She had lost her husband. Now she walked by those carrying the body of her only son. We don’t know if she had daughters, but perhaps she did not. Her son was her reason for living, and now he was gone. How could she make it alone? Where would she go? What would she do?

Her tears and grief blinded her. But Jesus saw her. The heart of our Lord was filled with compassion toward her. Jesus said, “Do not weep” Then He reached out and touched the bier. “Young man, I say unto you, arise,” Jesus commanded. Immediately the dead son came back to life. He sat up and started talking (Luke 7.11-15).

God’s Son has power over death. He told Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes on Me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever lives and believes on Me shall never die” (John 11.25). At another time, Jesus said, “The hour comes, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live… The hour comes, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth” (John 5.25, 28, 29).

Those of us who have experienced the death of a loved one know the emptiness, confusion, and despair such a loss brings. However, Paul reminds us that we should “sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4.13). You see, the power Jesus displayed in raising up the widow’s son, as well as Lazarus, helps us to have confidence that one day He will raise us up to eternal glory. That is one of the reasons, I feel, these accounts have been preserved in the written record of god’s word!

Furthermore, our hope is Christ, the One whom God raised from the dead, our Savior who has overcome death. Jesus is coming. He will raise up those who have died and bring them with Him. He will take all His children to heaven to live with Him forever. He is our life and this is our hope. What a glorious hope!