Why did Jesus heal the people he healed? The gospels don’t reveal any one pattern or motivation. Sometimes he was moved by someone’s plight; more often he responded to articulations or demonstrations of faith. And sometimes he seemed to work miracles simply to reveal the power and values of the Kingdom of God. In this story, we see Jesus perform one his most disruptive miracles out of compassion:
As Jesus approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.”
Why did Jesus feel for on this widow? He must have seen many a funeral procession; he didn't generally step in to restore life in one bound for burial. Isn’t this why God gets a bad rap in the healing business – the seeming capriciousness as healing occurs in one and not another? It’s enough to cause some to shy away from healing prayer altogether.
Of course, we don't know the why's. I would submit it’s not a helpful question in the first place. We go off the rails whenever we compare the perceived activity of God in one person’s life to that in anothers. There is too much we do not know, so much we cannot see about ways God might be working internally, to judge that one was favored over another.
Yes, many a widow went on to bury her beloved child in Jesus’ day, and since. And yes, many a bereaved person has seen God answer his or her prayers in the peace that comes after the loss, instead of by preventing the loss. We do best when we look at how God has acted in our own lives, bearing witness to the gifts we have received, rather than totting up the gain and loss columns and comparing them.
When do you feel God has been merciful to you? When has Jesus responded to you with compassion? Does it matter that it wasn’t as “big” a response as raising a dead son? Can we simply be grateful for the gifts we have received?
And where in your life would you like to see life restored? Where would you like to experience Jesus’ compassion? Can you have a conversation with him in prayer about that?
When we are fully open and honest with God about our heartbreaks, and really invite him in, I believe he comes to each one of us and says, “Do not weep.” What he does next is never predictable – and always worthy of praise.
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