Byu Women Had Their Dead Raised to Life Again
Sometimes in the ups and downs of life, we tin feel similar God is not very active in our twenty-four hours-to-day lives. Our patterns seem rather tedious and monotonous. Not much changes, and it is sometimes hard to indicate to one area where God has directly intervened in our circumstances. Whenever I am hit with these feelings of insignificance in my own life, I often think of a woman in the New Testament who may have felt this way. She is not named in the scriptures simply is just known by the name of her village and by her marital status.
The woman is the widow of Nain, and only the evangelist Luke records her amazing story. For me she represents the essence of the Savior'south personalized ministry building and how He reached out to the discouraged, common people of His society. This business relationship soundly settles the issue about whether God knows us and cares almost u.s..
A cursory synopsis of the miracle from Luke chapter seven depicts Jesus intercepting a burying procession and miraculously bringing a dead young man back to life. But in that location is much more to understand about the setting. As with all miracles, but especially and then with this one, the context is vital to agreement this incident. Having taught at the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Middle, I will share with y'all some personal insights about this miracle.
Nain was a minor farming village at Jesus's time, nestled up against Mountain Moreh, which defined the east side of the Jezreel Valley. The town itself was off the beaten path. Admission to information technology was limited to a unmarried road. During Jesus's fourth dimension, this settlement would have been small and relatively poor, and it has remained that way always since. At times in its history, this town has encircled as few as 34 homes and just 189 people.1 Today it is home to well-nigh i,500 inhabitants.
Luke begins his account by noting that Jesus was in Capernaum the twenty-four hour period before and had healed the Centurion'due south retainer (see Luke 7:1–10). And so we larn that "the twenty-four hours later" (poesy 11; emphasis added), the Savior went into a city called Nain, accompanied by a large grouping of disciples. This sequence is very important. Capernaum is situated on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, 600 anxiety (183 m) below sea level. Nain is virtually 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Capernaum at 700 feet (213 m) above sea level, thus requiring an backbreaking, uphill climb to Nain. In order to walk from Capernaum to Nain, it would have taken at least ane or two days. Recently, it took a grouping of youthful BYU Jerusalem Eye students 10 hours to walk this route on paved roads. This means that Jesus probably had to ascend very early or mayhap fifty-fifty walk during the nighttime in order to intercept the burying procession "the day subsequently."two
Equally Christ approached the city after a very taxing journey, a swain probably in his 20siii was beingness carried out on a burial slab. Luke tells us that this young man was a widow's merely son, and some scholars interpret the Greek text to imply that she had no other offspring.4 A large group of villagers accompanied her in this nearly unfortunate family tragedy.
Obviously, having a son dice would exist a tragedy for anyone, but consider the implications for this widow. Just what would it have meant socially, spiritually, and financially to exist a widow without an inheritor in ancient Israel? In Old Testament civilization, information technology was believed that when a hubby died before old historic period, it was a sign of God's judgment for sin. Thus, some believed that God was meting out punishment upon this surviving widow. In the book of Ruth, when Naomi was widowed at an early age, she bemoaned, "After all, the Lord is against me, and the Almighty has broken me" (Ruth one:21, International Standard Version).5
Not only was there spiritual and emotional hurting, just this widow of Nain was also facing financial ruin—fifty-fifty staring starvation in the face.half dozen Upon marriage, a woman was assigned to her husband'south family for financial protection. If he died, and so her care was delegated to her birthright son. Now that this widow'due south birthright and only son was dead, she was at the finish of her rope financially. If her son was in his 20s, she was probably a middle-aged woman, living in a modest, secluded farm boondocks, and now found herself spiritually, socially, and financially destitute.
Precisely at the narrow window of fourth dimension when the villagers were conveying this adult female'due south son out to be buried, Jesus met the procession and "had compassion on her" (Luke vii:thirteen). Really, this might exist Luke's greatest understatement. Jesus somehow sensed the utterly drastic situation of this widow. Perhaps she had spent the dark sprawled on her dirt flooring, begging Heavenly Begetter to know why. Perhaps she had fifty-fifty openly questioned why He was requiring her to live any longer on this earth. Or perchance she was terrified of the pending loneliness that she would face. We do not know. Merely we do know that the Savior chose to go out Capernaum immediately, which could have required Him to walk through the night in guild to intercept the burial procession correct earlier they put the trunk in the footing.
Yes, when He saw her tear-stained face every bit she walked behind the procession, Jesus felt slap-up compassion for this woman—simply information technology appears that His compassion came from feelings He experienced long earlier He just "happened" to intercept that burial entourage. He had conspicuously planned to be there in her moment of demand.
Jesus so told the widow to "cry non" (verse 13). Unafraid of ritual uncleanness, He "touched the bier," and the procession "stood withal." He and so commanded, "Swain, I say unto thee, Ascend.
"And he that was dead sat upwardly, and began to speak. And [Jesus] delivered him to his mother" (verses 14–15). Naturally, the oversupply of villagers and Jesus's followers were awestruck as their shared grief turned to pure joy. They all "glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us" (poesy xvi). But this miracle was too well-nigh rescuing one desperate soul. Jesus was enlightened that something was very wrong for this woman—someone who was looked down on in their culture. Her situation cried out for His immediate attention, even if He had to travel far to be there precisely at the right moment. He knew her desperate situation, and He came apace. President Thomas South. Monson (1927–2018) spoke undeniable truth when he said, "One day, when we look back at the seeming coincidences of our lives, nosotros will realize that maybe they weren't so coincidental later on all."seven
Now, as uplifting as this incident is, it must become much more than a cool Bible story to us. Information technology verifies unmistakably that Jesus knew about this poor, forgotten, and destitute widow. Specially when we experience forgotten or disregarded or insignificant, we must think: Jesus came to the widow in her fourth dimension of desperate demand, and He will come to the states likewise. Additionally, a second lesson we could gain from our Savior'south example is the importance of reaching out to bless others around you. Many inside your circle will be discouraged from time to fourth dimension. If you tin tell them about "Sis Nain" and how the Lord knew precisely her discouragement and great personal crunch, it could change dark to twenty-four hour period. Recall President Spencer W. Kimball's (1895–1985) poignant observation: "God does notice us, and he watches over us. Merely it is unremarkably through another person that he meets our needs."8
Of all Jesus'southward miracles during His fourth dimension on world, for me, few are as tender and compassionate as His ministering to the widow of Nain. It reminds us that nosotros thing to Him and that He will never forget the states. We cannot forget that.
Source: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ya-weekly/2019/04/in-times-of-discouragement-remember-the-widow-of-nain?lang=eng
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