Care For the Vulnerable

What sadness walked that road at Nain! Jesus meets this woman on perhaps one of the most difficult days of her life. Her husband is no longer alive and now her only son has also died, and she has to go bury him. What sorrow and loneliness! But not only that, an uncertain future lies ahead of her. In those days, being a widow meant depending on your son(s) to take care of you. And now her son is dead!

Over and over in the Old Testament, God reminds His people to care for the vulnerable. Four groups of people (a vulnerable foursome) are repeatedly mentioned in particular: the poor, the widows, the orphans and the strangers.

Two large groups of people meet there, just outside Nain. The crowd walking with Jesus and the people who are on their way to join the widow in burying her son. Jesus sees this woman and feels splagchnizomai. He’s moved with compassion. Some translations say: "His heart went out to her."

He tells her, "Do not weep." And again, Jesus does something unthinkable: He stretches out his arm and touches the bier on which the son's body lies. He speaks to this boy and commands him to rise from the dead. The boy sits up and starts talking. Jesus gives the woman back her son.

What would the young man have said to Jesus, to his mother, to the many people who were there? Would Jesus have helped him off the bier and brought him to his mother? Can you imagine? The embrace, the tears of happiness and surprise? The open mouths and questioning faces of the people standing around? No doubt there was bewilderment among the bystanders. But also, the deep realization that they are in the presence of Someone who’s stronger than death. The conclusion is clear: God Himself is here. He’s magnified and praised. Naturally!

Time to reflect.

What does it mean if you choose to first feel splagchnizomai for someone you meet? Would that perhaps help you to choose the right words, or perhaps remain silent? In that way you wouldn’t use meaningless words or give false hope. Empathy is far more reassuring than sympathy.