Luke 7:11-17 11And it happened on the next day, he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12As he drew near to the gate of the town, and behold, someone was being carried out, one who had died, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a large crowd from the town was with her. 13And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14And after he came up, he touched the bier, and the bearers stood still, and he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16And fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
This story recounts one of the greatest miracles of Jesus. The previous story highlighted his ability to heal from a distance. This story shows his power over death. The scene is typical of a Jewish funeral procession in the first century. The story line of Jesus’ ministry moves along quickly to another significant account of Jesus’ healing power. The village of Nain was located about nine miles south of Nazareth. Jesus was more or less in his home area, though not in his hometown where people had rejected him. Many people were following him because word had spread and people were seeking help and healing.
The account focuses in on the funeral procession of a young man who had died. The mention of his mother being a widow and him being the only son suggests the social and economic plight of this woman. She was all alone. It was difficult to be a widow alone in that time because there would have been little support. Family was crucial for survival. The large crowd suggests that the whole village knew of this death and that she may have had at least support from the community. People were typically buried the same day they died. This woman was in a desperate situation but at least was not totally alone at the moment. What the future held for her could only be conjectured, but it was likely not a good situation.
Jesus saw through the situation and had compassion () on her.
ἐσπλαγχνίσθη
Compassion is an expression of love and concern for a person in need. This woman’s situation was dire, and so Jesus stepped in to make a difference. His gentle response, Do not weep, planted the seeds of hope and faith in the woman’s heart. Jesus did not wait for any response from her but intervened by going up to the bier. These people were on the way to the cemetery. This bier was the equivalent to the modern hearse. Jesus’ words had authority: Arise! His touch of a dead body made him ceremonially unclean in the eyes of Jews, but that did not matter. The outcome was immediate and obvious, with life coming to the dead man. He did not slowly come back to life, as if he was in a comma of some type, but he immediately began talking. The contrast was obvious to the people who witnessed the whole event. Jesus gave the man to his mother, restoring her hope and bringing stability to the family.
The story reveals Jesus’ identity. The crowd saw the power of God at work in Jesus in a unique and powerful way and that God had come in the person of Jesus. They wondered who Jesus was. Their fear was a holy awe and wonder at Jesus’ power to raise the dead. Their best guess was that he was a great prophet. They may have remembered the parallel story in 1 Kings 17:17-24 when Elijah raised the son of a widow of Zarephath. The reference to Judea shows the extent to which the news spread. Nain was in the middle between upper Galilee and lower Judea.
Jesus is more than a great prophet, as the crowd believed. This story invites readers not only to marvel at his power but to come in worship and faith. When the truth of the gospel is proclaimed, the biggest questions for people to answer are, who is Jesus, and what will I do about him?
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