2023

Luke: 7:11-18

  (11) 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. (12) 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. (13) And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. (14) And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. (15) And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. (16) And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people. (17) And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judæa, and throughout all the region round about. (18) And the disciples of John shewed him of all these things.

 Here we find a very interesting miracle performed by Jesus. In my opinion, it is very random. He did not go looking for a miracle to perform, nor did anyone come to Him looking for a miracle. At least the scripture does not say they were looking for Jesus. He happened to come across I guess what we could say would be a possible funeral. I think what moved Him on this was He saw many people with the widow thinking possibly her son was very important for maybe work and providing fer her being her husband was dead.  Verse 13 says He had compassion for her and tells her to weep not. He reaches out and touches the boy and tells him to rise, and he immediately starts to speak.  We can see by the reaction of the crowd that this was very unexpected. But remember there were all His disciples and many more that were with Him that pretty much expected the outcome for they had already seen Him perform great things. But the crowd around the boy immediately feared and started praising God. Note that they did not call Jesus the Son of God, but a great prophet and God has visited His people. This would tell me that here in the city of Nain, they probably had not heard about Jesus and all the miracles He had performed like other places. But after this miracle, it does say that the rumours spread all through Judaea and the region.

 As I pondered this story it kind of makes me think about Jesus’s care for the world. As stated above, her son could have been her only provider being she was widowed. In verse 12 it did refer to him as a dead man, so probably old enough to work and provide for the household.  Jesus had compassion for her knowing possibly she would now struggle with no provider. I believe God has the same compassion for each and everyone of us. Even when we are not "looking” for Him, He is always showing His compassion for us.

Here are some quick reference scriptures.

Lamentations 3:22   It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, Because his compassions fail not.

1 Samuel 23:21  And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the LORD; for ye have compassion on me.

Psalm 145:8   The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; Slow to anger, and of great mercy.