Have you ever read the gospel accounts of what happened when Jesus went to a funeral? We read of what happened in Luke 7, "And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother." Jesus told the mother of this man, "Weep not." Now I have been to many funerals, and if someone came into one and told the mother of the deceased person to stop crying we might think that was a very hard-hearted person! Now when Jesus said this, it wasn't because He had anything against a person crying when sad, but He wanted his mother to pay attention to what He was about to do. Jesus then went to those carrying the body of the deceased and they stopped walking. Again this was so everyone there could see plainly what Jesus was going to do. Then Jesus simply said to the deceased young man, "Arise" Jesus stopped a funeral, told the mother to quit crying and told the deceased person to get up! Then, when the deceased young man obeyed Jesus by setting up and speaking, Jesus took him to his mother. What a way to end a funeral! Jesus made this funeral useless because He brought back to life the dead young man. Can you imagine how happy that mother was to fix supper that night for her boy? He had been dead, she knew he was dead, her neighbors all knew he was dead. In fact, they were in the act of taking his dead body out of the town to the cemetery when Jesus came along and changed this sad occasion into a joyous occasion.
There was another time in which Jesus was late for His friend's funeral, and in fact, the man had been buffed in the tomb for four days before Jesus got there. This man's sisters and friends all thought if only Jesus would have gotten there in time, then perhaps the funeral would not have bad to taken place. When Jesus came He asked where they had laid the body and when He saw one of this man's sisters weeping and the friends around her all crying as Well, He wept as well. Then Jesus commanded that the stone that covered the entrance to the tomb be rolled away, but one of the sisters said, "Lord by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days." Yet, what Jesus commanded was done and to everyone's astonishment who was there Jesus called out, "Lazarus, come forth." Lazarus, which means "whom the Lord helps," came forth from the grave alive again even after four days. Once more Jesus turned a sad occasion into a joyful one! Are you ready to meet the Resurrection and the Life?