A Special Spot  

By Pastor Dan Hickling

“Now it happened . . . He went into a city called Nain . . . when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow.”—Luke 7:11-12 (NKJV)

The next miracle of Jesus that we’re going to look at centers around something that all of us, sadly, will experience at some point or another . . . the death of a loved one. It’s as Jesus is making His way into the city of Nain that a funeral procession is making its way out. 

This wasn’t something that was incredibly out of the ordinary because, after all, death is a part of life here on earth. Ever since the fall in Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God, death entered into the human experience and its sentence is unavoidable. 

So, it’s not as if Jesus hadn’t come across this scenario before. It’s probable that He’d witnessed several funerals in His lifetime. And as far as we know, He almost always allowed the process of death to run its course without miraculously intervening (with the exceptions of Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus). 

But this time it’s different. Nobody approaches Jesus or asks Him to do the miraculous. Instead, He is the one to reach out and do the unthinkable: “When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise.’ So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother” (Luke 7:13-15 NKJV).

Why did the Lord reach out in this case? If we look closely, we see that Jesus wasn’t moved for the sake of the young man who had passed away. He wasn’t saying to Himself, “What a terrible thing for such a young man to pass so early . . . I’m going to fix that!” 

Instead, Jesus was moved by his mother, who was also a widow. In that culture, widows relied on their surviving children to care for them as they aged. But we’re told this widow had just lost her only son, which means she had also lost her future security. Understanding this, Jesus intervened as only He can, reversing the curse of death and restoring this widow’s only son back to life. He gave her more than her son, but her future provision, as well.

God has a special spot in His heart for mothers. He sees their secret sacrifices and knows all of their needs. What’s more, He is willing and able to provide and care for them according to His lovingkindness. May we share His heart for moms!

DIG: Why did Jesus intervene here?

DISCOVER: What does this reveal regarding God’s heart towards mothers?

DO: Take a moment to express your love for your mother today.