The dead man sat up and began to talk. Luke 7:15
Recommended Reading: LUKE 7:11-17 “11 Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. 12 And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.16 Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.” 17 And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.”
COMMENTS: There are not many accounts of “raising from the dead” in scripture but they are all dramatic. Maybe the very nature of doing so makes it dramatic and may be reason why Jesus limited number of times and where He chose to do this miracle. The only instances of this miracle in scripture are:
- Elijah raising the son of the Zarephath widow from the dead. (1 Kings 17:17-22)
- Elisha raising the son of the Shunammite woman from the dead. (2 Kings 4:32-35)
- Man raised from the dead when his body touched Elisha’s bones. (2 Kings 13:20-21)
- Jesus raised son of the widow of Nain from the dead. (Luke 7:11-15)
- Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead. (Luke 8:41-42,49-55)
- Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. (John 11:1-44)
- Jesus rose from the dead. (Matthew 28:5-8, Mark 16:6, Luke 24:5-6)
- Many saints rose from the dead at the resurrection of Jesus (Matthew 27:50-53)
- Peter raised Dorcas from the dead. (Acts 9:36-41)
- Paul raised Eutychus from the dead. (Acts 20:9-10)
There may be more instances I have missed or more than recorded in scripture. This miracle was not common nor offered in every instance or opportunity that was needed. Truth is every miracle was for a God planned purpose which included but was not limited to meeting the need of the individual or his family. Also, all those raised died again later, so their miracle only lasted a few more years.
So, what was the point in raising them if they died a few years later. Only God knows but believe the reason in part became clear as the years afterward unfolded. The impact their lives made coupled with the miracle they experienced was a powerful marriage. I’m sure they all were permanently changed so their witness and lives demonstrated and exhibited a passionate and powerful witness to all who knew them. I can’t imagine it not. Can you?
Well, I don’t know nor have ever witnessed such a miracle and don’t know anyone who has, so I can only judge by accounts noted above and imagine how experience impacts witnesses and individuals.
BUT THE TRUTH IS WE ALL WILL EXPERIENCE RESURRECTION ONE DAY. ETERNAL LIFE IS DIFFERENT FROM MORTAL LIFE AND INFINITELY BETTER. Better because of freedom from sin and temptation, sickness and death, weakness and age, fatigue and discouragement, physical and mental limitations, …. The list goes on.
Ok, getting back to today’s story in Luke 7 relating to the young man raised by Jesus in Nain. I wonder what his first words were? Did he have any recollection of his death experience or did he simply awaken from his sleep with no recollection as we all do in the morning? We can only imagine as we can imagine what his mother’s and neighbor’s reaction was. The whole town likely knew him and whole town may have been involved in funeral ceremony which was going on when Jesus arrived at city gate.
It is never easy to lose a loved one, especially when a parent loses a child. It is one thing when much pain is experience by an ill and dying individual, for his family agonizes to see him suffer. For that situation, death is viewed as an escape or release from that suffering, but death is not the first choice. Death is welcomed only when hope of any other option like recovery by medicine or natural healing or even miraculous healing are no longer realistic. In those instances, measures to reduce or remove pain and make the patient comfortable until the process of dying is complete.
I was impacted when witnessing the process of dying for my sister first and my parents and other family later. Natural dying begins as individuals’ organs and body parts begin shutting down, reminding me of how we turn down the furnace and turn out the lights and lock door and windows when leaving our home for a time. Jesus tells us He goes to prepare a place for us and will come back to take us there. Our bodies are not our final home and each of us must leave our body and go to a place and inhabit a new eternal body He is preparing for us and in a place, He chooses based on key choice we have made.
When we no longer inhabit our mortal bodies, life in that body no longer is present. Have you ever noticed how different a house looks and feels when no one lives there? Have you ever noticed how quickly a house deteriorates and decays when no one lives there? Bringing new life into a house is common but new life into a body or soul is something only God can do. He does so every day to human souls who repent and accept His gift of forgiveness and redemption. He does so to give us new life that will last forever and not just for a few more years.
So, which is the greater miracle? Is it raising someone from the dead or is it experiencing new life from Jesus? Well then, in that case we all have seen God’s greatest miracle many times even in 2019 and would expect so for 2020 too. Let’s do our part so as many experiences this miracle in 2020 as God calls us to be involved in brings to pass. Each must choose for him or herself, but our influence and support does make a difference. So, let’s make more of a difference in 2020 than we did in 2019. That is God’s will and desire but needs to be ours too. AMEN? AMEN!
“Come, we that love the Lord, and let our joys be known.” Isaac Watts, “Marching to Zion”
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 532 blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present.
You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/ Many thanks to a pastor and dear brother in Christ in Nepal who set up the above Facebook page to help and encourage and give opportunity for more to explore and use my devotional blog materials.
My hope and prayer are, my blog and devotional materials will become a source of encouragement and tools in ministry for you.
Published by donsdevotions
Don McDaniel - Who am I?
