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A brief synopsis of the miracle from Luke chapter 7 depicts Jesus intercepting a burial procession and miraculously bringing a dead young man back to life. But there is much more to understand about the setting. As with all miracles, but especially so with this one, the context is vital to understanding this incident. Having taught at the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center, let me share with you some personal insights about this miracle.

Nain was a small farming village at Jesus’s time, nestled up against Mount Moreh, which defined the east side of the Jezreel Valley. The town itself was off the beaten path. Access to it was limited to a single road. During Jesus’s time, this hamlet would have been small and relatively poor, and it has remained that way ever since. At times in its history, this town has encircled as few as thirty-five homes and just 157 people. Today it is home to about 1,500 inhabitants.[1]

Luke begins his vignette by noting that Jesus was in Capernaum the day before and had healed the Centurion’s servant (see Luke 7:11). Then we learn that “the day after” (verse 11; emphasis added), the Savior went into a city called Nain, accompanied by a large group of disciples. This sequence is very important. Capernaum is situated on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, at an elevation of 600 feet (183 m) below sea level. Nain is about thirty miles (forty-eight km) away from Capernaum at 700 feet (213 m) above sea level, thus requiring an arduous, uphill climb to Nain. In order to walk from Capernaum to Nain, it would have taken at least one or two days. Recently it took a group of youthful BYU Jerusalem Center students ten hours to walk this route on paved roads. This means that Jesus probably had to arise very early or possibly even walk during the night in order to intercept the burial procession “the day after.”[2]

As Christ approached the city after a very taxing journey, a young man in his twenties was being carried out on a burial slab. Luke tells us that this young man was a widow’s only son, and some scholars interpret the Greek text to imply that she has no other offspring.[3] A large group of villagers accompanied her in this most unfortunate family tragedy.

Obviously, having a son die would be a tragedy for anyone, but consider the implications for this widow. Just what would it have meant socially, spiritually, and financially to be a widow without an inheritor in ancient Israel? In Jewish culture, it was believed that when a husband died before old age, it was a sign of God’s judgment for sin. Thus, through the law of retribution, God was meting out punishment upon this surviving widow. In the Old Testament, when Naomi was widowed at an early age, she bemoaned, “After all, the Lord is against me, and the Almighty has broken me” (Ruth 1:21, International Standard Version).[4]

Not only was there spiritual and emotional pain, but this widow of Nain was also facing financial ruin—even staring starvation in the face. Upon marriage, a woman was assigned to her husband’s family for financial protection. If he died, then her care was delegated to her birthright son. Now that this widow’s birthright and only son was dead, she was at the end of her rope financially. She probably was a middle-aged woman, living in a small, secluded farm town, and now found herself spiritually, socially, and financially destitute.

Precisely at the narrow window of time when the villagers were carrying this woman’s son out to be buried, Jesus happened upon the procession and has “compassion on her” (Luke 7:13). Actually, this might be Luke’s greatest understatement. Jesus somehow sensed the utterly desperate situation of this widow. Perhaps she had spent the night sprawled on her dirt floor, begging Heavenly Father to know why. Perhaps she had even openly questioned why he was requiring her to live any longer on this earth. Or perhaps she was terrified of the pending loneliness that she was facing. We do not know. But we do know that the Savior chose to leave Capernaum immediately, which likely required him to walk through the night in order to intercept the burial procession right before they put the body in the ground.

Yes, when he saw her tear-stained face walking behind that slab, Jesus felt great compassion for this woman—but it came from feelings that he experienced long before he just “happened” to intercept that burial entourage. He had clearly planned to be there in her moment of need.

Jesus then told the widow to “weep not” (verse 13). Unafraid of ritual uncleanness, he touched the palette, and the procession “stood still.” He then forcefully commanded, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.

“And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And [Jesus] delivered him to his mother” (verses 14–15). Naturally, the crowd of villagers and Jesus’s followers were awestruck as their shared grief turned to pure joy. But this miracle was not just about impressing a small farming community. It was all about rescuing one desperate soul. Jesus was aware that something was very wrong for this woman—someone who was a true “nobody” in their culture. Her situation cried out for his immediate attention, even if he had to skip a night’s rest. He knew her desperate situation, and he came running. President Thomas S. Monson spoke undeniable truth when he said, “One day, when we look back at the seeming coincidences of our lives, we will realize that perhaps they weren’t so coincidental after all.”[5]

Now, as uplifting as this incident is, it must become much more than a cool Bible story to us. It verifies unmistakably that Jesus knew about this poor, forgotten, and destitute widow. Especially when we feel forgotten or overlooked or insignificant, we must remember: Jesus hurried to the widow, and he will hurry to us as well. Additionally, a second reason we all must remember this account is that the Lord intends for you to bless others around you. Many within your circle will be discouraged from time to time. If you can tell them about “Sister Nain” and how the Lord knew precisely her discouragement and great personal crisis, it will change night to day. Remember President Spencer W. Kimball’s great observation: “God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs.”[6]

Of all Jesus’s miracles during his time on earth, few are as tender and compassionate as his ministering to the widow of Nain. It reminds us that we matter to him, that he will never forget us. We cannot forget that.

Keith J. Wilson, “In Times of Discouragement, Remember the Widow of Nain,” Ensign, April 2019, 12–17.

Notes

[1] See E. Mills, Census of Palestine 1931: Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas (Jerusalem: Palestine Government, 1932), 75.

[2] See S. Kent Brown, The Testimony of Luke: Brigham Young University New Testament Commentary (Provo, UT: BYU Studies, 2015), 364; also see D. Kelly Ogden, Verse by Verse: The Four Gospels (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006), 229.

[3] See Brown, The Testimony of Luke, 365.

[4] In Isaiah 54:4, the Lord tells the widow Israel that she will “no longer remember the disgrace of [her] abandonment” (New English Translation).

[5] Thomas S. Monson, in Joseph B. Wirthlin, “Lessons Learned in the Journey of Life,” Ensign, December 2000, 7; Liahona, May 2001, 38.

[6] Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2006), 82.