Luke 7:12 And as He came near the gate of the city, behold, one who had died was being carried out, an only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a considerable crowd from the city was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, He was moved with compassion for her and said to her, Do not weep. 14 And He came near and touched the bier, and those carrying it stood still. And He said, Young man, to you I say, Arise. 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak. And He gave him to his mother.
This case was unique in its misery--the only son of a widow was being carried in the coffin. First she had lost her husband, and now she had lost her only son. The Savior's compassion was also unique in His loving sympathy. He volunteered, in His tender mercy, His power of resurrection to raise the widow's son from death, without being asked to do so. This indicates His unique commission, coming to save lost sinners (19:10), and shows the high standard of His morality, as a Man-Savior, in saving sinners. In His compassion, the Man-Savior spoke to the widow and touched the coffin. He was not asked to do these things. But seeing the situation, He initiated the action that caused the dead son to be raised up. To the great surprise of those present, the Lord initiated this action according to His human virtue. What caused Him to be moved with compassion? The cause of this was His human virtue. Then in His human virtue His divine attributes were expressed by raising the young man from the dead. Again we see that the Lord Jesus is full of the human virtues and of the divine attributes. In His raising up the dead son and giving him to his mother, we see the expression of the Man-Savior's divine attributes in His human virtues. When the Lord touched the coffin, He showed His sympathy, affection, and love.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Luke, pp. 137-138. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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