Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother. Luke 7:11-15 NLT
This story is short and not too familiar. But Luke is one of my favorite authors, and he tells this story in a plain way that grips my mother’s heart. The woman in the story is a widow with an only child, a son. This young boy, clearly the treasure of her heart, has died. As I imagine her anguish, tears come to my eyes almost every time I read it. The torture of it is almost imaginable. She is lost in pain. If she has heard of Jesus and knows who He is, she doesn’t even notice Him in this situation. All she can think about are the moments she had with Him, maybe the way He threw His head back when He laughed, the way He bragged about her bread, or the sound of His voice when He ran through the door to tell her about what just happened.
Besides the memories of what once was are the aching sobs over what will never be: no watching him fall in love, no grandchildren, no one to love and protect her as she grows old. Blinded by her tears, she just keeps putting one foot in front of her as she moves through the city streets. But Jesus notices her. She doesn’t even know or think to ask Him for help. That doesn’t matter to Him. His heart overflows with compassion. Without even a request, He steps into the situation and interrupts her despair. He speaks right to the dead, ready-to-be-buried boy and calls him back to life. The boy sits up and begins to talk! This is the one part of the story I wish Luke would have told. What did he say? I can’t even imagine it. And then the best words – “And Jesus gave him back to his mother.”
Oh, I can feel her heart! She must have held him so tightly they both could barely breathe! Every moment of her life from that time on, when she sees him, when she hears his voice, when she smells the sweet scent of his perspiration as he works, she will remember. Through her widow’s eyes, wet again but this time with joy and gratitude, she will remember. “He was dead, gone from me forever, but the One named Jesus gave him back.”
- Do you have a dream you are preparing to bury with great anguish and pain? Jesus sees you. He can interrupt your despair and bring your future back with new possibilities and new hope. You are seen. He notices your despair, and He has a plan. Pray in faith and trust that He knows, cares, and gives the best life.