Amy C Walters

Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son | Luke 7:11-17

In Luke 7:11-17, Jesus travels to the small village of Nain. There, Jesus sees a funeral procession for the only son of a widow. The widow is so lost in her grief that she doesn’t seem to notice Jesus. But he sees her and he restores what was lost. Through this story, we see that Jesus meets us in our grief.

Our geography continues to expand as we are introduced to a new town in this week’s story, Nain. Actually, it’s a very small village. It’s in the region of Galilee, several miles southeast of Nazareth, but a good 25 miles from Capernaum, the place where the previous story happens. This is the only time in scripture where Nain is mentioned. In fact, Luke is the only Gospel writer who includes this story of raising the widow’s son.

So Nain is a small blip on the map, a small blip on the biblical radar, and yet something so significant happens there. We’re told that Jesus goes to Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd are following him. As Jesus approaches the town gates, they’re met with a funeral procession, coming out of the town carrying the only son of a widow. 

So this poor woman is twice bereaved. She has lost her husband at some point in the past, and now she has lost her only son.

How bad of a situation is this? This is very bad. This is a dire, devastating situation for this poor woman. She has lost everyone that she loves the most in this world, the people that she is closest to. She is utterly alone. So she is going through the heartbreak of loss.

She’s also looking at an unsure future. She lived in a patriarchal society where women were dependent upon the men in their lives for provision, for protection, and now she is alone. She has no future. 

What a devastating situation for this woman. What is she going to do? 

Actually in this story, she doesn’t do anything. We’re not told that she sees Jesus or approaches him or says anything to him. She is so deep in her grief that she cannot see beyond that. But it’s okay because Jesus sees her. 

Who has told Jesus about her situation? Who has said that this was her only son and she’s a widow? No one. But Jesus knows it. He knows it and he sees her in her grief, and we’re told that his heart goes out to her.

What a beautiful statement of the compassion of Jesus. This is one of the few times in Scripture where we are told what Jesus is feeling, and it’s compassion. It is seeing this woman in her deep grief and his heart going out to her.

Not only does he feel this compassion for her, he is able to do something about it. He tells her, “Don’t cry,” which is a crazy comment in this situation, but we’re going to get to that in a future post. And he goes up and he touches the coffin, and he speaks to the dead man and says, “Get up.” And he does. He is resurrected, raised back to life, and Jesus gives him back to his mother. 

What a turnaround in circumstances! This woman has gone from alone and empty and hopeless and futureless to now Jesus has restored her son to her.

Can you imagine the pandemonium of this scene? You have a large crowd that’s with Jesus, a large crowd from the town that’s with this widow, and they all see what happens. Maybe initially the crowd gasps or maybe there’s utter silence. And then there’s probably just a lot of noise as people process and comment and praise God. 

In this story, who moves the action forward? It’s all Jesus. He goes to Nain, the only time it’s recorded that he does this. He approaches the town gates. His heart goes out to this woman. He tells her, don’t cry. He goes to the open coffin. He touches it. He speaks to the man, and he gives the man back to his mother.

Jesus is moving this action forward. We don’t see any words from this widow. We don’t see any actions from her, but it doesn’t matter because Jesus meets her in her grief. He goes all the way to her. When she is so stuck in her grief that she can’t see Jesus, he sees her. When all she can do is show up, Jesus goes to her.

And that is our key truth for today: Jesus meets us in our grief.

If you have ever been in a situation like this woman, where you have lost someone or something very dear to you, you know how paralyzing it can be. It’s hard to see anything else happening around you. It might even be hard to utter a prayer to God because you are in so much pain. But Jesus sees you. Jesus knows your situation. Jesus has compassion for you.

We are told elsewhere in Scripture that God is close to the broken hearted (Psalm 34:18). I think that Jesus went to Nain just to help this woman, just to be there in her moment of need and to meet her in it and to do something about it. Jesus sees her, he acts on her behalf, he restores what was lost.

That is the Jesus that we see here in Luke. That is the Jesus we are called to worship and to follow because that is a Jesus and a God who has compassion on his people. What a great God he is!