St. Luke 7:11–17
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Son of God became a man—a human. And even though He did not have original sin and He did not commit any actual sin, He still lived a very human life. His life encompassed all our highs and lows, our joys and sorrows, growing and aging. He is the ultimate representative of all human life from the womb to the tomb. So, we also see in His life, that Jesus is present and active at very human events—milestones in life. He attends a wedding at Cana and He attends a funeral at Nain. The Gospels tell us that Jesus raised at least three people from the dead, including Jairus’s daughter from her deathbed, and Lazarus from his sealed tomb, four days after his death. But here at Nain, Jesus is at the funeral service itself, and He interrupts the funeral procession by raising this widow’s son. So, since this episode is unique with Jesus being at a funeral, I think there are at least three things we can learn from this miracle about Christian funerals.
First, we start with what seems obvious: Jesus is there with His crowd, His disciples and others following Him. But we need to realize what it means that Jesus is there. Luke tells us that when the Lord saw the grieving mother and widow, He had compassion on her. But Jesus is not just another mourner or a sympathetic onlooker. The compassion of Jesus is deeper and stronger than earthly compassion. When we say Jesus is there, we mean nothing less than the Lord who became a man and would die for the sins of the world and rise again. His godly compassion was for sinners who cannot save themselves. His compassion was driving Him to the cross where He would suffer death in order to cancel our debt and destroy death forever. The Lord’s compassionate presence means more than just feeling sorry or a gentle pat on the arm. The Lord’s compassion means He will act to save. He will act by dying and rising again. And while He’s on His way to the cross to accomplish our salvation, His compassion also compels Him to display that salvation by His miracles, especially by raising the dead. His godly compassion, for this widow and for the world, gives a foretaste of the resurrection by this young man. Here at Nain we get a picture of what the Lord will do for all of us, a display of what all our funerals are preparing for.
The first thing we learn is that the Lord Jesus is there with His crowd, and so, He is here at our funerals too. Wherever His Word is read, He is present with His compassion. And so, in response to His presence, we confess our faith in Him. This means that the Christian funeral is a church service. Our chief focus, even at a funeral, is the worship of the one true God—the God in our midst who has compassion for us, who died for us and rose again to give us victory and open heaven for us.We hear His Word and call upon His holy name in prayer. The funeral is not merely a time of remembrance and our focus is not on the deceased. Our focus is on our Savior, as it always must be. And so, we confess our faith in our Savior, and we confess the faith of the deceased. We give them a voice one last time, speaking aloud the faith in which they died. More important than what the person did, is what the person believed.
So, the compassionate Lord Jesus is there at the Christian’s funeral. He’s there with His crowd, all the other brothers and sisters of the family of God. We gather as the Church to confess our faith and the faith of the one who died. This also means, that if you can, you come to the funerals of your fellow Christians. It’s not just for their family and friends. Whether you knew them well or not, you are their brother or sister in Christ. You need to be there too.
The second thing we notice from this miracle is that Jesus speaks good words. First, He speaks a good word to the widow: “Stop crying.” He is taking away her tears and He’s going to take away the reason for her tears. It’s not that the poor woman is wrong or sinful to be crying at the funeral of her only son—nothing could be more natural. But when Jesus is at work, hope is born anew, and tears can be wiped away. His powerful, living Word brings relief, comfort, peace, and joy. Jesus’ word does what it says. So when He says the good word, “Stop crying,” then she wants to stop, indeed she does stop, because He is giving her new hope, new joy, and new life.
Then Jesus speaks a good word to the dead son: “Young man, I say to you, arise.” By His Word, by His speaking, Jesus shows that He is the Lord over life and death. As the Holy One, who died the innocent death in payment for sin and then rose victorious from the grave, He and He alone has the authority to awaken the dead and grant them everlasting life. He can wake up the dead more easily than we can wake up someone from sleep. Jesus’ word does what it says. So when He says the good word, “Young man, I say to you, arise,” then immediately the dead man sat up and began to speak. The young man is not a ghost or zombie, but a real man, body and soul together, fully alive once more, reanimated by the living Word.
So, the second thing we can learn is that we want Jesus to speak His good words at Christian funerals. The word “eulogy” literally means “good word.” And you’ve all probably heard many eulogies where the grief-stricken family and friends try to say a lot of good words about their deceased loved one. And you probably know some of these words are true and some not so true, maybe exaggerated, maybe chosen to get a laugh, or maybe chosen to tug at the heartstrings. And you’ve probably seen some eulogies fall apart because the grief is just too hard to bear for the speaker. Decent eulogies can be full of good memories that are worth sharing, but they’re usually more effective in their proper place, say, in the easy, informal setting of the funeral luncheon, not the sacred, reverent setting of God’s House.
