“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 you, Arise. 15. And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And He delivered him to his mother.”
The incident began when Jesus was approaching the city of Nain, where He saw a funeral procession. The dead man had been the son of a widow. He was the only son that she had, which meant that she was left alone. Jesus did what only Jesus could do – He raised her son from the dead. Jesus didn’t raise every dead person He saw, but He did raise those He was supposed to raise. This incident reveals some interesting things about Jesus. Jesus knew that the dead man was the only son of the widowed mother. This was a desperate situation because there were no social safety nets like those we have today, e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, welfare or Social Security. When her only son died, the woman was left alone in the world with no one to care for her. It could have been that some of her family might help, but evidently Jesus knew that this was not the case. Isn’t it great to know that Jesus is aware of desperate situations like this? I use “is” because Jesus has not changed. He is still aware when we are in desperate situations, and He will help us in whatever way we need helping. I hope that when you are in a situation where there seems that there is no solution that you will look to Jesus, for He will have an answer for you. It is not usually as dramatic as our text, but He will be there in our desperate situations. Notice that Jesus had compassion for the woman. This is typical of Jesus. When Jesus looked out over the multitude of lost people in Matthew 9:36, it is recorded that: “When He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” Whatever the situation, when Jesus saw people having seemingly insoluble problems, He had compassion on them. He has not changed. He still has compassion for us. Do you think that as Jesus looks out over the world today that He is not moved with compassion? Jesus doesn’t look at the lost multitudes around the world and turn away with an indifferent shrug. He doesn’t look at people who are hurting in many kinds of situations and just shake His head and say “poor dears.” Just as Jesus had compassion for the woman in the text, and just as He had compassion on the people in Matthew 9, He is still filled with compassion. Indeed, whatever you might be going through Jesus has compassion for you. Rejoice! It is interesting that Jesus acted on His compassion, raised the woman’s son from the dead and returned him to her. Jesus acted on His compassion for the lost multitudes in Matthew 9:37-38: “Then He said unto His disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; 38. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send laborers into His harvest.” Do you get the point? Sometimes those of us who are His followers are called upon to act in compassion on His behalf. No one else could have raised the widow’s son from the dead, but that was not true of the lost multitude. Jesus wants us to look at the world with the same compassion that He had while He was on earth and still has today. Jesus does not want us to turn away in disgust, though we see many things that disgust us, but He wants us to be filled with compassion and go lnto the fields which are “ripe unto harvest.” Could it be said of us that we had compassion for the world as Jesus had compassion for the woman in the text? Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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