Nain

This village of Nain is located in northern Israel, in the region known as Lower Galilee. It lies fourteen kilometres or eight-and-a-half miles south to south-east of Nazareth. In the context of Luke’s Gospel, it would be 52.5 kilometres or thirty miles from Capernaum and it lay between Mount Tabor in the north and Mount Moreh in the south, just above the Jezreel Valley.

The city is mentioned only once in scripture and that is in Luke chapter 7, but how remarkable it is.

It was a city marked by sadness, v. 12, but one where the Lord exhibited sympathy to the bereaved widow, v. 13. It was a city in which Luke records two statements of the Lord, vv. 13, 14, and made restoration of a son to his mother, v. 15, which generated a significant response from those that observed, vv. 16, 17.

However, before considering the passage relating to Nain, let us note the context in which Luke puts this account.

The opening phrase of the passage states, ‘And it came to pass the day after’, v. 11. We should ask, ‘the day after what?’ It indicates that the visit to Nain followed immediately upon events in Capernaum that are described in the preceding verses. There the Lord had been approached by the Jewish leaders of the town on behalf of a Roman centurion who had a very sick servant or slave.

If we avoid bringing our 21st-century view of slavery to the passage, we should think about this request. In first-century terms, the one that was sick was only a slave! Surely, another one could be purchased from the slave market. Why expend such time and effort? Whilst such comments may be deeply offensive to people today, they enable us to see the concern and compassion exhibited by the centurion, and by the Lord in responding to his request. They put a value upon human life far above that which was the common view of the time.

We might also note that Capernaum was thirty miles from Nain. On foot, the main means of personal transport in that day, it was a distance that would take a whole day to make. What, then, was the important business that the Lord had to do as part of His visit to Nain? Why take the journey?

With that background, let us consider Nain as a place of:

Sadness

Note, ‘there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother’, v. 12.

What was the Lord’s business whilst in Nain? All that we read of in relation to the place is the detail of this funeral procession for the widow’s son. What was the focal point of the scene? Luke states, ‘a dead man carried out’, v. 12.

There was a time, perhaps still in existence in some places, when a funeral procession carried enormous respect. It is true that for significant figures of state that is still true. The normal things of life are put on hold for a brief time as a mark of respect for the individual who has died, but also for a moment of reflection and sympathy for the relatives who have been left. This is where our attention is directed!

I want us to appreciate, in the measure that we are able, the sadness here. As a widow, she had lost a husband. We must not lose the significance of that event. Many readers may know how devastating it is to lose a life partner, someone with whom they have lived for thirty, forty, or fifty years.

But this was only a part of this woman’s experience. The funeral procession she was now following was that of her only son. This son had been the one to take up the responsibility for the care and financial support of his mother. There was no welfare state in those days. There was no social security, care home, or care in the community provision. Without a son, this woman would be destitute, struggling to process a double bereavement and a significant financial crisis as well! Her situation was extreme!

This is why the context of this passage is so valuable as it enables us to think of the Saviour’s compassion in healing the slave who was at the point of death in Capernaum. Whilst others might attach little value to human life, the Lord cared. He exhibited it in Capernaum and here again in Nain! What a joy for us, as Christians, to know that we have a High Priest who is ‘touched with the feeling of our infirmities’, Heb. 4. 15.

Sympathy, v. 13

We have posed the question as to why the Lord made His journey. Why travel the thirty miles from Capernaum to Nain? The reason is given us here - the plight of the poor widow we have considered. This was not ‘mere coincidence’ that brought the Saviour to the city gate at just this time. Luke tells us, ‘when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her’. We might paraphrase it by saying, ‘His heart went out to her’. This is what compassion means. It is an assessment and action of the heart.

At any funeral there will be a mix of people and attitudes present. There will be those who, because of their connection to the dead person, will be feeling deep sorrow. They will be grappling with their own emotions. Others may be present out of respect for the bereaved, struggling with a sense of their own impotence when faced with mortality. But here is something that distinguishes the Lord from the crowd. He sees the woman, picking her out from that crowd following the coffin. He sees the intensity of her grief and uncertain future. He has compassion!

Should we not ponder that thought in the darkest moments through which we pass? The Lord knows. The Lord cares. The Lord has compassion! But what does that mean in this instance? Let us note that the Lord takes the initiative. He moves towards the widow and speaks to her. It is not the grand but empty gesture of the politician or celebrity. It is the action of one who cares and who can change the situation for this widow.

Defining statements, vv. 13, 14

The Lord says, ‘Weep not’, v. 13. In essence, He says, ‘cease weeping as there is no need to continue’.

Remembering the Lord’s words in the house of Jairus when confronted with the dead girl, He said, ‘Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth’, Mark 5. 39. He was greeted by laughter and scorn. Examining the Lord’s words here, we could imagine the response of the unbelieving. But we must remember that the widow was in the presence of One of whom John chapter 1 verse 4 records, ‘In him was life; and the life was the light of men’. He was the One who spoke and brought the worlds into being. He is the One who upholds all things by the word of His power. He is the One who said to Martha, ‘I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live’, John 11. 25.

Thus, we ask the question, thinking of the words of the Lord to Jeremiah, ‘Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?’ Jer. 32. 27.

This brings us to the second statement, ‘Young man, I say unto thee, Arise’, v. 14.

The sceptic might say that claims are justified by actions. Here is the evidence that the Lord is in absolute control and that He has the power to meet this situation, for death cannot exist in the presence of the Prince of life. The young man was raised from death!

But we should notice what preceded this statement - ‘he came and touched the bier’, v. 14. This was remarkable. For an orthodox Jew it was unthinkable, for it brought ceremonial uncleanness. As we consider the person of the Lord Jesus, this could not be so. Remember, Mark chapter 1 records it, that a leper came to the Lord seeking cleansing from his dread disease. Verse 41 tells us, ‘Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean’. As here, so there. No ceremonial uncleanness could result, for the leprosy was banished, as death was banished here.

Have there been times in your life when you have doubted -doubted the ability of the Saviour in a particular situation? In human terms, you have felt that you were in a situation so complex that it was beyond human resolution, where you felt utterly helpless to avoid it and its outcomes. God said to Abraham, when He told him that Sarah would bear him a son, ‘Is any thing too hard for the Lord?’ Gen. 18. 14.

Restoration, v. 15

‘And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother’.

The sceptic may scoff but this young man had been dead for at least twenty-four hours and was on his way to be buried. Now, says the verse, he ‘sat up, and began to speak’. His return to life was genuine. It was not a young man still desperately ill whispering a few words in weakness. He ‘began to speak’ and, no doubt, continued in that vein. It was not the gradual response of someone coming out of a coma, because he sat up. More than that, the Lord ‘delivered him to his mother’. He dispensed with the coffin and walked to meet his mother. What a restoration!

The response, vv. 16, 17

‘There came a fear on all: and they glorified God’, v. 16.

First, there was a reverential awe and genuine wonder. Like the disciples on the Sea of Galilee, Mark 4. 41, they might have asked, ‘What manner of man is this?’ Second, ‘they glorified God’. It is a feature of Luke’s Gospel that the outcomes of the Lord’s actions brought glory to God.

Thus, as we leave Nain, let us remember what it reveals to us of the heart of the Saviour, His compassion and care, and the reminder it gives us of the great High Priest that is ours. As we contemplate His power, may we bow in reverential awe, and may it challenge all of our hearts to glorify God in all that we do!