![]() ![]() In John 11:43-44 he commanded Lazarus of Bethany and the dead man returned to life instantly. In Luke 8:54-55 he commanded Jairus’ dead daughter and she lived. Jesus, however, ordered the widow’s dead son to rise up and he immediately came to life. They didn’t have power and authority over the power of death. But Elijah and Elisha didn’t command the dead to come to life. In 2 Kings 4:18-37, Elisha raised a Shunammite woman’s son from the dead. Jesus’ act of raising the widow’s son bears a close resemblance to Elijah’s act of raising the son of a widow in 1 Kings 17:17-24. It tells us not to be afraid because he is with us (Isaiah 41:10), not to feel anxious because he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7), and not to feel sad (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). In it, there are many words of assurance. Today we have Jesus’ assurance in writing, which is the Holy Bible. He was giving her assurance that everything will be fine again. But Jesus wasn’t attempting to comfort the widow. I have been to many funerals and seen people attempting to comfort the grief-stricken friends and family members of the deceased with their words. He said to the widow from Nain “do not weep”. It’s ridiculous to tell a widow who has lost her only family to “not weep”. Then why not take your problem to him? 2. Compassion is an indispensable characteristic of Jesus. But this miracle teaches Jesus is full of compassion, he will do anything to help us, even if it means a loss to him. Right now you also might be feeling lonely and helpless just like this widow from Nain. We understand how strong was Jesus’ compassion for this widow because he did not hesitate to touch the coffin although it will make him ceremonially unclean. ![]() He knew what it was like to be a helpless, lonely widow because his own mother was one (John 19:27). In fact, the Parable of the Unrighteous Judge (Luke 18:1-5) indicates that even in the ancient society there were wicked men who targeted poor widows for their own personal gain.īut Jesus’ interference with the procession was caused by his compassion for the weeping widow from the town of Nain, (Luke 7:13). Modern society loves to interfere with other people’s business for its own benefit. People often interfere with other people’s business for many purposes. Jesus interfered with the funeral procession the moment he learned that the deceased was the only son of a widow. Life in the first century in the Middle East was difficult. ![]() They were met by a funeral procession when entered the town called Nain (Luke 7:11-12). The compassion of Jesusīy this time a large crowd literally followed Jesus from one village to another with the hope of seeing another miracle. ![]() It gives us four convincing reasons to take our crippling problems to his presence. However, this miracle shows us that nothing, not even death is beyond the control of Jesus. The rest is history.Ĭertain problems in life make us feel just like this poor widow from Nain because similar to death these problems are beyond our control. There was nothing she could do about it but weep bitterly. Death had taken away her only source of hope, strength as well as protection. She doesn’t have a name but we know she was a widow from Nain (A village located 14 kilometers south of Nazareth) whose only son had died. Today I want to consider another woman we meet in the Bible. ![]()
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