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Luke 7:11–17
“[Jesus] came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise.’ And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother” (vv. 14–15).
The centurion whose servant Jesus healed when the man was on the brink of death confessed that our Savior had such power and authority that He could restore the man simply by speaking the word. Christ proved that the centurion’s trust was rightly placed when He spoke and the servant recovered (Luke 7:1–10). That was not the last time that Jesus displayed His power and authority by accomplishing a miracle simply by His saying so, for we read in Luke 7:11–17 of another occasion when our Lord healed a man by speaking a word.
Luke tells us that this healing took place in Nain, a tiny town about twenty miles southwest of Capernaum (v. 11). Jesus encountered a funeral procession leaving Nain. A widow was traveling out of the city with the body of her only son, who was being carried out on a funeral bier (v. 12). We should not miss the tragedy of this situation. Widows in the ancient world were especially vulnerable, lacking husbands to care for them, and childless widows were in an even more desperate state. Scripture commends the care of widows and has harsh things to say about their mistreatment precisely because they were in such a precarious position (e.g., Deut. 24:19; 27:19).
In Luke 7:13, we read that Jesus had compassion on the widow, another fact we should not gloss over. Our Savior exhibits holy compassion on those who are in need; He is not unacquainted with our suffering but sympathizes with us when we suffer a great loss. Yet Jesus’ sympathy is not merely an emotion from one who cannot assist us. Jesus is the Lord of creation (see John 1:1–3), and His compassion has power to overcome even death. We see this in Luke 7:14–15. Approaching the bier, Jesus touched it and then commanded the son to get up. His effectual word restored life to the man, for he was resurrected. Ordinarily, touching a dead body or something that a dead body had come into contact with would render a person ritually unclean (Num. 19:11–22), but this did not happen with Jesus. Being the source of life Himself (John 14:6), Jesus could not be made unclean, but He purifies everything unclean that He redeems.
The people who saw the work of Christ were amazed and glorified God, calling Jesus a prophet. Probably they were reminded of the similar miracle of Elijah, who had raised the widow of Zarephath’s son (1 Kings 17:8–24). Jesus is a Prophet, yes, but they did not yet understand that Jesus is far greater than any other prophet.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Jesus has the power to make clean that which is unclean. He does this when He forgives sinners, and He will cleanse the whole world at His return, removing even the presence of death from creation. If we believe in Jesus, we have been cleansed from sin and His mighty power grants to us eternal life. Not even death can stop Him.
for further study
- 2 Kings 4:1–37
- Proverbs 15:25
- Luke 9:37–43a
- Acts 20:7–12
the bible in a year
- Judges 13–14
- Luke 9:28–62