Luke 7:11-17. The Lord Saw Her!
Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son
11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” 14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
Reflection:
Nain was a small town south of Capernaum, on the slope of Mount Hermon, called today "Little Hermon". When he approached the town gate, he met a widow, who had lost her only son. This put her in a really bad situation, as she had no one to provide for her, and unless a relative helped out she might be relegated to begging in the streets. What is significant about this story is that Jesus sees the woman, and in compassion, reaches out to her. In most cases people come to Jesus for healing, and he rewards their faith. In this case independent of anything Jesus sees this woman's plight and it says, "his heart went out to her".
After he told the boy to get up, he gave him back to his mother. Jesus raises a dead man all out of compassion for the woman, who had no other hope except for Jesus. Note too when the others see this great miracle, they exclaim, "A great prophet has appeared among us." In the Old Testament, prophets like Elijah and Elisha and also raised people from the dead, and this was their only frame of reference. Of course Jesus was a prophet, as prophets speak for God and show signs of God's power. But as they will discover he was much more than a prophet.
In the end, what they are most excited about was that, "God had come to help His people". Jesus showed compassion for the widow, showing how much He cared for her. So there are two applications for our story today. One just as Jesus reached out to the widow as her last hope, Jesus has compassion on us who are dead in ours sins. The only hope we had is that Jesus would have mercy on us and raise us up from being dead in our sins. Just as the mother had great joy that her son, was raised from the dead, we too have great joy from the salvation Jesus purchased for us on the cross.
Finally, Jesus gives us an example to live by. When we see people in need do we just pass on by? There are people who live among us, who have no hope and feel like God has forgotten them. We could be just the person God has sent to them to show them that God has not abandoned them. So as we begin the season of Advent today, the message is Immanuel, God with us. The season of Advent is a season of expectant hope. We see our hope come in the light of Christ, where God shows that His "heart goes out to us", just like the widow of Nain.
11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” 14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
Reflection:
Nain was a small town south of Capernaum, on the slope of Mount Hermon, called today "Little Hermon". When he approached the town gate, he met a widow, who had lost her only son. This put her in a really bad situation, as she had no one to provide for her, and unless a relative helped out she might be relegated to begging in the streets. What is significant about this story is that Jesus sees the woman, and in compassion, reaches out to her. In most cases people come to Jesus for healing, and he rewards their faith. In this case independent of anything Jesus sees this woman's plight and it says, "his heart went out to her".
After he told the boy to get up, he gave him back to his mother. Jesus raises a dead man all out of compassion for the woman, who had no other hope except for Jesus. Note too when the others see this great miracle, they exclaim, "A great prophet has appeared among us." In the Old Testament, prophets like Elijah and Elisha and also raised people from the dead, and this was their only frame of reference. Of course Jesus was a prophet, as prophets speak for God and show signs of God's power. But as they will discover he was much more than a prophet.
In the end, what they are most excited about was that, "God had come to help His people". Jesus showed compassion for the widow, showing how much He cared for her. So there are two applications for our story today. One just as Jesus reached out to the widow as her last hope, Jesus has compassion on us who are dead in ours sins. The only hope we had is that Jesus would have mercy on us and raise us up from being dead in our sins. Just as the mother had great joy that her son, was raised from the dead, we too have great joy from the salvation Jesus purchased for us on the cross.
Finally, Jesus gives us an example to live by. When we see people in need do we just pass on by? There are people who live among us, who have no hope and feel like God has forgotten them. We could be just the person God has sent to them to show them that God has not abandoned them. So as we begin the season of Advent today, the message is Immanuel, God with us. The season of Advent is a season of expectant hope. We see our hope come in the light of Christ, where God shows that His "heart goes out to us", just like the widow of Nain.
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