Amy C Walters

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

The story of Jesus raising the widow’s son in Luke 7 shares several close parallels to Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath from 1 Kings 17. In both cases, a widow’s only son dies but is raised back to life. But key differences in how the boys are raised show that Jesus is greater than the prophets.

This story from Luke 7:11-17 has some really interesting parallels to a story in the Old Testament. We’ve actually referenced it already back in Luke 4:16-30 as the first of two brief stories that Jesus tells to his hometown crowd in Nazareth. 

In 1 Kings 17:8-24, God sends the prophet Elijah to the Widow of Zarephath during a severe famine. Elijah initially meets the widow at the gate outside of the town. He goes and stays with the widow and her son and God provides for them during the whole time Elijah stays there. 

But then we’re told that sometime later, the widow’s only son dies. The widow, of course, is devastated at the loss of this boy and Elijah has great compassion on her. He takes the boy up to the room where he’s saying and begs God to restore the young boy’s life. Elijah even stretches himself out over the boy three times. God restores the boy’s life and Elijah takes him and gives him back to his mother who says, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the words of the Lord from your mouth are the truth.” 

So what parallels do we see between 1 Kings 17 and this story? First of all, both stories have widows with only sons. Elijah and Jesus both meet the widows at the town gates. In both instances, these poor women lose their only son. Elijah and Jesus both respond with compassion to the situation, both seek to do something about it. And God restores both boys’ lives. Finally, they both present the boys back to their mothers. 

And then, of course, there’s the response. The Widow of Zarephath said, “Now I know that you’re a man of God, and the words of the Lord from your mouth are true.” And in this story, the crowd was filled with awe and praised God saying, “A great prophet has appeared among us. God has come to help his people.” 

So there are many significant parallels in these stories. That may be part of the reason for the crowd’s response that “a great prophet has appeared among us.” But is Jesus really just a great prophet? 

Let’s look again at this miracle. In 1 Kings 17, it says that Elijah prays earnestly for the boy. He lays the boy out in his bed and then he stretches himself out over the boy three times. This is an elaborate process. Notice, too, that Elijah begs God to heal the boy. Elijah does not have the power to do it himself. He petitions God for his power and God does it. 

In the story of Jesus raising the widow’s son, Jesus walks up and places his hand on the open casket. He doesn’t even touch the body itself, just the casket. And all he does is say, “Young man, I say to you, get up.” These simple words from Jesus are enough to resurrect this young man. Jesus doesn’t have to go through an elaborate process. He doesn’t appeal to a higher authority. Jesus’ word is enough to resurrect this boy.

Luke draws these parallels for us on purpose. He intentionally reminds us of 1 Kings 17 so that we can see the vital contrast between the stories that Jesus’ word is enough to raise this boy from the dead. Because, as we see in our key truths for today, Jesus is greater than the prophets.

The crowd in Jesus’ day might have even thought back to Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath’s son. That might be why they say “a great prophet has appeared among us.” But they also say, “God has come to help his people.” In Greek, this phrase is “God has come to visit his people.” Visiting could be for either salvation or for judgment. But notice, in one case, they say “a great prophet” and in the other, they say “God.” 

In the story of Elijah, he was a great prophet. But in today’s story, it’s God himself who visits his people. 

This is so important for us to remember today because we encounter people who say that Jesus was a good prophet. He was a great man. He was a teacher. But they fail to realize that Jesus is God himself. Come to help his people. Come to visit his people, both for salvation and for judgment.