Jesus pays attention

 JESUS PAYS ATTENTION

 

When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on… He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

LUKE 7.13–15

 

Based on LUKE 7.11–17

 

Those of us who have grown up around the church often take for granted Jesus’ power over life and resurrection. It’s what we celebrate at Easter, and what we take comfort in when our own loved ones pass away, grieving but with the hope of seeing them again.

But for people in Jesus’ day, death had a finality that was hard to shake, though some believed in the resurrection, others did not. And in any case, dying without an heir to carry on one’s name was considered an especially shameful punishment from God and would render a woman completely helpless, likely thrusting her into a life of poverty and obscurity.

It’s within this context that, early in His ministry, Jesus encounters a funeral procession as He approaches a small town just south of Nazareth where He had grown up. Such a view would have been familiar to Jesus, though nonetheless heartbreaking. Death is an atrocious affront to God’s original design for life and vitality on earth.

But especially sorrowful was the grieving mother’s state, now a childless widow, this woman had no one to provide for her in her old age, and would need to cast herself on the mercy of relatives. There was no bright future for her, only dread for eking out a living until death brought relief from her miserable existence.

Jesus knew this. He paid attention. And His compassion moved Him, not to join them in their weeping but to do something about it. Caring for widows and orphans is a major theme in both the Old and New Testaments, a demonstration of true love for God by paying attention to the needs of the vulnerable.

“When the Lord saw her face, his heart went out to her” (Lk 7.13). But He didn’t step out of the way of the funeral procession. He didn’t just make a mental note of the situation and say a little prayer for comfort. He allowed the grief and devastation to affect Him deep within, causing a guttural response of affection. Jesus had likely encountered weeping women before and would do so many times more, but His compassion was fresh as He entered into this woman’s story to rewrite the ending. Reaching her, Jesus said, “Don’t cry,” not because her grief was unwarranted, but because He was joining her in her grief to turn her mourning into gladness.

No one that day expected a miracle. There had been no resurrection for hundreds of years, and over the course of history, only two young men had been restored to their mothers. This grieving mother had no reason to hope for a miracle.

But when Jesus walks onto the scene, there is always hope of a miracle. Because Jesus sees. He notices the details. And He cares.

Jesus simply speaks, and life immediately fills the boy’s body. And the people recognise God’s power at work in Jesus, exclaiming that God has visited His people.

After hundreds of years of silence, God had sent another prophet, and His miracles attested to His divine power. But the people didn’t quite understand the magnitude of Jesus’ mission or the way His love would lead Him to the ultimate sacrifice.

 

Prayer 

 

O Jesus, You are the Giver of Life. You speak, and the universe obeys. And yet You see and care about the smallest details of my life. Nothing escapes Your notice. Though You have every right to be aloof from Your kingdom, instead You choose to be present with Your people and sensitive to our pain. Thank You for placing Your Spirit within me, for grieving with me in my suffering, for caring enough to see, to know, and to care. Help me do the same for the people around me today. Help me enter their suffering, carry their burdens, and bring the hope of Your presence. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

 

If you want to read more 

 

1Kgs 17.17–24, 2Kgs 4.32–37, Rom 12.15, Gal 6.2, Jam 1.27