XLIV.
JESUS RAISES THE WIDOW'S SON.
(At Nain in Galilee.)
cLUKE VII. 11-17.
c11 And it came to pass
soon afterwards [many ancient authorities read on the next day],
that he went into a city called Nain; and his disciples went with him,
and a great multitude. [We find that Jesus had been thronged with multitudes
pretty continuously since the choosing of his twelve apostles. Nain lies
on the northern slope of the mountain, which the Crusaders called Little
Hermon, between twenty and twenty-five miles south of Capernaum, and about
two miles west of Endor. At present it is a small place with about a dozen
mud hovels, but still bears its old name, which the Arabs have modified
into Nein. It is situated on a bench in the mountain about sixty feet above
the plain.] 12 Now when he drew near
to the gate of the city, behold, there was carried out one that was dead,
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the
city was with her. [Places of sepulture were outside the towns, that
ceremonial pollution must be avoided. To this rule there was an exception.
The kings of Judah were buried in the city of David (II. Kings xvi. 20;
xxi. 18, 26). The Jews were careful to give public expression to their
sympathy for those who were bereaved (John xi. 19). The death of an only
child represented to them as to us the extreme of sorrow (Jer. vi. 26;
Zech. xii. 10; Amos viii. 10). But in this case the sorrow was heightened
by the fact that the mother was a widow, and hence evidently dependent
upon her son for support. Her son had comforted her in her first loss of
a husband, but now that her son was dead, there was none left to comfort.]
13 And when the Lord saw her [Some take this use of the phrase "the
[275] Lord," as an evidence of the late date
at which Luke wrote his Gospel; but the point is not well taken, for John
used it even before Jesus ascension--John xxi. 7], he had compassion
on her, and said unto her, Weep not. [As the funeral procession came
out of the gate, they met Jesus with his company coming in. Hence there
were many witnesses to what followed. But the miracle in this instance
was not wrought so much attest our Lord's commission, or to show his power,
as to do good. As Jesus had no other business in Nain but to do good, we
may well believe that he went there for the express purpose of comforting
this forlorn mother. Compare John xi. 1-15. Good blessings may come to
us when reason speaks and God's wise judgment answers; but we get our best
blessings when our afflictions cry unto him and his compassion replies.]
14 And he came nigh and touched the bier: and the bearers stood still.
[The word here translated "bier" may mean a bier or coffin, and the authorities
are about equally divided as to which it was. It was more likely a stretcher
of boards, with the pallet or bed upon it, and the body of the young man
wrapped in linen lying upon the bed. Coffins, which were common in Babylon
and Egypt, were rarely used by the Jews, save in the burial of people of
distinction; and, if we may trust the writing of the later rabbis, the
burial of children. When they were used, the body was placed in them, and
borne without any lid to the place of sepulture. We find no coffin in the
burial of either Lazarus or Jesus. Jesus was, no doubt, known to many in
Nain, and it is no wonder that those who bore the bier stood still when
he touched it. Though we can not say that he had raised the dead prior
to this, we can say that he had healed every kind of disease known among
the people, and therefore his act would beget a reasonable expectancy that
he might do something even here.] And he said, Young man, I say unto
thee, Arise. [Here, as in the other instances where Jesus revived the
dead, we find that he issues a personal call to the party whose remains
are before him. It suggests the sublime thought that he has as full dominion
and [276] authority over the unseen as over
the seen; and that should he issue a general call, all the dead would revive
again as obediently and immediately as did the single one to whom he now
spoke (John v. 28, 29). The command of Jesus, moreover, is spoken with
the ease and consciousness of authority known only to Divinity. Compare
the dependent tone of Simon Peter--Acts iii. 6.]
15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. [Thus showing that
not only life, but also health and strength, were restored.] And he
gave him to his mother. [As the full fruitage of his compassion. The
scene suggests that Christ will, with his own hands, restore kindred to
kindred in the glorious morning of resurrection.]
16 And fear took hold on all [Because the power of God had been so
signally manifested among them. They recognized the presence of God's power
and mercy, yet by no means apprehended the nearness of his very person]:
and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet is arisen among us:
and, God hath visited his people. [Expectation of the return of one
of the prophets was at that time widely spread. See Luke ix. 8, 19. That
they should esteem Jesus as no more than a prophet was no wonder, for as
yet even his apostles had not confessed him as the Christ. In state and
conduct Jesus appeared to them too humble to fulfill the popular ideas
of Messiahship. But in wisdom and miracle he outshone all God's former
messengers. The "visiting" of God refers to the long absence of the more
strikingly miraculous powers of God as exercised through the prophets.
None had raised the dead since the days of Elisha.]
17 And this report went forth concerning him in the whole of Judaea, and
all the region round about. [This great miracle caused the fame of
Jesus to fill all Judæa as well as Galilee. It seems, from what next
follows, to have reached John the Baptist in his prison on the east of
the Dead Sea.] [277]
[FFG 275-277]
