Jesus has compassion on those who grieve

I was struck a couple days ago by the focus of Jesus’ compassion in Luke 7.11-17.

A man in the little village of Nain has died. As Jesus and the ‘great crowd’ with him come near to Nain, they encounter the funeral procession, which itself is a ‘considerable crowd.’ Jesus is at the head of the crowd entering Nain. The dead man’s mother, a widow who has now lost her only son, is at the head of the crowd leaving Nain. What will happen as these two crowds come together?

What grabbed my attention was the focus of Jesus’ compassion in this story. He hadn’t known the dead man personally, so he doesn’t seem to be directly emotionally affected by his loss. Luke never tells us that the focus of Jesus’ compassion is the dead man. Instead, the focus of Jesus’ compassion in this story is the dead man’s mother (v 13). Jesus speaks to her, telling her not to weep. Then, in a moment of incredible drama and a display of breathtaking power, he walks to the bier. He touches it. The bearers stand still. Now he addresses the dead man: ‘Young man, I say to you, arise.’ Just like that the young man sits up and begins to speak. And what is Jesus’ very next action? ‘…and Jesus gave him to his mother’ (v 15).

Jesus knew the very difficult social and economic and emotional situation of a woman who has lost a husband and her only son. And he has compassion on her. In this story, she’s the one he addresses first. And his first action after raising her son is to give her son back to her.

At a funeral, the sovereign Lord Jesus is moved not just by the death of the deceased, but by the loss of the bereaved. Do you grieve the loss of someone you knew and loved? Jesus has compassion on you, too.

Posted by Stephen Witmer on Jun 28, 04:10 PM