Written ~ 03-11-2024
Read Luke Chapter Seven
Luke 7
In our chapter for today let’s look at a story about a widow whose son has just died. The Book of Luke is the only Gospel to record this miraculous story. It’s an important one, it is a story of love, death, and a pretty awesome miracle!
Luke 7:11-17,
11 “Soon afterward Jesus went with His disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed Him. 12 A funeral procession was coming out as He approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, His heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” He said. 14 Then He walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” He said, “I tell you, get up.” 15 Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16 Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people today.” 17 And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside.”
There isn’t a whole lot told to us about this widow. We don’t know how old she is, we don’t know when her husband died and we don’t know the age of the young man. But “when the Lord saw her, His heart overflowed with compassion.”
Now I want to draw our attention to a story in the Old Testament Book of 1 Kings…
1 Kings 17:8-24,
8 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 9 “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.”
10 So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.”
12 But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”
13 But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”
15 So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. 16 There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.
17 Sometime later the woman’s son became sick. He grew worse and worse, and finally he died. 18 Then she said to Elijah, “O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?”
19 But Elijah replied, “Give me your son.” And he took the child’s body from her arms, carried him up the stairs to the room where he was staying, and laid the body on his bed. 20 Then Elijah cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?”
21 And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.” 22 The Lord heard Elijah’s prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he revived! 23 Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. “Look!” he said. “Your son is alive!”
24 Then the woman told Elijah, “Now I know for sure that you are a man of God, and that the Lord truly speaks through you.”
Here we have two passages, one in the Old Testament and one in the New. Both stories are about a widow, both would have had a very difficult life without having a husband to provide money, shelter and protection. Both women have a son, then both women are devastated by the death of that son. Both women encounter the Power of God.
In 1 Kings we have Elijah, he was sent by God to the city where a widow was living and in her dire situation Elijah stepped in to show her the glory of God. Food was sparse, so the first thing the Lord did was provide what they needed to nourish their bodies. But then calamity struck, her only child, her son became gravely ill and passed away. In the desperation this widow felt, she blamed it on Elijah! So Elijah cried out to the Lord. His compassion was overflowing for this woman and her son. And God did the unimaginable!! God revived the boy and when the widow saw that her son was alive she praised the Lord!
In Luke 7 Jesus is walking up to a village and noticed a funeral procession coming towards Him. In this story we have another widow who had just lost her only child, a son. Her grief would have been immeasurable. It says in verse 7:13, “When the Lord saw her, His heart overflowed with compassion.” When Jesus stopped the procession, the large crowd that was with the woman were probably wondering what in the world was going on! Not only had Jesus stopped the procession but He touched the coffin, which would have caused a wave of shock throughout the crowd, because touching a coffin would risk defilement of that person. As Jesus approached this funeral procession, the people surrounding this widow, would not have known who He was. He would have looked like a random individual coming up to the procession, but then stopping the pallbearers and then touching the coffin, people would have been horrified! I’m sure when Jesus began talking to the dead boy, those around would have thought He had lost His mind. And here again God did the unimaginable!! God revived the boy and he was given back to the widow. Even though at first, great fear swept through the crowd, verse 7:16 says, they praised God!
Two stories, same outcome. God stepped in and miraculous things happened.
You and I have different stories, each of us have things that come into our lives that might bring us to our knees. Grief and disbelief may overwhelm us. But when we raise our eyes to Heaven and give praise to God in our circumstances He will step in. You know, it may not be that we ask for the dead to rise, but we can have things in our lives that cause our hearts to be crushed. Disappointment and disillusionment can creep in and make us question if the Lord is hearing our prayers. He is. As we call out to the Lord, our hearts humble, God is working. We may not see it right away, but He is working.
In our praise, let’s acknowledge that “…God has visited His people today…”
~AMEN~