Luke 7
- The woman who anoints the feet of Jesus is so similar to another story, that we will come back to her story in a little bit.
Widow of Nain – Luke 7: 11-15
- In verse 11 we are introduced to a mother.
- Her son is being “carried out” - which means he was being carried a funeral bier. He had died.
- There was a BYU scholar who wrote the following (see page 42 of Walking with the Women of the New Testament affiliate link).
- It goes on to say that many people from the city were with her.
- Then Jesus saw her. In verse 13 it says, “... He had compassion on her and said, weep not.”
- This is so telling of the Savior and His love.
Compassion
- The Guide to the Scriptures (in your app - scriptures - then the first option. This is an amazing resource) defines compassion as literally “to suffer with.” It also means to show sympathy, pity, and mercy for another.
- The word mercy is defined as: The Spirit of Compassion, tenderness and forgiveness. Jesus Christ offers all of these things to use through His atonement.
- So Jesus had compassion on this widow who had also lost her son. At this time having a man in your life was actually very important. So to have lost her husband and her son added another level of difficulty this woman was going to be experiencing in her life.
- Jesus saw her situation and decided to show compassion in the form of mercy. The first thing He does is comfort her.
Weep Not
- He had compassion and then said unto her, weep not.
- I can’t imagine the tenderness and love those words were spoken with. Jesus knew how hard this situation was for her. The only thing he says to her is “weep not”.
- He knew that He was about to offer a miracle that no one else could give her. He knew that things were about to change and be different.
- How often do we have a comforting feeling from the Spirit about something that is troubling us, and we are able to hold onto that hope and wait for the next step we have felt Jesus will take or give us to take?
- Sometimes our peace from the Holy Ghost is a lot like Jesus saying to us, “week not” and having compassion on us. He is with you and by your side just as he was by the side of this widow.
He heals
- In verse 14-15 it says …
- I love how 15 ends. He delivered him to his mother.
- Jesus has compassion. He tells her to weep not. He goes over to the young man (we have no clues as to if he had been ill for a long time, if he passed suddenly, or if something else happened to him) and says, Arise, and the boy rises. Then he is delivered to his mother whom the Savior had just spoken to a moment ago.
- Can you even imagine? The beautiful part about this is that we will get to have experiences where those we have not gotten to walk through this life with - will rise again and we will get to have a reunion with them, just as this mother and son were reunited.
- That is still the same compassion and mercy as this woman was given. Hers was just given in the beginning of her mourning.
- Don’t forget that He has offered his compassion and mercy to you in all your hardships. If our miracle looks different than this woman's miracle - just remember that there is still a miracle in the atonement of Jesus Christ for every single one of us. It is only because of His atonement that even this young man was raised from the dead.
Jesus Christ loves each and every one of us. Seek His miracles in your daily life. Seek and even ask to recognize His mercy and even miracles that are happening all around you. They are there!
