PRODIGALS

Luke 7:11-15 – Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd.  And when He came near the gate of the city, behold a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow.  And a large crowd from the city was with her.  When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came and  touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still.  And He said, “Young man I say to you, arise!”  So he who was dead sat up and began to speak.  And He presented him to his mother.

In her book “Prodigals and Those Who Love Them,” Ruth Graham writes, “The New Testament tells of how Jesus was entering the gates of “a town called Nain” when he encountered a large funeral procession for the only son of a widow.  Luke carefully points out that “when the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her,” and he said, “Don’t cry.”   Then Jesus reached out, “touched the coffin,” and stopped the procession.  He spoke to the young man and raised him from the dead.  Then Jesus gave him back to his mother.”   I think it’s significant to note that Jesus spoke to the young man directly.  He didn’t speak to the mother or the crowd, He spoke directly to the young man.  He didn’t tell his mother to do anything to prove her faith, and He didn’t tell the crowd they needed to intervene in any way, through some solidarity of faith.  Jesus simply responded to the grief of a mother’s heart for her child.  She didn’t intervene in prayer, she intervened in tears.  Jesus has but to speak one word to our children’s hearts to bring them out of death and into newness of life.  “Arise!”  This is the desire of Jesus’ heart for every mother whose heart grieves over the spiritual death of a child.  To bring them from death into newness of life and present them back to us alive, a new creation, born again!  He hears every mother’s cry and He sees every mother’s tears and He says to each one of us . . . . .

DON’T CRY

There is a glorious Savior who hears a mother’s cry
and as death is marching forward He is passing by
Into death’s procession He reaches out His hand
Touches death with life and our children are born again!
Just as the grip of death would tighten up its hand
He pries death’s fingers open and gives new life to them
Oh what a glorious Savior!
who dries a mother’s tear-filled eyes
and with compassion in His heart speaks the word
“Arise!”
Oh what a glorious Savior!
who is ever passing by 
to wipe away a mother’s tears and gently say
“Don’t cry”