A Scriptural Consideration Entry

“There was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother. Besides, she was a widow.” —Luke 7:12

She stood still, watching the procession carry away what was left of her world.

It was not just her son they were carrying—it was her future, her support, her last human thread of comfort. She was a widow already. Now her only son was gone. And with him, every hope of companionship, of care, of being remembered. Grief blurred her sight, but not Jesus’. “He caught sight of her,” Luke writes. Not just the ceremony. Not the crowd. Her.

And his heart responded.

Moved with pity, Jesus approached her—not with grand fanfare, but with gentleness. “Stop weeping,” he said—not as a command, but as a whisper of hope. Then he walked over and touched the stretcher. The bearers halted. And the silence broke with words only heaven could grant: “Young man, I say to you, Get up!” (Luke 7:13-15)

The son sat up and began to speak. And Jesus—oh, what a moment—“gave him to his mother.” What grace. What mercy. What power to restore what death had taken.

So what about us? What do we learn from this sacred moment on the road to Nain?

We learn to see.

We learn to feel.

And we learn to act.

Jesus noticed her. He was not too busy, too distracted, or too numb from hearing too many woes. He “caught sight” of her pain, and that vision stirred deep compassion. (1 Peter 3:8)

In a world that often rushes past mourners, Jesus stopped. So can we.

We can listen without rushing to fix.

We can speak with tenderness rather than platitudes.

We can sit in silence beside the sorrowing, offering presence instead of solutions. (2 Corinthians 1:3, 4)

Even small kindnesses—a handwritten note, a shared memory, an unexpected call—can carry profound healing. Like Proverbs 17:17 reminds us, “A true friend shows love at all times, and is a brother who is born for times of distress.”

And in time, like Jesus, we may gently place hope back in trembling hands—not by resurrecting the dead, but by reminding the grieving of the One who will.

“He gave him to his mother.” That moment foreshadowed a greater hope—one still to come. A time when Jehovah, through Christ, will call every precious name from the memorial tombs, restoring parents to children, spouses to mates, friends to arms aching for reunion.

Until then, we walk in Jesus’ steps—cultivating compassion, and giving comfort wherever grief finds a home.

You are not forgotten.

You are not alone.

Jehovah sees you—and so do we.

Watchtower, April 2023, pages 5-6, paragraphs 13-15


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