Luke 7:11-17 NKJV

Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd.  12 And 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. And a large crowd from the city was with her.

It was just another day, and yet another miracle for Jesus to show the power of God. Yet the difference in this particular miracle is that I think it hits so close to home for many. What do you do when you’re in a beautiful place but carrying something dead? 

That is the situation where we find the widow in this story. The background is a small village called Nain, which means “Beauty” in Hebrew. Nain is located about 8 miles southeast of Nazareth in the lower Galilee. This village sits on the northwest slope of Givat Hamoreh (or Little Hermon), overlooking the Plain of Jezreel and facing Mount Tabor. It just sounds beautiful. However, it was not beautiful that day, because this widow was in tears as she was now burying her son (behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow). She had already lost her husband; now it was her only son. Her family was no longer; it was only her now. That is devastating, and when we are devastated, Jesus shows compassion. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”

Jesus showed compassion and encouragement. He did not stop there. Then he came and touched the open coffin. Jesus brought restoration to this woman’s situation. He resurrected her family, when everything to that point had died (So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother). 

All this was done so that we can know and believe that anything dead in our lives, Jesus can/desires to resurrect our dead circumstances. If you are feeling alone, let this story inspire you that regardless of what we feel, Jesus sees us, has compassion and acts on our behalf, because of how much He loves us.