Luke 7:
11 Soon afterward 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 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.
a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow
There is a clear parallel with an account in the life of Elijah when he raised a widow's son in Zarephath.
1 Kings 17:17–24
After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. And he cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.”
When we compare the accounts, we see Jesus excels the prophet Elijah in mercy and power.
| Jesus | Elijah | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
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Luke 7:12 "[at] the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out" "and a considerable crowd from the town was with her" |
1 Kings 17:19 "he took him from her arms" |
Elijah did this privately, apart from any crowds, where Jesus did this openly for all to see. |
|
Luke 7:14 "he came up..." |
1 Kings 17:17 "he carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged..." |
Elijah took the boy even further into the privacy of his own room. Jesus came right up to her son in public. |
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Luke 7:14 "...and touched the bier" |
1 Kings 17:17 "...and laid him on his own bed" |
Elijah placed the boy on his private bed. Jesus treated the bier as the bed where He would work this miracle. |
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Luke 7:14 "he said, 'Young man, I say to you, arise.'" |
1 Kings 17:20 "he cried to the LORD" 1 Kings 17:21 "he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD" |
Jesus raised the young man by His own authority. Elijah called on the LORD. Jesus only spoke a word to bring him back to life. Elijah had to offer much prayer and a sign. |
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Luke 7:15 "the dead man sat up and began to speak" |
1 Kings 17:22 "the life of the child came into him again, and he revived" 1 Kings 17:23 "Elijah said, 'See, your son lives.'" |
Jesus raised the man immediately back to complete health, with the ability to bear his own witness. Elijah had to tell the boy's mother he was alive. |
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Luke 7:15 "and Jesus gave him to his mother" |
1 Kings 17:23 "Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother" |
Since the resurrected person is a full-grown man, Jesus must have given him a hand to get down off the bier. Elijah had to carry the surviving child back to his mother. |
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Luke 7:16 "A great prophet has arisen among us!" |
1 Kings 17:24 "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth." |
While these confessions are similar, it means more coming from this Gentile widow. (Luke 4:24–26) |
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Luke 7:16 "God has visited his people!" |
1 Kings 17:8–9 Then the word of the LORD came to him, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 1 Kings 18:1 "After many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, 'Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.'" |
This confession also follows the irony of God saving a Gentile widow alive while Israel suffers famine. Jesus's time teaching on earth seems to be about the same amount of time as the famine in Elijah's day, likening His resurrection to the rains that bring life. |
There is also an account in 2 Kings 4:8–37 of Elisha raising a child from the dead. It is not strictly parallel to Luke 4 in that the child's mother was not a destitute widow. But its obvious similarities to Elijah and its similarities to Luke's account make it worth comparing here.
In summary, the differences between Luke's and Elisha's accounts highlight the direct intervention of Jesus.
| 2 Kings 4 | Luke 7 |
|---|---|
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Elisha deals with the woman via his servant, perhaps as a translator. (2 Kings 4:12–15) |
Jesus dealt directly with the widow and the man's mourners. |
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The mother is not a widow, but she and her husband had been childless before Elisha prophesied the birth of their son. (2 Kings 4:16) |
Jesus helped a woman who was truly in desperation. (Compare 1 Timothy 5:3, "Honor widows who are truly widows.") |
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The child's mother laid him on the prophet's bed and shut the door; she believed from the outset that they would have their child back from the dead, saying "All is well." (2 Kings 4:21, 23, 26) |
She knew Elisha would raise her son, but Jesus appears to have surprised the widow of Nain. |
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She went to the prophet and implored him to come. (2 Kings 4:30) |
Jesus came upon them in funeral procession. |
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Elisha sent his servant ahead, but he was unable to raise the child. (2 Kings 4:31) |
Jesus did not use a servant this time, although there are other times His disciples found themselves unable to deliver. |
when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her
His compassion for the woman is not partiality, but the way God's heart is disposed towards widows.
Deuteronomy 10:17–18
The LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.
Fear seized them all
Several times in his gospel, Luke mentions people reacting with great fear on realizing God is working among them. To be sure, you don't see a thing like this every day!
“A great prophet has arisen among us!”
This statement is true, and fulfills what was written of Moses.
Deuteronomy 34:10–12
And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Acts 7:37
This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’
“God has visited his people!”
This phrase is echoed through the book of Exodus. There, it means God knows about the suffering of Israel, and the time has come to deliver them.
Exodus 3:16–17
Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, “The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, ‘I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.’”
Exodus 4:31
And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.
Exodus also records that Joseph had known beforehand by faith (Hebrews 11:22) that the Lord would visit His people.
Exodus 13:19
Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.”
Later in the history of Israel, the Scriptures tell of another widow in need who heard the Lord had visited His people.
Ruth 1:5–6
…the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the LORD had visited his people and given them food.