Children’s Sermon

Luke 7:11-17

Jesus Is Special!

By Lois Dr. Carol J Miller

Did you ever learn to do something, like whistle or turn somersaults, and you wanted to show everybody what you could do? [Accept all answers and let the children tell––very briefly––what they had learned to do]. Everybody, kids and grown-ups alike, likes to show friends what they can do. Sometimes a person will be called a “show off” because he does it too much!

In today’s scripture, Jesus does something that no one else had ever done. Jesus was not showing off. He wasn’t doing it to show his friends what he could do. Jesus made a dead person be alive and happy again. Now that’s something to pay attention to!

The man who had died was young. We don’t know why he died. But Jesus knew that he was his mother’s only son and that the mother was a widow––that means her husband had died some time earlier. She was all alone.

When Jesus saw the funeral group coming, he saw the sadness. He knew that this mother would soon probably become a beggar––because in those days, a woman needed a husband or a grown-up son to take care of her. Being all alone, this woman might end up having to beg for coins.

But Jesus raised this young man from the dead. He became alive again. He could work again. His mother wouldn’t have to beg for coins.

Why do you think Jesus raised this young man? Was he showing off? Did he just want to show people what he could do? I don’t think so.

What do you think Jesus felt when he saw these sad people? [Accept all answers]. Luke’s gospel says, “[Jesus] had compassion on her”. Does anyone know what compassion means? [Respect all answers]. Compassion means that Jesus could feel how sad everyone was about the young man and the poor widow. Jesus’ heart wanted to help. And he did.

How could Jesus make someone alive? What Christians believe is that God gave God’s own power to Jesus. When Jesus used God’s power, people could see what God was like and what God wants for people. If you want to know how God feels about death, Jesus shows us that God wants life for us. Jesus shows us God’s compassion. It did not matter if people were good or bad; Jesus showed God’s love to everyone.

Now in this life, we do not get back people who have died. Jesus raised the widow’s son as a special sign––a way of showing us that one day God’s love will raise us all! For now we know that God has compassion for us; God cares for us. One day God will destroy death. Jesus shows us the future God has for us; and that future is life!

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible