Category Archives: Luke 7

Raising the Son of the Widow of Nain

By Eric D. Huntsman. Cross-posted at New Testament Thoughts and excerpted from The Miracles of Jesus, 106–108.

Only Luke tells the story of the widow of Nain, whose son Jesus revived even as his body was being taken to its burial (Luke 7:11–17).  Placed after the healing of the centurion’s son and before the calming of the storm, this story may have been the first instance of Jesus’ raising someone from the dead (see “List of the Miracles of Jesus” in the Appendix).  According to the Lucan account, Jesus approached the city of Nain in Galilee, accompanied by a large following of disciples and others.  The site of ancient Nain, is now occupied by the Arab village of Na`in some four miles southeast of Nazareth.  The town has a beautiful view of the Jezreel Valley, which might have given it its name, meaning “lovely” or “charming.”[1]  At the gate of this town Jesus met the funeral procession of the young man, described as “the only son (Greek, monogenēs huios) of his mother, and she was a widow” (Luke 7:12, emphasis added).   Moved with compassion, Jesus told the bereft mother not to weep, reached out and touched the funeral bier, and called upon the young man, saying, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise (Greek, egerthēti)” (Luke 7:14, emphasis added).  Immediately the young man sat up alive and began to speak.  Continue reading

“He Took Our Infirmities, and Bare Our Sickness” (LDS Gospel Doctrine Lesson 7: Mark 1–2; 4:35–41; Luke 7:11–17)

By Eric D. Huntsman. Cross-posted at New Testament Thoughts.

Gospel Doctrine Lesson 7 focuses on the miracles of Jesus, a topic that has been of great interest to me the last several years, and the results of my research and thinking on this topic have recently been published by Deseret Book as The Miracles of Jesus. Continue reading