The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Luke 7:13,
"When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, 'Don't cry.'"
Luke provides us with an account of a widow whose only son had died. Jesus had come across the funeral procession carrying him out of the town gate of Nain. Jesus came up to the widow in her grief and Luke tells us the Lord's heart "went out to her". He then brought the son back to life and gave him back to his mother.
This account, of course, demonstrates that Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the flesh. As the Creator he, and only he, of all who have been born into the human family, could do such a thing. We are told that Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, was the creative agent within the godhead, "By him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him." Colossians 1:16. We also read, "Through him [the Word, Jesus Christ] all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men." John 1:3. The life "in him" is what he provides us all and was from which this dead son was brought back to life.
But there is something else in this account that captures my attention, something that touches my heart deeply. Luke tells us something revealing about the Lord's heart: "his heart went out to her". We know there is a special place in the Lord's heart for widows and others who are truly helpless. "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land." Psalm 68:5-6. "Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— the Lord, who remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked." Psalm 146:5-9.
It is this kindness, this love, this mercy of the Lord's heart that grips my heart. It is something I struggle to wrap my mind around. It is something I find so compelling about our Lord - it draws me to him. He loves us with a love I can scarcely fathom. When I read passages such as "When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." Titus 3:4-5, it grips my heart. How can I not be moved by such a heart as this? How can I not be drawn to him?
It is these very kinds of passages in Scripture that cause me to reflect on the matchless perfection of the love of our Savior's heart.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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