He was on His way to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd were traveling with Him. Just as He neared the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was also with her. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, “Don’t cry.” Then He came up and touched the open coffin, and the pallbearers stopped. And He said, “Young man, I tell you, get up!”

The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Then fear came over everyone, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited His people.” This report about Him went throughout Judea and all the vicinity. (Luke 7:11-17)

Jesus didn’t just feel the pain of others. He solved it. Jesus visited a small village called Nain, about six miles southeast of Nazareth. It is never mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. There was a widow, who was weeping over her only son who had just died. As a widow, her son would have been her only source of support and protection. In ancient Israel’s patriarchal society, without a male relative, she would be reduced to begging. Like Naomi and Ruth upon their return to Bethlehem, her only hope was to find fields to glean in. She was facing very hard times, on top of her grief.

In the middle of a funeral procession, Jesus’ words that she should “stop crying” would have been disconcertingly inappropriate. As if that weren’t bad enough, he touched the casket and forced the pallbearers to stop walking. One can only imagine the shock and disbelief of the crowd as they watched what Jesus was doing.

Then he told the dead man to get up.

The initial reaction of the crowd was terror. Once they realized fully what had happened, the funeral became a celebration. Their pain became joy. They decided that Jesus must be a great prophet. Why? Only Elijah and Elisha had ever raised people from the dead (1 Kings 17:17-24 and 2 Kings 4:18-37).

Jesus does not ask us to just keep a stiff upper lip, he does not want us to just suck it up. Jesus can wipe our tears away by taking the reason for our tears away.

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