Jesus gives life to a dead man

Jesus gives life to a dead man

Luke 7:11-17

One of the towns that Jesus went to was Nain. Nain was on the slopes of Hermon Mountain, which was 25 miles from Capernaum. [Capernaum was the town where Jesus often stayed.]

Many disciples were with Jesus and a large crowd of other people. Soon, Jesus would say some very difficult things to these crowds and many people would leave him. Jesus did not make it easy for people to be with him. But at Nain, there was still a large crowd of people with him. They wanted to hear more of his words. They also wanted to see more miracles.

The funeral procession

At the gate of Nain, they met the procession for a funeral. A young man had died. He was the only son of a widow. People were carrying his body out to bury him. Perhaps his friends would put his body in a cave among the rocks.

Jesus looked at the young man‘s mother and was very sorry for her. Nobody asked him to do anything for her. Probably nobody thought that anyone could help her. Her son was dead. Jesus went straight to the bier. [A bier is a long piece of wood that men use to carry a dead body.] Jesus touched the bier, and spoke to the young man.

’Young man, I order you to get up‘, Jesus said.

Immediately the young man got up and began to speak.

A great miracle

This miracle must have surprised everyone very much. No dead person had become alive again since the time of Elisha, 900 years before (2 Kings 4:34-35). But Jesus was able to do this miracle. And he did not even say a prayer! Jesus realised that the people were very sad about the young man‘s death. He had great sympathy and immediately he did something. His words were few and his touch was gentle.

Jesus was very calm. He knew that he could help. He showed everybody who he really was. People knew that the power of God was there. They began to praise God.

A Jewish teacher would not normally touch a bier. [That is, the long piece of wood that men use to carry a dead body.] People thought that such an action caused a holy man to become unholy. The opposite thing happened here. The life in Christ passed to the dead man! Perhaps many of us need Jesus to touch us like that!