Raising the Widow's Son at Nain #16

Raising the widow’s son at Nain is the account of Jesus meeting a funeral procession at the gate of the town of Nain, and raising the dead young man who was the only son of a widow. It is recorded only in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 7:11-17).

The Account

Soon after healing the centurion’s servant, Jesus went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a large crowd. As he approached the town gate, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, who was a widow. A large crowd from the town was with her (Luke 7:11-12).

Luke says that when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said, “Weep not.” He went up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother (Luke 7:13-15). Fear seized everyone, and they glorified God, saying that a great prophet had arisen among them and that God had visited his people. The report spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country (Luke 7:16-17).

Setting and Context

Nain was a small town in Galilee, and burial customs of the time meant the dead were carried on an open bier and buried quickly, usually on the day of death, outside the town. In the ancient world a widow whose only son had died lost her main source of support and legal protection, which is why her situation was so desperate, and why the Old Testament repeatedly calls for care of widows. Notably, no one asks Jesus for anything. He acts on his own initiative, prompted by compassion.

Luke deliberately echoes the stories of Elijah and Elisha. Elijah raised the son of a widow at Zarephath and “delivered him unto his mother” (1 Kings 17:23), and Elisha raised the son of the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:32-37). Luke uses nearly the same words in his phrase about giving the son to his mother, and the crowd’s cry that “a great prophet has arisen” points the same direction.

What It Reveals

Luke uses the story to show that Jesus is more than a prophet like those of old, since Elijah had to pray and stretch himself over the boy, while Jesus simply speaks. Luke calls him “the Lord” in the narration, a title he uses to signal Jesus’s authority. The next scene has John the Baptist’s disciples asking whether Jesus is the coming one, and Jesus’s answer lists raising of the dead among the signs (Luke 7:18-23).

The story also highlights God’s care for the vulnerable. Christians have long emphasized Jesus’s compassion as the motive for the miracle, and see it as a picture of God’s concern for grief. Along with Jairus’s daughter and Lazarus, it belongs to the three accounts of Jesus raising the dead in the Gospels.