Miraculous ‘YOU’-Turns
Encountering Jesus leads to miraculous ‘You’-Turns
Luke establishes Jesus’ 1.Credibility 2.Continuity 3.Identity
Credibility “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” Luke 4:18-19
Credibility “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:21
Credibility Credibility is based on our actions not merely our words
Continuity Jesus is in the line of the great prophets of old like Elijah and Elisha
Continuity Jesus heals the Centurion’s Servant (a foreign military man) (7:1-10) Elisha heals Naaman (a foreign military man) (2 Kings 5:1-19) Jesus raises the son of the widow of Nain (7:11-17) Elijah raises the son of the widow of Zerephath (1 Kings 17:17-24)
The Widow from Nain – Luke 7: Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him.
Where is Nain?
The Widow from Nain – Luke 7: 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.
The Widow from Nain – Luke 7: And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”
The Widow from Nain – Luke 7:11-17 Seeing -> Compassion -> Action
The Widow from Nain – Luke 7:11-17 Compassion = splanchnizomai (Lit: to have ones bowels moved)
The Widow from Nain – Luke 7: 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.
The Widow from Nain – Luke 7: Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
Identity Jesus is the one whom God has sent He is the one who enables miraculous ‘you’-turns He is the one who is to be called ‘Lord’
Three Questions Do you need Jesus to lead you into a ‘you’-turn today? Are you seeing people like Jesus did? What actions could you take that would lead people to acknowledge that God has visited them?