11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
The Centurion had wanted Jesus to heal his servant because the man was so useful to him; this woman had an ever greater loss in that she was a widow whose only son had died; she had no hope of support and protection now that he was gone. But Jesus saw her, He stopped, He spoke, and He showed her how much God cared for her. What a perfect balance we find in the responses of people. They said “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” First, they recognized that Jesus was a man who had been raised in Galilee; He was one of them. They then see Him as Immanuel; God with us. We need to always see both: Jesus knows what it is to be human, with all our struggles, hurts, and fears, yet at the same time He is God the Son, able to do something about them.
No comments:
Post a Comment