The Miracle at Nain

Jesus and His disciples left Capernaum and began to make their way toward Jerusalem. Look at Luke 7:11. "Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd."

Jesus had just healed the servant of a centurion at Capernaum (vv. 1-10), and now He is about to step up His game. He and His disciples, followed by a large crowd of curious onlookers, came to the "city called Nain" (v. 11a). "And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her" (v. 12).

Nain is a small city, "a village," might better describe this town. It is one of those small towns where everyone knows nearly everyone. So a large number of people, "a large crowd... was with her" (v. 12b). Nearly all came to the funeral of this beloved widow's son. So crowd meets crowd, greatly multiplying the number of people who witnessed this miracle first hand.

"When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, 'Do not weep'" (v. 13). Jesus felt a sincere concern for this widow because of her great misfortune and suffering. As a widow in that society and at that time, she already had little to no means of earning a living, but now her only provider, her only son, had died and was being carried out of the city to the cemetery to be buried.

Then Jesus "came and touched the open coffin" (v. 14a). In that day, this was the final opportunity to view the body for closure to the loss of this young man. But Jesus touched the coffin, "and those who carried him stood still"(v. 14b). Then Jesus spoke to the young man who had died, saying, "Young man, I say to you, arise" (v. 14c).

And what happened? There are too many witnesses for this to be denied. "He who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother" (v. 15). Jesus raised this young man from the dead! He restored him to life and restored him to his mother, so that he could again provide for her needs.

"Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, 'A great prophet has risen up among us'; and, 'God has visited His people'" (v. 16). Verse 17 concludes, "And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region." Rightly so. It was true. God had visited His people in His Son Jesus Christ. Trust Jesus. Follow Jesus. Jesus meets needs; your needs! He will even perform a miracle, if need be, to take care of you! Amen.

Were There Not Ten?

Luke 17:11-19 tells a fascinating story about ten lepers. "Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off" (vv. 11-12). We last saw Jesus in Capernaum on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee where His ministry was headquartered out of the home of Peter. It was there that He healed a man who had leprosy.

Because of the common belief of that day that leprosy was extremely contagious, all who suffered from the disease were housed in separate villages of their own. Not only did they live apart from society, but if they went anywhere and came across people, they covered their face with their cloak, crying out, "Unclean, unclean." But that is not what happened here.

Instead, the scripture says, "And they lifted up their voices and said, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!'" (v. 13). They likely covered their faces with their cloaks, but they did not holler out, "Unclean, unclean." They knew who Jesus was, or at least, they knew He had the power of God to heal. So their approach was to call out to Him, "Jesus, Master, have mercy in us!" (v. 13).

"When He saw them," Jesus responded, "Go, show yourselves to the priests" (v. 14a). An interesting response indeed! He saw their faith, their strong belief that Jesus could heal, and He told them simply to fulfill the Law of Moses by going to the priests. Leviticus 14:1-32 gives the requirements of the law to be fulfilled by anyone healed of leprosy, but the interesting thing is that they are required first of all to have been healed already. These men left Jesus and headed to see the priests before being healed. However, "as they went" in faith, "they were cleansed" (Luke 17:14b).

"And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks" (vv. 15-16a). And it is noted that "he was a Samaritan" (v. 16b). When Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, they took some of the Jews to other conquered lands and brought other conquered peoples to northern Israel and settled them there. That resulted in intermarriage between these Jews and the foreign peoples, creating a mixed race known as the Samaritans. Because they are not full-blooded, the Jews despised them.

Note how this man not only returned to thank Jesus for his healing, but he came giving God the glory "with a loud voice" (v. 15b). He wasn't ashamed of his faith. He wanted all to know what Jesus had done for him. And he laid prostrate before Jesus, both giving thanks for his healing and worshiping Him. That is how we all should respond when our prayers are answered.

Note here that Jesus paid close attention to what had just happened. He was grateful for the one who returned to thank Him, but He noted, "Were there not ten?" (v. 17a). "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" (vv. 17-18). Ninety percent of those who were cleansed went their own way and did not follow the Lord Jesus. Ninety percent!

Only one in ten truly reinforced his faith in Jesus by returning to Him and following Him. And to that one, Jesus said, "Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well" (v. 19). Oh, to live for Jesus! That is the way we all should go. Amen.