[On Sundays we’re reading accounts of people being “raised from the dead” in the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles. They are signs of the Lord’s power over death.]
Found only in Luke (7:11-17), this story is well known and needs little re-telling. It takes place just outside a small town called Naim. Jesus and his disciples are just approaching the town when a large funeral procession is coming out, headed toward the cemetery. They’re carrying the only son of a widowed mother.
This is very sad. The widow has just been deprived of her only son. And, her only means of support.
No one approaches Jesus and asks for help. The Gospel simply says that he saw this…and had pity on her. Everything that follows is at the initiative of Jesus. First he goes to the widow and says: “Do not cry.” Then he goes to the bier and tells those carrying it to stop. They do.
Picture the scene. Everyone is standing still. There is hushed silence. Then Jesus says, “Young man, I tell you, arise.”
And he does. The young man sits up and begins to speak. Luke then says, “And Jesus gave him back to his mother.”
One can only guess what went on after that. The sad tears of the widow are now a joyous flood as she throws her arms around her son, and then throws her arms around Jesus, and the townspeople dance around, and….
It’s too good for words. Just picture it and enjoy it.
In the years after his death-resurrection-ascension, Christians applied many titles to Jesus – e.g., Messiah, Lord. But during his earthly ministry, what titles did Jesus apply to himself?
The one that appears most frequently seems strange: “Son of Man” – as in the passage in the next post. It is used over 80 times in the Gospels, and only on the lips of Jesus. No one else ever addresses him this way.
But what does it mean?
Unfortunately, no one – neither Jesus, nor any of the New Testament writers – provides an explanation.
In some cases it seems that it could simply mean “a man’s son” – that is, truly human.
However, at times it appears to be related to a passage in the Book of Daniel: “As the visions during the night continued, I saw “One like a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven.” In this case, it suggests a messiah-like person in whom and through whom God brings salvation.
It is a mysterious phrase that conveys the mortal condition of Jesus…and his special dignity…and his eventual coming in glory.
However mysterious its meaning may be, it is a title Jesus used of himself.