Luke 7:13

New International Version

When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

Foe Encouragement

The procession was long. Almost the entire town showed up to support and assist her in burying her dead. The young man on the bier was her only son, and she was a widow. He had been her support ever since her husband passed away a long time ago. The bier-bearers are now carrying him for burial. With unrelenting sorrow, she followed his lifeless body to his ultimate resting place.

Who, then, is this man who touched the bier and stopped the march to the cemetery? His actions further exacerbated her already unsettled heart.

“Don’t cry” (Luke 7:13).

His sympathetic eyes met her tear-drenched face. His voice, filled with the warmest comfort, soothed her soul. Without a word of introduction, the strange man turned to the corpse on the bier and said,

“Young man, I say to you, get up!” (14)

What a command, given with authority to the dead! How does a dead body hear anything? However, the dead young man sat up and began talking, and the strange man gave him to his mother. Amazement swept through the mourners.

“A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help His people” (16).

This strange man is your Maker and Savior, my friend. His name is Jesus. He is the Christ, the anointed One of God sent to redeem His people.

Jesus said to a grieving Martha over the death of her brother, Lazarus,

“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:25 nlt).

Do you believe this, friend?

He is heaven’s door (10:9), the way and the truth and the life. No one can enter heaven except through Him (14:6). So, if you want a Savior, listen to the Spirit-filled Apostle Peter to the Jewish authorities:

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

The Apostle Paul adds:

“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).

Now, that eliminates every other person, dead or alive, by whom anyone can enter heaven. Jesus is waiting for you today to trust Him with your life (John 1:12-13; Romans 10:9-10), and by faith, His grace will flow through your dead spirit to give you eternal life (Ephesians 2:8-9).

For you, the saved in Jesus, He assures you that the same commanding, authoritative voice that raised the son of the Widow of Nain and Lazarus from the dead will raise you on the day of resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Go on then, child of God, and tell this Good News to all who are called to hear, for He has made you His ambassador of reconciliation, through whom God is making His appeal to the world (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Pray with Me

Jesus, I turn my life to you today. I believe you died for my sins and arose to life in you. Forgive me and make me your own forever. Thank you for saving me. O, the anticipation of seeing your face in the resurrection. Amen!