She was a widow. She had one son. The son was dead.
It wasn't a particularly unusual story even if it was a sad story with darkness in the future for this aging woman.
She never asked Jesus to help her. The crowd never asked Jesus to intervene.
He saw her situation and simply touched the bier on which her son lay.
"Do not weep."
No one can tell you why this woman's son was raised and not the sons of 1000 other widows in Israel. No one can say why Jesus' heart broke open at the sight of her loss and her need. But it did and the folks all around noticed it.
"God has looked favorably on his people" they said.
Oh, my friends, you have no idea. God's favor abounds through this Jesus: generous with compassion and, ultimately, for us all with the gift of life. No one sees it coming their way. No one truly expects that the generosity of God can not only fill the space where our loss lies, but fill it to overflowing. That's the way grace works. Luke 7.11-17
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