Day 11 – A widow’s son

Bible reading: Luke 7:11–17

Jesus makes a dead man alive again

11 The next day, Jesus went to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large group of other people went with him. 12 When he had almost reached the gate of the town, lots of people were coming out. They were carrying a dead man on a wooden board. They were taking him to bury him. His mother had no other sons and her husband was also dead. A large crowd of people from the town was going with her.

13 When the Lord Jesus saw her, he felt very sorry for her. He said to her, ‘Do not cry.’ 14 He went to the board and he touched it. The people who were carrying the dead man stopped. Jesus said, ‘Young man, I am telling you, get up!’ 15 Immediately, the dead man sat up and he began to talk. Jesus then gave him back to his mother.

16 Everyone there was very afraid. They praised God and said, ‘A great prophet of God has appeared among us. God has come to save his people!’

17 This news about Jesus went everywhere in Judea. The people in the places that were near there also heard about it.

Luke 7:11-17 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

Reflection

Funerals are mournful events. And this one was particularly miserable. It was the funeral of a young man. He was his mother’s only son. She was a widow. Absolute misery. Remember, God did not make the world to be miserable. He made it very good. There was no pain, no sorrow and no death, originally. But we humans caused ourselves these problems by refusing to go God’s way, and by removing all thought of him from our lives.

He does not wait to be asked for help

This beautiful little story shows us the sincere compassion of Jesus. He really cares. He did not wait to be asked for help. His help was neither asked for nor expected. But he gave it, readily. That is what he’s like. There is no friend or person who comforts that can be compared with Jesus. But notice, too, the pure power of Jesus, here displayed as clearly as anywhere else in the gospels. He gives life back to a dead man – who proves it by talking.

He speaks to a cold corpse, and at once it becomes a living person. This Jesus has God’s life: he can give it when he chooses. And he can give spiritual life, too, to humans dead in self-centredness – their focus is on themselves.

God himself, no less

All these stories we have looked at, about what Jesus did, intend to show us who he is. Jesus is God himself, no less. He has come on a rescue mission to give us a new quality of life, life shared with him.

That’s life at its best!