Contemplative Bible Reading

Luke 7:11-16 (New Living Translation)

11 …Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. 12 A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. … 15 Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! … 16 Great fear swept the crowd,

This is the (hi)story of Jesus raising the only son of a widow from the dead. This woman was in a horrible situation, i.e., no men to support her in a day when that was the only way.

Large crowds were following Jesus. Large crowds were following the widow and her dead son. We have no evidence here of either large crowd doing anything for the widow. They were sympathetic; their presence showed that. No evidence of anything else.

They were, however, witnesses to a miracle that saved the life of the son and of the widow.

The large crowds that otherwise did nothing did one important thing: they saw what happened. They were moved to fear because of seeing what happened. I believe each person in these two large crowds told everyone about this for the rest of their lives. That is a lot of evangelism and that ain’t too bad for people who did nothing but witness a miracle.

Sometimes being a witness is enough.

I believe that God performs miracles right in front of me several times a day every day. I need to have my eyes open and witness.