As Christians at a funeral, we don’t really need the eulogies from family or friends. What we need is a eulogy from Jesus—good words from our Lord. What we need to hear is not so much what we think of the deceased or what we remember, but we need to hear what the Lord says of them. This is why the pastor preaches a sermon. He might use some specific examples of how the Lord worked in that person’s life, and how they expressed their faith in word and deed. Funeral sermons aren’t pre-packaged, one-size-fits-all. But the chief focus of the funeral sermon is still on what the Lord said and did for that person: that they are baptized, forgiven, and sanctified by their Lord. They were given new life through the Word and Sacraments, and now their souls are at peace in heaven with God. The funeral sermon echoes the good words that our Lord Jesus spoke at Nain. Through the sermon our Lord speaks to us right now: “Stop weeping. There is forgiveness for sin. There is life that triumphs over death. Have hope.” And the sermon points us forward to what the Lord will say and do for the deceased and for us on the Last Day: “I say to you, arise.”
So, this brings us to the third thing we can learn: Jesus raises the dead. We’ve already said this several times, but now we should apply it to our situation. That funeral at Nain was cut short—they never made it to the cemetery. The casket bearers carried an empty casket back into the town. And the widow did not have to return to an empty house. Life returned with the young man and things happily went back to normal.
But Jesus has not promised that our funerals will be canceled. Our bodies and the bodies of our loved ones are laid to rest in the ground. And after the lunch is finished, the leftovers are packed up, and the flowers are collected, grieving widows or widowers, children or parents, they have to go back home and see the empty chair or bed that their loved one had occupied. Life goes on, but not back to normal, because someone is missing.
And yet, Jesus has promised to raise us from the dead and give us everlasting life when He returns. By raising the young man at Nain, Jesus demonstrated His power over the grave. He gave a glimpse of what He had come to do: defeat sin and death, forgive sins, and bestow life. Jesus gave a picture of what all our funerals are pointing towards: the Last Day, when all the dead will be raised, and those who believe will live with Him forever. Here is the ultimate reason we have a Christian funeral: we gather in hope for what the Lord has in store for us. This is confident, certain, sure hope—not wishful thinking. Christian hope means that we know it even though we cannot see it. We wait, we expect, we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
We know Jesus is going to do this for us, not just because He did it for a few people in the Bible. But we know Jesus will raise us because He is risen and we are bound to Him. He came out of His grave and He cannot leave us in ours any more than He could’ve left His body in the tomb. He is our Head, we are members of His body.
So,Shall I fear, or could the Head
Rise and leave His members dead?
No, too closely I am bound
By my hope to Christ forever;
Faith’s strong hand the Rock has found,
Grasped it, and will leave it never;
Even death now cannot part
From its Lord the trusting heart (LSB 741:2–3).
When we confidently say, “Christ is risen!” that is the guarantee that we shall rise as well.
So, in a Christian funeral we gather in hope for the resurrection to come. And especially, we go out to the cemetery to lay a member of Christ’s body into his or her resting place. And when I say “We,” I mean that we, the Church, the Body of Christ should go out to the grave. It’s not just for the blood relatives or earthly friends. Come out to the cemetery and lay down your fellow Christian to rest in peace. Mark their grave, and remember that you also are dust and to dust you shall return. But also tuck them into their bed, commending their body into God’s keeping. This is also why Christians bury their dead, planting their bodies as seeds that will be brought to life again at Jesus’ return. And this is why cremation is not a very Christian practice, because we don’t try to hide death or pretend that death is a good thing. Death is the enemy, but it’s a defeated enemy. And the body that sleeps for a little while in the earth, will be awakened again. God is not done with your body. He has more in store for it.
So also, when you go out to the cemetery (at the funeral and later on), rejoice at death’s defeat. Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Laugh to scorn the gloomy grave
And at death no longer tremble;
He, the Lord, who came to save
Will at last His own assemble.
They will go their Lord to meet,
Treading death beneath their feet (LSB 741:7).
At Christian funerals and at Christian graves, we take a lesson from the happy crowd at Nain. Even though we still wait for the Last Day, we glorify God. We sing and we proclaim the resurrection.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
