Luke 7:11-17

RAISING THE WIDOW'S SON

Luke 7:11-17. “And it came to pass consecutively, He was going into a city called Nain, and many disciples of His, and a great multitude, were accompanying Him. And when He drew near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son to his mother, and she a widow; and a great multitude of the city were along with her. And the Lord seeing her, was moved with compassion toward her, and said to her, Weep not. And having come to them, He touched the bier; and those carrying it stood still. And He said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise; and the dead sat up, and began to speak; and He gave him to his mother. And fear took hold of all, and they glorified God, saying, A great Prophet has risen among us, and God has looked in mercy on His people. And that word concerning Him went out in all Judea and all the surrounding country.” I visited the city of Nain during my recent tour. It stands on the northwestern slope of Mt. Ramoth-Gilead. Like other cities during the desolation of the country, its magnificence has long ago evanesced, leaving it nothing now but a filthy Arabic village amid the old ruins. A Latin church stands on the spot where it is certified that Jesus performed this stupendous miracle a suitable commemoration of this mighty work. We find that our Savior traveled all the way from Capernaum to Nain, about forty miles, on foot, returning immediately; thus giving Him a journey of eighty miles for this one benefaction, as the record shows that He made the round trip from Capernaum, and specifies this only item in His ministry meanwhile. Doubtless He preached to the multitudes by the way. How wonderful was the sympathy for that poor widow who was burying her only son, and with him all her support, hope, and happiness, so far as this world is concerned! I trow she was a godly woman, and Jesus heard her prayers and saw her tears, despite forty miles intervening. When He stops the corpse on its way to the tomb, momentous was the sensation, all hearts leaping with inquiry, “What does this mean, stopping a corpse on its way to the tomb?” Such a thing was never heard of. The people in the city are astonished to see the halt of the procession. Now that the panic- stricken pall-bearers have set down the bier in the middle of the road, all eyes centered on the Prophet of Galilee. He walks round, lifts the pall from the face of the dead, takes him by the hand, and speaks with the voice that makes the mountain tremble, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.” All eyes are centered on the corpse, which, sure enough, rises up, sitting on the bier, sees his mother, throws his arms around her, standing in loving embrace. Now the multitudes see that there is no mistake about it, Samuel is actually alive again. O what a shout they raise, “Glory to God in the highest! He has had mercy on Israel, and raised up a Prophet in her midst who has power to speak the dead to life!” What an inexplicable surprise falls on the people of the city! Who ever heard a shout at a funeral? What, in all the world, is the matter? They see the procession all broken up, and the people running hither and thither, as if they were wild, leaping and throwing their hats into the air, and shouting uproariously. They climb to the flat roofs of their houses, and stretch their eyes to see what is the matter. Behold! by this time the whole crowd are moving hack toward the city, their stentorian voices reverberating against old Mt. Gilead, and rolling back like thunder peals across the Plain of Megiddo, arousing all the community. Behold! they see the young man dressed in his grave-clothes, by the side of his mother, heading the procession.