Food for the Way: Kindness
Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. (Luke 7:11-15)
The story of Jesus and the widow of Nain is one of the most tender moments in the Gospels. It’s also one of the most helpful. Just five verses show us how fully Jesus embodied kindness and what that means for us as his followers.
Luke first tells us that Jesus looks at the widow. It’s not a passing glance. It’s warm and rich. It’s a look that takes in all that has happened to her and is happening to her. She’s already a widow. She’s already suffered a heart-wrenching and life-altering loss, and here we find her in the crowd of her only son’s funeral procession. Any comfort and security she had in the world is gone.
Historically, raspberries symbolize kindness. The bright red juice of the berries invokes the blood, which flows through the heart where kindness is said to originate. This connection between kindness and the heart is a helpful image to keep in mind when thinking about what Jesus does next.
When Jesus looks at the widow—and truly sees her—he feels compassion. The NIV’s translation of this passage puts it as, “his heart went out to her.” The Message says, “his heart broke.” As his heart stirs, Jesus moves, swiftly yet tenderly, to give the widow her heart’s desire...to give her her life back.
In Love Walked Among Us: Learning to Love Like Jesus, Paul E. Miller distills our subsequent response to Jesus’s kindness to the widow down to three things: “Look, feel, and then help.” To leave one out, he suggests, makes our actions cold and cheap.
How do we do this, though? Where do we find this compassion, this kindness? After all, the hearts from which our kindness flows are sinful ones.
We have to place ourselves in this story.
Yes, as followers of Jesus, we are called to be imitators of him. But here? In this scenario? We’re the widow. We are all widows in need—of compassion, of comfort, of a life restored. Just as Jesus looked at the widow, felt her need, and moved, so he did for us. But instead of moving towards a funeral bier, he, in God’s most complete act of lovingkindness, moved towards the cross where his blood flowed and his heart stopped to save us from our sins. It is from that kindness that our kindness flows. It is from that kindness that our hearts are made kind, made tender, and made to move in a faithful response to the undeserved gift of God’s grace in Jesus.
***
CONSIDER
What is the difference between being nice and being kind?
Think about a time you experienced kindness from another person. What makes that moment stand out to you?
How can the Lord’s grace and kindness to you permeate your relationships within the body of Christ?
Reflect Further
Read Genesis 16 and notice the similarities between God’s kindness to Hagar and Jesus’s kindness to the widow in Luke 7. What do these similarities tell us about God’s character and how He feels about His people?
Artwork by Tess Miller. Additional design by Rachel Lee.
We will be doing a limited print run of Food for the Way in November. If you'd like a print edition of this devotional mailed to you, please fill out this order form.