Luke 7:11-15

"Closely following this he (Jesus) traveled to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd were traveling with him. As he got near the gate of the city, why, look! there was a dead man being carried out, the only-begotten son of his mother. Besides, she was a widow. A considerable crowd from the city was also with her. And when the Lord caught sight of her, he was moved with pity for her, and he said to her: "Stop weeping." With that he approached and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still, and he said: "Young man, I say to you, Get up!" And the dead man sat up and started to speak, and he gave him to his mother."


In this account, Jesus took the initiative and approached the funeral procession. The widow from Nain was in a bad situation - she had already lost her husband and now her son (who was her only child) had also died. She had lost her means of economic support (males were the "bread-winners" of the household, in those days.) Jesus' qualities of compassion and empathy are obvious.

Wallflower

 

Shortly before this, Jesus healed the slave of a Roman army officer. (Luke 7:1-10) You will notice that it doesn’t say whether she was a Jew, Samaritan, Roman, Arab, rich, or poor. What was most important was the fact that she was grieving. Which of us, if we possessed the power, would not do the same?

Nain = meaning “beautyâ€￾, town where our Lord raised to life the only son of a widow woman (Luke 7:11-17). It is still called Nain, and is in the northwest corner of the eminence called Jebel Duhy, or Little Hermon, 2 miles west-southwest of En-dor, and 5 miles south-southwest of Nazareth. It is a small hamlet, little more than a cluster of ruins; with ancient sepulchral caverns chiefly on the east of the village. - A Dictionary of the Bible - John Davis, 1917. See map below. Or better yet, use Google Maps.