcolm Muggeridge. Muggeridge was born in 1903. He died in 1990. He was a British journalist and satirist. As a young man, Muggeridge was attracted to communism. Living in the Soviet Union in the 1930s cured him of that. Later in life, he became a Christian.

This affirmation from Muggeridge fits Luke 7:

For myself, as I approach my end, I find Jesus’ outrageous claim ever more captivating and meaningful. Quite often, waking up in the night as I do, and feeling myself to be half out of my body, that it is a mere chance whether I go back into it to live through another day, or fully disengage and make off; hovering between life and death…Jesus’ words ring triumphantly through the universe…yet in the limbo between living and dying, as the night clocks tick remorselessly on, and the black sky implacably shows not one single streak or scratch of gray, I hear those words: “I am the resurrection and the life,” and feel myself to be carried along on a great tide of joy and peace.

And together, the people of God said:

SOLI DEO GLORIA…

To the Glory of God Alone