Luke 7:11-17 Bible Study Text and Questions
Luke 7:11-17 Meditation Part 1
“I say to you arise!” This is the title of our meditation. “I say to you arise!” is also the call that Christ sends out to each one of us. These words are taken from the episode we are going to consider, the raising from the dead of the only son of the widow of Nain, Luke 7:11-17.
This episode is firmly rooted in reality as we would expect from Luke who also wrote the Acts of the Apostles, the early history of the Church. Luke sets the time, shortly after healing the centurion’s servant, and the place, the town of Nain. Neither the widow nor her son has a name, suggesting that we are to look beyond the actual characters to focus on the message and on the identity of Jesus. The event is therefore full of theological and spiritual significance. The episode takes us into the heart of the Christian message and into the heart of Christian living.
The name ‘Nain’ means ‘lovely’, ‘pleasant’, ‘charming’ because of the view the town offers overlooking a green fertile valley. The town constitutes the backdrop which evokes pleasantness, delight, beauty but here we are outside the town gate, and symbolically, outside everything the town represents. Jesus is making his way from Capernaum to Nain in the company of two categories of people, his disciples and a great crowd. They are approaching the town, and at the same time, walking in the opposite direction, is another crowd coming out of the town. This is a funeral procession led by the bearers of the open stretcher carrying the corpse of a young man, the only son of a widow. They are on their way to the place of burial. We might call this the procession of death and the following of Jesus, the procession of life. So there are two processions moving in opposite directions; one towards the tomb, the land of the dead; the other towards the beauty and delight of the town, the land of the living.
There are essentially three distinct categories of people in this episode. The first category is made up of all those who are in the procession of death. We can compare these to those people today who have not yet experienced that vital encounter with the risen Lord that leads to a change of life. These bear a spiritual corpse within, a spirit that is dead to God and insensitive to the abundant life, love and freedom that God has to offer. These are awaiting the new birth that will allow them to enter into the Kingdom of God and join the procession of life:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:5)
If there is anyone in this category here today who has not yet accepted Christ as Saviour and Lord of his life, now is the time to leave the procession of death and embrace the procession of life. Now is the time to listen to the voice of Jesus saying ‘I say to you, arise’, arise from your inner death and experience the new birth that will make all things new.
The second category is that of the disciples, walking in close proximity to Jesus, interacting with him on a personal level, learning from him and enjoying his continuous presence. These are the committed Christians, those who seek first the Kingdom of God and experience the abundance God has in store for us all:
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” - these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:9)
The third category is that of the crowd accompanying Jesus and his disciples. Although they are in the procession of life, part of the people of God on the march, they follow at a distance; almost as spectators. We compare these to Christians who go through all the motions, they go to church, they seek the gifts but not the giver; they seek an emotional experience; they are there to satisfy their curiosity and their own needs, these have a religion of convenience only. They are less committed or perhaps not committed at all. Of the crowd John says:
many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them. (John 2:23)
Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. … This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ... But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. (Matthew 13:10-13; 16, 17)
Part 2 > > > > Luke 7:11-17 Meditation Continue to Read > > > >
Luke 7:11-17 Text and Questions
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