History in the Balance

Christian Prophecy & Our Theories of History
by Patrick Henry Reardon

In a little place called Nain, a traffic jam took shape one day, at the narrow city gate. St. Luke recorded the scene; Jesus, he tells us,

went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and a large crowd. And as he approached 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 accompanied her. (7:11–12)

Although it was customary for funeral processions to claim the right of way, an exception was made in this case when Jesus “came and touched the open coffin, and the pallbearers stood still.” One presumes that Touchstone readers are familiar with the rest of the story.

Among the details worthy of further comment, however, is the response of the crowd of people who witnessed that exceptional event. When they saw the dead man suddenly sit up in his open coffin and begin to speak, “fear came upon all,” says Luke, “and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has arisen among us’ and ‘God has visited his people.’”

Prophet? How is it that Jesus is called a prophet when he raises this man to life? Why this term, specifically, in this context?

A Prophet’s Authority

I suggest there are three considerations required by this question. First, in the Hebrew Scriptures we observe that only the prophets raised anyone from the dead. We all recall the stories. There was Elijah, we remember, who raised the dead son of the widow of Zarephath. We also call to mind the prophet Elisha, who restored to life the son of the Shunammite woman.

These two instances were well known to the citizens of the village of Nain. Although they had never seen the like of what Jesus did that day, they did remember the stories of the biblical prophets who raised the dead, and they knew that the same thing was happening in their midst and before their very eyes. A son was being carried off to his grave, but suddenly Jesus “came and touched the open coffin.” When the pallbearers stopped, Jesus spoke with authority to the man that lay upon the bier, “Young man, I say to you, arise!”

That command, the crowd knew, was given with the voice of utter authority. Death itself could not withstand the force of that authority. It was the voice of a prophet, a man divinely appointed to interpret the events of history for his contemporaries. These onlookers remembered the stories of Elijah and Elisha; they knew that a great prophet had once again arisen among them.

A Prophet’s Intervention

Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor emeritus of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently, Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2019).

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