Luke 7:11 - 17
11 Soon afterward[c] he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus[d] gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
Question:
ReplyDelete1. How is it possible that more people don't put their faith in Him after this?
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-7-commentary says:
ReplyDelete"Nain was a day’s journey from Capernaum and lay between Endor and Shunem, where Elisha, as the old story runs, raised another mother’s son (2 Kings 4:18–37). To this day, ten minutes’ walk from Nain on the road to Endor there is a cemetery of rock tombs in which the dead are laid."
Nain was only about 20 miles southwest of Capernaum. It lay on the northern slope of the Hill of Moreh that stood at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley. It was 6 miles south and a little east of Nazareth and is easily visible across the valley from Nazareth. The Hill of Moreh is a significant site because on its south side stood Shunem where Elisha raised the son of the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:18-37). Luke distinguished two groups of people who accompanied Jesus, namely His disciples and a large multitude of presumably non-disciples.
Life Application Study Bible - This story illustrates salvation. The whole world was dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1), just as the widow's son was dead. Being dead, we could do nothing to help ourselves—we couldn't even ask for help. But God had compassion on us, and he sent Jesus to raise us to life with him (Ephesians 2:4-7). The dead man did not earn his second chance at life, and we cannot earn our new life in Christ. But we can accept God's gift of life, praise God for it, and use our lives to do his will.
I. An Afflicted Woman. Her circumstances reveal a—
1. SORROWFUL PAST. "She was a widow".
2. BITTER PRESENT. "Now her dead son is being carried out."
3. HOPELESS FUTURE. This was the funeral of "the only son of his mother".
II. An Almighty Friend.
1. AN EXPRESSION OF SYMPATHY. "When the Lord saw her He had compassion on her" (v. 12).
2. AN UNUSUAL WORD OF COMFORT. "He said unto her, Weep not" (v. 12). Weep not? Does she think these words spoken in mockery?
3. A TIMELY ARREST. "He touched the bier, and they that bare him stood still" (v. 14).
4. A STRANGE COMMAND. "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise" (v. 14).
5. A WONDROUS CHANGE. "He that was dead sat up, and began to speak" (v. 15).
6. A HAPPY REUNION. "He delivered him to his mother" (v. 15).
7. A GOD-HONOURING RESULT. "There came a fear on all, and they glorified God" (v. 16).
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-7-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteFunerals were normally held the day of death because keeping a body overnight rendered a house unclean. Before the funeral the body was anointed. In a town the size of Nain (k 7:11) many would have stopped to share in the mourning.
Interrupting a funeral was a blatant breach of Jewish law and custom; touching the bier exposed Jesus to a day’s uncleanness (Nu 19:21–22); touching the corpse exposed him to a week’s uncleanness (cf. Nu 5:2–3; 19:11–20).
The people of this region believed that the spirit hovered over the body for three days after death and could hear13 their cries of grief. These cries were a way of honoring the person who died. They demonstrated that the person was loved and greatly missed. The mourners would also wash the body and clip the hair and nails of the deceased.
Strips of linen were then wrapped around the body and were laced with hyssop, rose oils, rose water, myrrh, aloes, cinnamon or olive oil. The smell of these spices was pleasant and as fragrant as a garden of roses and wild flowers. The spices and paste that covered the body would harden the layers of linen, forming a shell or cocoon around the body of the deceased loved one.
The body was placed in a grave for those who were poor, or a cave-type tomb for those who were wealthier. Cherished objects would be buried with the deceased person. It was then sealed with a huge stone weighing over a ton. They did not use coffins because of a lack of wood. In Israel, they did not cremate or burn the body either because this was considered an outrage inflicted only on notorious criminals or evil doers.
If the body was buried in the ground, it would be covered with many stones in order that the hyenas would not dig up the body. Guards were also placed by the grave for many days to protect the remains from animals. To warn the living that a body was buried in a cave, they would paint the outside of the tomb with white-wash.
the Lord saw her - Jesus found out what was going on here and what this situation was all about. When He did, He had compassion on her.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-7-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteThe resurrection of the dead was a sign of the Messiah, the "Expected One" mentioned in Lk 7:22 ("the dead are raised up"). Note that this resurrection is not like the resurrection of Christ, for the man was reunited with his mortal body but he would die again. Christ alone is "the first fruits of those who are asleep." (1 Cor. 15:20) and "each (will be raised) in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming." (1 Co 15:23).
Luke 7:16 Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and, "God has visited His people!"
The crowd recognizes there is something special about Jesus but sadly fails to recognize Him as God. They failed to see that it was God Himself at work in their midst. I wonder how often He is at work in my day, in circumstances bad and good, and yet I too like the Jewish crowd fail to recognize His hand in the circumstances? Lord, give us eyes to see you working in our midst. Amen
They "glorified God." This was the acme of Christ's desire. Christ said in the upper room just before He went to the Cross,
"Father, I have glorified Thy name upon the earth."
When a real work of grace is done through evangelist, missionary or pastor, the Lord is glorified.
Questions and findings:
ReplyDelete1. How is it possible that more people don't put their faith in Him after this?
Some people did. However, putting your faith in Jesus is inconvenient, and people will believe whatever they want to believe, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. It's easier to believe that Jesus is an old time prophet than to believe that He is the Messiah. The fact that He is the Messiah forces us to confront how we are living our lives - and we don't want to do that. It takes the Holy Spirit to come and change us so that we don't deny truth anymore, and even that is a process.