LUKE 7:11-16 – Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 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. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”
THEME OF THE DAY. GOD HAS VISITED HIS PEOPLE. Enter into the scene of today’s scripture. The funeral procession was long. And the weeping was loud. Perhaps it was a well-known family as “considerable” is the description of the crowd. As the sorrow-filled mother followed the body of her son, she paused and locked eyes with One in the crowd. And it wasn’t just someone, but the One. The scripture reads, “And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’” I am sure confusion flooded the grieving mother’s mind but before she could clear her head at what she just heard, Jesus speaks the Word and her son is brought back to life – “Young man, I say to you arise.” From loud wailing of sorrow, now comes great fear and loud celebration. And it wasn’t a few impacted by what just happened. Again, the scripture reads, “Fear seized them all”. This led to the only proper public cry, “A great prophet has arisen among us. God has visited his people”.
God has visited His people. Think about this; God has visited His people. Now don’t reduce our thinking to Christmas when God first came to His people in the birth of Christ. Go deeper. Real deeper and think of the ramifications in our lives right now, today, and throughout each day that unfolds in the five words, “God has visited His people.”
First, God has taken the initiative to make Himself known and that through His Son, the Lord Jesus. The writer of Hebrews tells us, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Friends, the greatest experience we will ever have is knowing God and He makes this possible by taking the initiative to visit and then permanently dwell within us. Is this staggering truth shaping our lives? Is knowing God the chief pursuit in our lives? God visited His people that we may know Him. Don’t miss or ignore this truth. It defines Biblical Christianity.
Another ramification of God visiting His people is that truth has come into our world. The question of the ages was asked of Jesus by Pontius Pilate, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). In the 21st century, and particularly as we watch the chaos and death of our nation, that question may be asked today as well. But even a more important question is to be asked for the times in which we live, “Where is truth?” We live in a deep sea of relativism and a miry bog of secularism where truth is non-existent until we remember . . . “God has visited His people”; truth has come, absolute, soul-freeing, sin-forgiving, and joy-produced truth exploded on the scene when Jesus came. Beloved, the search is over, the longing is fulfilled, God has visited us and in His visitation is the revelation of the truth as it is in Jesus. Rest there. It will be comfort in our sorrows and strength for our journey through this life of sin and lies.
Yes, God has visited His people. Let this truth become a daily reality in all areas of our lives.
PRAYER: “Father, I so praise You for revealing Yourself to me through Your Son.”
QUOTE: “Think about Christmas – every day – for He who came at Christmas is with us every day.”