Thoughts on Luke 7:12-17

Thoughts on Luke 7:12-17 by Martin G. Collins

"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. (13) When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, Do not weep. (14) Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, Young man, I say to you, arise. (15) So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. (16) Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet has risen up among us; and, God has visited His people. (17) And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region."

The most profound of all the miracles Jesus performed during His earthly ministry are those in which He resurrected someone. The New Testament records three of these resurrection miracles, including the raising of a widow's son, of Jairus' daughter, and of Lazarus. Luke the physician is the only one to record the raising of a widow's son (Luke 7:11-17).

It is interesting that each of the three resurrection miracles reports the dead person in a different stage of death from the other instances. When Christ raises Jairus' daughter to life, she was still in the bed where she had died only a few hours earlier.

The widow's son lie in an open coffin on his way to his grave when Jesus performed the miracle.

Finally, Lazarus was already in the grave and had been dead for four days by the time Christ arrives and raised him from the dead (John 11:39).

The varying length of times they had been dead and yet were still resurrected shows that Christ can raise the dead no matter what. His miraculous power to resurrect is not dependent upon whether a person has just died, has been dead for days, or is already decomposing.

The same principle holds true regarding spiritual salvation: Jesus Christ can save any sinner no matter how old he is, how long he has been a sinner, or how badly he has sinned.

In the account of the resurrection miracle in Luke 7, the young man who has died is the only son of his widowed mother (verse 12). His death was twice as traumatic for the woman because she was now sonless as well as spouseless.

Jesus' compassion knows the human frame and He reaches out to the most challenging of human needs.

Trust Him to reach out to your need today--no matter what it is or how long you've faced it--Jesus is able to raise you up from its hold on you and to set you free from it forever.