Third Sunday after Pentecost
Jesus Halts a Funeral and Raises a Dead Man
These are the readings for the Third Sunday after Pentecost.
God’s Word for This Week
The Son of God shows his great compassion and power in the face of death. On the Last Day, he will raise us all and give to all who trust in him eternal life.
First Lesson – 1 Kings 17:17-24
Who did the widow think had caused her son’s death? (See 17:18.)
In bitter grief the widow blamed Elijah for causing her son’s death.
Who did Elijah know had caused the boy’s death?
Elijah knew the truth—the Lord had caused the son’s death. Note this well. From God’s perspective, no one ever dies accidentally. The Lord sets the day of our death.
What two things did the widow learn? (See 17:24.)
The widow learned a) Elijah truly was a man of God, and b) the word of the Lord from his mouth was all true. When Jesus raises the dead, we learn that he is God’s Son and cannot lie to us.
Traditional Second Lesson – Galatians 1:11-24
What is Paul’s main point as he explains his itinerary after God brought him to faith in Jesus? (See 11:12.)
Paul’s main point is that he is not making up anything he is teaching. He did not plot with anyone to make things up or learn Christianity from other authorities. No! Jesus revealed the truths of the gospel to him directly.
Paul had vehemently persecuted believers. Then he became a believer. What conviction did this leave him with, even years later? (See 11:15.)
Paul was left with the conviction that God called him by grace alone.
Supplemental Second Lesson – Philippians 1:18b-26
Paul cherished the Philippians’ prayers for him. Did Paul expect deliverance from his imprisonment in Rome?
Paul was imprisoned in Rome and hoped to get out (see 1:27), but the kind of deliverance Paul joyfully anticipated most of all was deliverance from this sinful world—deliverance through death to life.
How did Paul summarize the way he and all Christians think of life and death? (See 1:18.)
Paul said, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (What a wonder—dying is not losing but gaining. Specifically, living now is Christ. Dying? More Christ! We will get to see him face to face.)
Gospel – Luke 7:11-17
What made the funeral that Jesus and his disciples happened upon especially sad? (See 17:12.)
The funeral was especially sad because the young man who died was the only son of his mother, a widow. She had no one to take care of her anymore. It’s no wonder a large crowd from the town was following the body.
What did Jesus say after he touched the funeral bier? (Picture probably a stretcher of some kind rather than an elaborate American coffin.)
Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, get up.”
What main things did Jesus show by these words for us to trust in?
By these words, Jesus showed a) his compassion, b) his own personal power—he doesn’t need to call on someone else for power, and c) his power to raise all the dead on the Last Day.
