Moved by the death of a widow’s only son, Jesus restores the young man’s life. Luke 7:11-17
Thoughts about serving others
This link includes a list of posts about Serving the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely.
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Let the Word evoke words. May your life encourage lives.
Many people heard the Sermon on the Mount as Matthew recorded it and many followed Jesus after being taught through its many lessons. The large crowd now follows Jesus to a small town called Nain to witness something incredible. As Jesus approached the town gate, he was moved with an emotional response to a widow’s only son being carried out on a bier, dead to this world. For some reason Jesus’ heart went out to her and he stopped the procession, touched the bier and raised the young man back to life.
Jesus provides such a complex example for us to follow: amazing preacher and teacher, protector of the temple and the divinity of God and compassionate pastor, all rolled into one man for those to witness. When I dwell on this thought, I’m humbled beyond words. How many times should I have had a heart for someone’s grief, but missed the opportunity? Keep working on me, Lord! Keep moving me toward your perfect example!
The young man was alive again, but Jesus didn’t command that he leave his mother; quite the contrary, Jesus sent him home to take care of her. This provides some great insight into our calling as disciples of Christ–everyone is not expected to be a pastor, teacher or church elder. As Paul explains in several places in his writings (Romans, Corinthians, etc), each of us is a part of the body of the church, all important to the health and growth of the church and all provide key parts for the spreading of the Gospel. I may have fantasies about giving a crowd-pleasing sermon or singing a song that brings people to the very throne-room of God, but perhaps, just perhaps, that’s not my role in the church. Perhaps my role is to do something much less visible, but still of great importance.
This young man had a job to do: take care of his mother. Surely he would retell the story for all who would listen, but his job was to care for his mom first. As I think about this verse, I wonder what his life was like. It seems like a great place to write some good fiction “based on facts” in the Bible. We don’t know much more about his life because that’s not the emphasis for the story.
Lord, help me to have a heart and to focus on doing what you have called me to do this day without being distracted about the next day or phase of my life. That’s easier said then done, so please help me!! 🙂