Prophet
Christ is Prophet, Priest, and King
The Revealer of
God’s Truth
Prophets Confront Sin and Injustice
The identification of Jesus as a great prophet because he had raised the dead is probably a reflection of the biblical stories (2 Kings 13:21 “they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet”; cf. Sir. 48:13) and later legends surrounding the mysterious prophets Elijah and Elisha (Sir. 48:1–14; Lives of the Prophets 21–22; Apocalypse of Elijah). But the background of this Lukan story is probably even more specific.
The geographic and thematic background of this passage is found in two similar stories involving the two famous prophets. There are at least seven parallels between Luke 7:11–17 and the stories of Elijah in 1 Kings 17:17–24 and Elisha in 2 Kings 4:8–37: (1) Nain (Luke 7:11) may very well allude (rightly or wrongly) to the ancient city of Shunem, where the woman of Elisha’s miracle lived (2 Kings 4:8). This name (from the Latin Naim) may represent an abbreviation of Shunem. In any case, Nain was situated in the proximity of the ancient site. (2) Both stories involve widows (Luke 7:12; 1 Kings 17:9, 17; cf. 2 Kings 4:1–7, where Elisha also aids a widow and her son). (3) Both stories involve the death of an only son (Luke 7:12; 1 Kings 17:17; 2 Kings 4:32). (4) Jesus meets the grieving widow at the gate of the city (Luke 7:12), as Elijah had met the widow (1 Kings 17:10). (5) Both resuscitated sons speak or cry out when revived (Luke 7:15; 1 Kings 17:22). (6) The clause, he gave him back to his mother (Luke 7:15), follows LXX 1 Kings 17:23 verbatim. (7) Although the exclamation of the astonished crowd in Nain (Luke 7:16: A great prophet has arisen among us!) approximates the widow’s exclamation (1 Kings 17:24: “Now I know that you are a man of God”), it may not be close enough to be a true parallel. However, the Targum’s paraphrase of the exclamation in 1 Kings 17:24 provides a very close parallel: “You are the prophet of the Lord.”
It was customary among the Jewish people to bury the dead, if at all possible, on the very day of death. Thus, when Jesus encountered the funeral entourage, most readers would have assumed that the widow’s son had died that very day. His mother would therefore have been in the throes of grief.
The corpse was washed, anointed with perfume, wrapped in linen (but not embalmed), then carried amidst much weeping and wailing to the tomb. One year later, family members will gather the bones of the departed and place them in an ossuary, or bone box.
Contrary to convention and expectations, Jesus says to the grieving mother: Do not weep (v. 13). These words would have struck all as strange, for there was no more appropriate time for weeping than at the time of death. Jesus’ words imply that there is no cause for grieving, for the young man will yet live.
Jesus commands: Young man, I say to you, arise (v. 14). To the utter astonishment of all, the dead man sat up, and began to speak (v. 15). The young man’s speaking signifies that he has awakened from death fully recovered. His sudden and unexpected movement was not some sort of convulsion, but an awakening and recovery from death. His speaking shows that he is conscious and mentally alert; his sitting up shows that he is sufficiently strengthened physically. The funeral has indeed been cancelled.
When the people see the miracle, they cry out, God has visited his people!
