Remember yesterday’s story of the Centurion. Jesus simply sent His word to heal the centurion’s servant!
Now let’s look at the next story, which follows immediately in Luke. This story is unique to Luke.
Luke 7
11 Soon afterwards He
went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him,
accompanied by a large crowd. (Nain
was about 25 miles away, and they didn’t drive!)
12 Now as He
approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son
of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with
her.
13 When the Lord saw
her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, "Do not weep."
14 And He came up and
touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise!"
15 The dead man sat
up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16 Fear (respect) gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, "A great
prophet has arisen among us!" and, "God has visited His people!"
17 This report
concerning Him went out all over
It’s interesting to me that these two stories follow each other, because notice the contrast between the widow and the centurion.
In this story, the widow has no such eloquence or faith as the centurion.
The widow doesn’t even make a request, the centurion did.
Yet both received something that made them very happy!
The centurion expressed great faith that Jesus could heal his servant, but the widow is lifeless, wrapped up in her grief, and too distressed even to pray. Have you ever felt like that?
But the Lord comes
through for both of them!
Even when your hope is shattered, He is ready to come through for you.
The Lord doesn’t restrain His compassion just because we fail to fulfill a certain quota of good deeds, etc.
He helps the helpless, gives hope to the hopeless, and breathes life into the lifeless.
Isaiah 25:4a
4 For You have been a defense for the helpless,
A defense for the needy in his distress,
A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;
You’ve all heard it before: “God helps those who help themselves.” Well it’s absolutely NOT true! God helps the helpless.
He had compassion on the widow, just like He did throughout His ministry:
Matthew 14:14
14 When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.
Matthew 15:32
32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way."
Matthew 20:34
34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.
Mark
34 When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.
COMPASSION! It was the backbone of His ministry.
The best point about these two stories is that whether or not God comes through for you does not depend on you, but on God. It doesn’t matter whether you are the widow or the centurion, it matters who God is.
He is a God of compassion.