Helping someone out, no matter the size of the gesture, shows our true humanity.
Luke 7 11-17 11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” 14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
This is a guy I can like. This is a guy with compassion. This is a guy who is generous. This is a guy I can follow.
What sticks out to me in this telling of a brief encounter at the gate of Nain is the gentle, decent, caring nature of a man called Jesus. Certainly the dead man was no acquaintance of his, nor the mother. However in her time of grief, in her time of need, when she must have felt the weight of being alone in this world most, a total stranger stopped and gave her son back to her. Why would this unknown person seemingly commit the first documented random act of kindness?
It’s simple really, Jesus’s heart went out to her and he did what he could do. We’ve all witnessed people in our midst, in our social circle, perhaps even in our family go through difficult times. While we don’t have the abilities that Jesus had, does it mean we get excused from doing what we can do? I’d like to think that our heart does break for those having a tough time but if I’m honest, sometimes I think we pass it off with a “That’s too bad.” or a “Those poor people.” Can we help everyone? No. Should we do what we can? Absolutely. We should help.
Our help can be through prayer, comfort, a word or gesture of caring or support through works or monetarily. We need to remember that in the midst of all that must have been going on around Jesus, with the disciples and the anxious crowd he recognized a need. Jesus exhibited his humanity.
The Son of God, the prince of peace, a man heralded as a prophet who many probably already thought had come to save an entire people stopped what he was doing to ease the burden of another. I can accept that guy as my savior.
What have you done to help someone out? Did you know them? What do you tell yourself when you don’t do what you can for someone else or some cause? What could simply doing what you were capable of mean in your life? How might it change you?
If you know someone wrestling with knowing what they can do to help, please share this with them. We have some of the social icons below.
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