Amy C Walters

Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son | Luke 7:11-17

Luke records two quotes from Jesus as he raises a widow’s son: “Don’t cry” and “Get up.” The first quote seems crazy and useless to say to a widow who has just lost her only son. But Jesus is also able to command the dead to rise. And today, we can find hope even in our pain because we know that resurrection is coming.

In this story, there’s very little speaking recorded, and the two quotes are included both come from Jesus. Jesus has come to Nain, followed by a crowd. Outside the town gates, they’re met by a widow, her dead son, and a crowd from the town. 

When Jesus sees the woman, his heart goes out to her and he tells her, “Don’t cry.” Now, what might that widow be thinking hearing those words from Jesus? If she doesn’t know who he is, then she’s probably thinking that such comfort is pointless. “What do you mean, don’t cry? I have just lost everything. My worst fears have been realized by losing my son. I am alone in this world. I have no hope for the future.” 

Crying is an appropriate response to this situation. What Jesus says to her does not make sense if it comes from anyone else. 

The crowd from the town that was with this woman, they were there mourning with her. They were there to support her. But ultimately, none of them could do anything for her situation. None of them could fix the problem that she’s facing.

And none of the crowd that has come with Jesus can do anything about it either. So if any one of them had said, “Don’t cry,” then yes, that would be a cruel thing to say at this moment, downplaying the severity of her situation. 

But Jesus says it, because he knows he is able to do something about it. He is working on something that will relieve her suffering and her situation, something that will result in her joy instead of her tears. 

Jesus goes up to the coffin and places his hand on it, and we get the second quote from Jesus, which is, “Young man, I say to you, get up.” And he does. The dead son gets up just at the simple words from Jesus. 

Notice that there is no elaborate ceremony or show or process for this healing. Jesus doesn’t mix anything. He doesn’t call for participation from anybody else. There’s just the simple words from Jesus. “I say to you, get up.”

And notice it’s “I say to you.” Jesus doesn’t appeal to some higher authority, or ask someone else for help to accomplish this miracle, because Jesus doesn’t need that help. There is no higher authority than Jesus. He is able to accomplish this incredible miracle. 

And this is a miracle. This is not a situation where someone has just fallen asleep or passed out and they are now recovering. Luke, who writes this, is a physician. He cares deeply about these details and would not exaggerate something like someone’s death. He emphasizes it by mentioning it twice: when Jesus approaches the gate, he writes, “a dead person was being carried out.” And then when Jesus speaks to the young man and tells him to get up, Luke writes, “the dead man sat up and began to talk.” 

So there is no mitigating this miracle. It is as incredible as it seems. Jesus has raised the dead to life. And that gives us our key truth for today: Jesus has power over death.

We have seen Jesus has power over the spirit world (Luke 4:31-37) and over the physical world (Luke 4:38-41). We’ve seen Jesus’ power over nature (Luke 5:1-11), and now we see power over death itself. How incredible is our God that he is able to raise the dead to life!

Now, for some of you, reading this story is difficult because you have lost someone that you love. Someone that you care about deeply has died. And maybe you have had moments of thinking, Jesus, why couldn’t you have raised this person that I love?

Wrestling with Jesus over those things can be very difficult when we are in our grief and struggling to understand what happened and why. But I want you to notice something here. There is a gap between the two things that Jesus speaks, a gap between when he says, “don’t cry,” and when he says, “get up.” There’s a space of time there. And in a sense, we are in that space of time right now. We are in that gap between “don’t cry” and “get up.”

Because Jesus’ miracle points us to an even greater resurrection. That young man, that son of the widow, eventually would die again. But for those of us who have trusted Jesus as our Savior, there is a resurrection into eternal life that we look forward to.

Scripture tells us in many places and in many ways, “don’t cry.” We’re told that in this world we would have trouble, “but take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We’re told, “do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10).

And yet, in the midst of our grief, we can sometimes start to think, “What’s the point of those words? What do you mean, don’t be dismayed? What do you mean, take heart? Isn’t crying right now the appropriate response to what I’m experiencing?” And yes, we should acknowledge those feelings, but we should also remember we are in a gap, because resurrection is coming. 

Jesus has said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). And Jesus is returning to call his people to himself, to live forever with him. We will see our loved ones again and be reunited with them and live forever with Jesus, where there is no more death or pain or sickness or tears. We will be with Jesus forever.

That is what we have coming. But right now, we are in the gap. And we are learning to trust Jesus’ words, that we don’t have to cry because resurrection is coming. He knows what he’s doing and he is preparing to do it. And we will one day be free from this pain and live with him forever.