Luke 7:11-17 – The Love of God

A young man, the only son of a widow, is dead. Why? Why does God allow tragedies like this to happen? Why do decent people often suffer terrible things? It’s not an easy answer, but a simple one. Sin. The presence of pain, death, suffering, and grief in this world is directly linked to the presence of sin. Adam and Eve’s disobedience ruins the perfect world God has made, and we all have to live in that ruined world. Not only do we suffer for our own sinful actions, not only do we suffer for the sinful actions of others, we suffer because sin came into the world and with sin, pain. If we want to see the reality of a sinful world, we’d do well to turn off the television and go for a walk around our town. Sin is not glamourous, it is not exciting, and it is not fun; it is sad, it is devastating, and it is miserable.

Jesus sees this sad procession out of the city. Verse 13 says, “When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her…” No one has asked him for help. Our Lord Jesus Christ sees this woman, loves her, and saves her from grief, restoring her son from death to life.

This is what Christ has done for us. We were dead in our sins, without hope, unable to even ask God for help, and He looked on us, loved us, and brought us from death to life. The consequences of sin are great, but the love of God is greater.

All around us men and women, boys and girls, are dead in sins going to a lost eternity. They desperately need Christ to give them what they can’t even ask for. We should be in prayer, night and day, that God would look on these people, love them, and save them.

Questions
1. Why is there suffering in the world?
2. Why did Christ heal this young man?
3. How can we help those dead in their sins?

Prayer Points
1. Pray for the salvation of your family, friends, and neighbours.
2. Use prayer points from your congregation.
3. Pray for family matters.