Rumor Has It (Part One)

Luke 7:11-18 is an account of Jesus raising the dead. It occurs on the day after the incident with the centurion's sick servant. Jesus had traveled to the city of Nain, a walled city with a gate. Traveling with Jesus were “many of his disciples” and “much people.” I can envision a small crowd.

As Jesus and his crowd were making to enter through the gate into the city, they were met by another crowd of people exiting through the gate. That second crowd was, in fact, a funeral procession. That crowd followed along with a widow who was on her way to bury her only son.

On the surface, such a crowd might give the impression that the widow, her late husband, and her deceased son had garnered the love and respect of the community. A first thought is that one or more of the tragic family unit were objects of community admiration.

Such is not a certainty, however. People without their own business to attend will invariably attend someone else's business. Simple and gregarious folk may follow along for no other reason than they are curious and have nothing better to hold their attention. Also, a tenet of such Jewish events were the professional mourners who could be hired.

Whatever the case, the poor woman had lost her entire family. She was a broken soul knowing only the sorrow of bitter loss. Jesus felt sorry for her and responded with compassion. He felt it was all too much for her to bear. Now, he did not have to raise her son from the dead – he could simply have extended his condolence, but Jesus was the son of God acting in his father's name. He was the outward expression of God's will.

This miracle must be compared to the miracle of the previous day. Whereas the healing of the centurion's servant engendered awe, the raising of the dead son engendered fear. A wandering Rabbi raises a corpse to life – literally, talks it back to life, then takes him by the hand and personally delivers him back to his mother. What's one to think?

They were taken aback. They were at a loss. This was definitely not normal. They actually trembled with fear, and the opinions they voiced among themselves were couched in words of utter amazement. They are recorded as having said such things as “God has visited His people” and “a great prophet is risen up among us.” Such words glorified God.

Prophets in Israel were never rare. The greatest of the prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha, performed similar miracles. Doubtless, all that crowd grew up hearing the stories of Elijah and Elisha in their synagogues. Now, they had witnessed such a miracle with their own eyes and it made their hearts skip a beat.

Jesus had previously performed miracles and word of those miracles had spread. The nature of such news about Jesus was couched in words such as 'fame.' This time, however, a different word was applied – that word was 'rumor.'

Rumor is defined thus: 'a currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth' and 'circulated as an unverified account.' In other words: where's the evidence? The rumor of Jesus raising the dead son of the widow went far and wide, ultimately reaching the ears of the disciples of John the Baptist. In part two of 'Rumor Has It' I will explore the concerns that John voiced.