Wednesday, January 1 There was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother. Besides, she was a widow.​—Luke 7:12.

[Áine]

Wednesday, January 1

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

 

Jesus “caught sight of” the grieving mother and then “he was moved with pity for her.” (Luke 7:13) But Jesus did not just feel pity for the mother; he showed his compassion for her. He spoke to her, no doubt with a reassuring tone, and said: “Stop weeping.” Then he took the initiative to do something. He brought her son back to life and “gave him to his mother.” (Luke 7:14, 15) What can we learn from Jesus’ miracle of resurrecting the widow’s son? We learn a lesson in showing compassion to those who grieve. Like Jesus, we can cultivate compassion for bereaved ones by being observant. We can take the initiative to show compassion by saying and doing what we can to help them and comfort them. (Prov. 17:17; 2 Cor. 1:3, 4; 1 Pet. 3:8) Even simple words and small gestures can mean a lot. w23.04 5-6 ¶13-15

 

 

[wingslikeeagles]

V 13 tells us that Jesus was "moved with pity" for this widow.

The Greek verb spilag·khniʹzo·mai used for this expression is one of the strongest words in Greek for the feeling of compassion

 

WT 08 1/3 says Jesus was deeply moved by the plight of that widow. Perhaps he was thinking about his own mother, likely widowed by then, who would soon be grieving for him.

 

Jesus chose to feel deep emotions, personal emotions. This lead him to action. He felt so deeply he HAD TO cure this woman's son.

 

In the future Jesus won't be acting out of duty when he brings back our loved ones. He will feel like he simply has to because he feels so deeply for us. Nothing will stop him.

[Mike047]

Good point, Jack; anyone going into a major hospital will probably note the section called 'splanchnology', which covers the structure, functions, and diseases of the organs in the digestive, respiratory, urinary, and reproductive systems. A very powerful word, indeed!