14 And he came near, and put his hand on the stretcher where the dead man was: and those who were moving it came to a stop. And he said, Young man, I say to you, Get up.
Truly I say to you, The time is coming, it has even now come, when the voice of the Son of God will come to the ears of the dead, and those hearing it will have life.
And stretching herself out on the child three times, he made his prayer to the Lord, saying, O Lord my God, be pleased to let this child's life come back to him again.
If death takes a man, will he come to life again? All the days of my trouble I would be waiting, till the time came for me to be free.
For he gave the word, and it was done; by his order it was fixed for ever.
And he said to me, Son of man, is it possible for these bones to come to life? And I made answer, and said, It is for you to say, O Lord. And again he said to me, Be a prophet to these bones, and say to them, O you dry bones, give ear to the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord has said to these bones: See, I will make breath come into you so that you may come to life; And I will put muscles on you and make flesh come on you, and put skin over you, and breath into you, so that you may have life; and you will be certain that I am the Lord. So I gave the word as I was ordered: and at my words there was a shaking of the earth, and the bones came together, bone to bone. And looking I saw that there were muscles on them and flesh came up, and they were covered with skin: but there was no breath in them. And he said to me, Be a prophet to the wind, be a prophet, son of man, and say to the wind, The Lord has said: Come from the four winds, O wind, breathing on these dead so that they may come to life. And I gave the word at his orders, and breath came into them, and they came to life and got up on their feet, a very great army.
But he, taking her hand, said to her, My child, get up. And her spirit came back to her and she got up straight away: and he gave orders that food was to be given to her.
Do not be surprised at this: for the time is coming when his voice will come to all who are in the place of the dead, And they will come out; those who have done good, into the new life; and those who have done evil, to be judged.
Jesus said to her, I am myself that day and that life; he who has faith in me will have life even if he is dead;
But Peter made them all go outside, and went down on his knees in prayer; and turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, get up. And, opening her eyes, she saw Peter and got up. And he took her hand, lifting her up; and, sending for the saints and widows, he gave her to them, living.
(As it is said in the holy Writings, I have made you a father of a number of nations) before him in whom he had faith, that is, God, who gives life to the dead, and to whom the things which are not are as if they were.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Luke 7
Commentary on Luke 7 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 7
In this chapter we have,
Luk 7:1-10
Some difference there is between this story of the cure of the centurion's servant as it is related here and as we had it in Mt. 8:5, etc. There it was said that the centurion came to Christ; here it is said that he sent to him first some of the elders of the Jews (v. 3), and afterwards some other friends, v. 6. But it is a rule that we are said to do that which we do by another-Quod facimus per alium, id ipsum facere judicamur. The centurion might be said to do that which he did by his proxies; as a man takes possession by his attorney. But it is probable that the centurion himself came at last, when Christ said to him (Mt. 8:13), As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.
This miracle is here said to have been wrought by our Lord Jesus when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, v. 1. What Christ said he said publicly; whoever would might come and hear him: In secret have I said nothing, Jn. 18:20. Now, to give an undeniable proof of the authority of his preaching word, he here gives an incontestable proof of the power and efficacy of his healing word. He that had such a commanding empire in the kingdom of nature as that he could command away diseases, no doubt has such a sovereignty in the kingdom of grace as to enjoin duties displeasing to flesh and blood, and bind, under the highest penalties, to the observance of them. This miracle was wrought in Capernaum, where most of Christ's mighty works were done, Mt. 11:23. Now observe,
Luk 7:11-18
We have here the story of Christ's raising to life a widow's son at Nain, that was dead and in the carrying out to be buried, which Matthew and Mark had made no mention of; only, in the general, Matthew had recorded it, in Christ's answer to the disciples of John, that the dead were raised up, Mt. 11:5. Observe,
Luk 7:19-35
All this discourse concerning John Baptist, occasioned by his sending to ask whether he was the Messiah or no, we had, much as it is here related, Mt. 11:2-19.
Luk 7:36-50
When and where this passage of story happened does not appear; this evangelist does not observe order of time in his narrative so much as the other evangelists do; but it comes in here, upon occasion of Christ's being reproached as a friend to publicans and sinners, to show that it was only for their good, and to bring them to repentance, that he conversed with them; and that those whom he admitted hear him were reformed, or in a hopeful way to be so. Who this woman was that here testified so great an affection to Christ does not appear; it is commonly said to be Mary Magdalene, but I find no ground in scripture for it: she is described (ch. 8:2 and Mk. 16:9) to be one out of whom Christ had cast seven devils; but that is not mentioned here, and therefore it is probable that it was not she. Now observe here,
Now in what this good woman did, we may observe,