This passage should remind us of three truths: Jesus is compassionate, Jesus is powerful, and Jesus sees us. The first two may be more obvious than the last. Of course, He is compassionate and powerful, but the idea that He is intimately aware of our pain can be tougher to grasp when we can’t see tangible signs that He is “fixing it.” The story of the heartbroken widow and mother is a metaphor for all the broken places in our lives.


Was her only son to be one more thing the woman would lose? I imagine the deepest cry of this grieving mother’s heart: “I want my son back!” But look at all the details of the process that are meticulously documented by Luke: Jesus saw her, His heart went out to her, He told her not to cry, He touched the coffin, He told the young man to get up, and then He gave him back to his mother.


Be encouraged. Jesus sees us in our suffering and is always compassionately at work even in places we cannot perceive. When all else is lost, you – like the woman in this story – still have Jesus!