2nd Wednesday of Lent (March 19). THE LORD SAW HER

Prepare to Listen.  Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me!
 
Prayerfully Read Luke 7:11-17
11Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him.  12As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out.  He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town.  13When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’  14Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still.  And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’  15The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.  16Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’  17This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.
 
Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
“When the Lord saw her.”  What do you think he saw?

Two large crowds met, one going in and the other out of Nain.  Yet Jesus saw one person among many: a grieving widowed mother.  Saw her loss and suffering; saw her as a person of worth.  He didn’t wait for her to see and acknowledge him.  He immediately “had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’”  Strange words for a grieving mother!  Before she could react he did the unthinkable, he stopped the bier and said to the dead man, “Young man, I say to you, rise!”  Imagine the expression on peoples’ faces when they heard this impossible command.  Expressions were quickly changed when the young man got up and began to speak.  I wonder what he said.

Jesus, expecting no thanks, making no demands, gave the man to his mother and Luke says no more about them.  The scene immediately shifts to the crowd’s reaction.  They were seized by fear, not fear that sent them running for cover, but fear in the sense of awe.  “They glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favorably on his people!’”  The same words Zechariah sang at the birth of his son, John: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people” (Lk 1:68), that is, God has visited his people.  “It means, ‘God has come near to us, to save and rescue us.’  It means, ‘This is the time we’ve been waiting for.’”[1]  They saw Jesus face to face, he interrupted their mourning, changed their grief to joy and they knew God had visited them at last.

How well do you see others, especially strangers who are unlike yourself?
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord Jesus, thank you for your compassion for all grieving lonely people.  May they experience your presence today.  Amen.

Live obediently.  Take time to truly see another today.
[1] Wright, N. T.  Luke for Everyone.  Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.  2001, p. 84.