“But fear took hold of all, and they were glorifying God, saying, ‘A great prophet has been raised up among us,’ and ‘God has visited his people’” (Luke 7:16). [All Scripture references are the author’s own translation unless otherwise noted.] A sizeable gathering of local and out-of-town witnesses was present to irrefutably confirm the young man was in fact dead and then alive. This was not an everyday occurrence. The miracle was not done in secret. There were no skeptics in the crowd. Awestruck by what they had just experienced and afraid of what they did not understand (cf. 1:12, 65; 2:9; 5:26), they were both frightened and joyous at the same time (cf. Matt. 28:8). The fear (reverence, awe) of the Lord is powerful enough to dispel all other fears (2 Cor. 7:1; 1 John 4:18).
The theme of “glorifying God,” praising and honoring him, is prominent in Luke’s Gospel (5:25, 26; 7:16; 13:13; 17:15; 18:43; 23:47). Jesus spent his entire earthly life directing people’s attention upward to the heavenly throne (Matt. 9:8; 12:28; John 5:30; 6:38; 8:28-29; 11:40-42). His incarnation was the revelation and declaration of God himself (Matt. 1:23; John 1:18; 14:7-11). When receptive persons were near Jesus, listened to him, and saw his mighty works, they recognized the presence of deity (John 3:2; 9:33). They instinctively glorified God for both his greatness and his goodness (Luke 5:24-26; 19:37-38).
Just a short distance away, in his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus had observed, “no prophet is acceptable in his home place,” citing Elijah and Elisha as examples (Luke 4:24-27). Here, however, the people at Nain, familiar with biblical history and prophecy, proclaimed, “a great prophet has been raised up among us.” The Jews had long anticipated the coming of an eminent prophet of God, even the return of Elijah himself (Mal. 4:5; Luke 9:8, 19) and more notably a prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:15; John 6:14). Comparable to Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:8-37), Jesus had just displayed power to raise the dead. Unlike the prophets of old, he restored life on his own authority by merely speaking a word.
After approximately four centuries of absence and silence, God had once again, as in the ancient past, remembered his people and through this great prophet had visited them. The verb rendered “visit” here is always used in the NT benevolently, never for judgment. Amid hard times in general and Roman oppression in particular, this was an atmosphere of heightened expectation and longing for divine intercession and redemption (Luke 1:68; 24:21). While their inference was not completely misdirected, they could not yet have fully realized who it was standing before them (cf. Luke 24:19-21).
Early in the second century the Christian apologist Quadratus wrote to the emperor Hadrian concerning “the true miracles” of Jesus. He spoke of “those that were healed, those that were raised from the dead, who were seen, not only when healed and when raised, but were always present. They remained living a long time, not only while our Lord was on earth, but likewise when he had left the earth. So that some of them have also lived in our own times” (reported in Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 4.3.2). How is it that even today many are still convinced by the abundant evidence concerning the Christ, while many others are not persuaded at all and reject him?
--Kevin L. Moore
*Originally appearing as “Jesus and Power (Luke 7:11-17)” in the 2022 FHU Lectureship Book.
Related Posts: Miracle at Nain: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5
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