God blocked it

God blocked it

Previously, Jesus was in the town of Capernaum on the shore of the Sea of Galilee where he healed a centurion’s servant. The very next day, he and his disciples travel about 15 to 20 miles south to the city of Nain.

Nain is on the northwest slope of Mt. Tabor, close to another town called Shunem.

He goes there with a large crowd of his disciples. He has more than just his twelve apostles. Instead, because of his miracles and teachings, many other disciples are following Him as well. There is an air of excitement and expectation around this crowd.

They have heard some amazing truths from Jesus. They have seen Him perform an incredible healing. They want to see what He will do next.

As He and this expectant crowd of disciples enter Nain, they meet another large crowd coming out. This second crowd, however, is not joyful and excited. There is not an air of expectation about them. Just the opposite.

They are weeping, wailing and mourning. They are not following a man who feeds them, gives them life, and provides great teachings. Instead, this second group is following a dead man.

It says that that the crowd of mourners was following a dead man, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. This sentence is filled with sorrow. This woman is a widow. She has already lost her husband. She has already experienced that grief. And now she has lost her son as well. The text says she lost her only son. He was an only begotten son.

This means she is now destitute. She has no way to provide for herself. In that culture, women could not work. They depended on their husbands. If their husband died, they depended on a son.

If their son died, they would be forced to beg. That was this woman’s situation, now. She had no one to provide for her. No one to take care of her. But that was probably not her immediate concern.

Her immediate concern was that she had once again lost someone she loved dearly. Yes, nobody was going to provide for her, but worse, she was now alone. Completely alone. There is nobody for her to share her grief with. Oh sure, there is that huge crowd of people behind her.

Some of them were probably her friends, but when you experience this kind of grief, you always feel completely alone, even when surrounded by multitudes.