Hello everyone and welcome to my devotional journal blog. In order to get acquainted and help you get to know me a bit better before considering following my blog, let me give you some background. I am a 74-year-old male and a retired engineer. I worked for a major supplier of underground mining equipment for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2012. Arlene and I have been happily married since April 1978 and have two grown – married children, one granddaughter and 2 step grandsons. I joined the local United Methodist church at age 12 after accepting Christ as my Savior at age 10 during revival services in that same church in 1961, so I have been a “Born Again” Christian all my teen years and adult life. Christ has helped and guided me all that time. He guided me in choosing my wife and life’s career. My life journey has included regrets and failures, but God has picked me up and protected and spared me from life threatening consequences and dangers more times than I can recall or count. But many I do recall and encourage and motivate me to trust and follow Christ with more passion than ever.
Christmas 2011 our daughter gave Arlene and I each a devotional journal. Journals were books with devotion for each day and space to give personal impressions and thoughts related to each devotion. Her desire was to have a lasting legacy she could refer back to and share with her children and grandchildren especially after we are gone. I was touched by that gesture. My parents and Arlene’s were devout Christians, so we would have greatly treasured having that from them, so we felt a sense of urgency to honor her request. I finished my journal first and returned it to our daughter the following Christmas. I’m glad I did it then because Parkinson’s has caused my hand writing to deteriorate since then. The exercise was such a blessing for me. Discipline of keeping journal helped me gain a deeper walk with Christ and greater discipline in honoring my time of prayer and devotion with Him each day. So, I decided to continue the practice but since I could not find a paper journal I liked, I decided to create my own. I had already been receiving electronic devotions by email every day from several sources, my favorite being “Turning Point” from Dr. David Jeremiah. What I decided to do was to include devotional scripture but add my own thoughts and comments only so there would be no issue of copyright infringement. Creating and maintaining journal by computer also addressed my deteriorating handwriting ability. I started an electronic devotion journal January 1, 2013 and have been faithful to that practice every day since. I prayed about method and level of distribution. My initial intent was to only share it with my two children by email, but quickly discovered others in my family, my church, and friends from work (both retired and still working) who knew me and wanted to be included in distribution when they learned what I was doing. I now distribute by email my daily journal at the beginning of each month to over 150 friends and relatives. God has richly blessed and encouraged me.
I am concerned with the state of our church and nation, and world for that matter, believing we are living in the end times the prophets of old and Christ have talked about in scripture, so time is short. I desire to be true to my Savior and a witness to help others come to a saving knowledge of Him and equipped to share His Good News too. If my journal can encourage and help others, I believe God wants me to share it. I struggled, for a time at first, because I know many others keep similar journals but only for their own edification and do not want to share them because they are private.
However, Christ has stirred my heart to share it as a witness tool.
Our son and daughter have a long-time friend who grew up with them who we also befriended nearly 25 years ago. He had a lot of family problems, so would gravitate to our family as a refuge and eventually thought of us as his adopted parents and he as our adopted son. We lost contact with him for some time when he grew up and left home. He traveled around the U.S. and eventually ended up in Ukraine where he resided for next 10 years. He had to return to the US to renew his visa and took opportunity to recommend I begin a blog of my devotions and helped me set it up. He is also an active blogger and has been an email subscriber to my journal for several months, so he has been suggesting I expand my distribution by starting a blog to get broader exposure. After reflection and prayer, I concluded God was in this, so he is helping me set up my blog site. This brief autobiography is my first entry.
He returned to Ukraine, then resided there until circumstanced made him decide to move back to US with his young son. This biography was my first post February 29, 2016 .
I have published 600 posts from 2016-2023 automatically sent to all my Facebook friends, published on WordPress to be accessible to anyone curious or seeking a deeper walk with God. I decided to take a sebatical to prepare for a new chapter. In 2014 I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease which affects patient ability to walk, drive, do physical work, and eventually talk. By mid 2023 it became evident our home for last 42 years (previously owned by my parents for previous 44 years and by my mother's grandparents for 39 years before that) would eventually not meet my needs so we decided to sell it and move into 1st floor of a duplex we also owned that was the town school from 1855-1913. Likewise, the property was requiring more maintenance that I was no longer able to keep up with. 2023 involved selling our home and moving into apartment next door and then in early 2025 an opportunity to move closer to our daughter and granddaughter in Kentucky which was completed in May 2025. For a number of months I have been seeking direction seeking God's direction and timing to return to blogging as my journey with Parkinson's continues to unfold with God's guiding hand in mine.
I hope and pray my devotions will continue to be a blessing for you. God certainly has become closer and more real to me since started this blog in 2016. I have spent time with Him studying scripture and praying and listening and writing this journal. I will continue seeking God’s help and will welcome your input to make this site as meaningful as I can and true to God, who is motivating me to create and maintain it. I will also welcome input in order to make format more meaningful going forward.
Don & Arlene McDaniel
In His Service,
Email: mcdanieldonald769@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Don1951
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 600+ blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present (https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/link-to-dons-devotional-journal-entries-2013/ )
You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/ Many thanks to a pastor and dear brother in Christ in Nepal who set up the above Facebook page to help and encourage and give opportunity for more to explore and use my devotional blog materials. View all posts by donsdevotions
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