Luke 7:16

There came a fear on all. Or, “fear seized all.”

Glorified God. According to the Greek they continued to praise God. When the people recovered from fear their next thought was to praise God.

A great prophet. This experience no doubt reminded them of similar incidents in olden times. Here was incontestable evidence of divine power; and the people concluded that the human agent through whom it was manifested must be a “prophet.” Compare also the Messianic promise of Deut. 18:15, and the reaction of the Jews to John (see John 1:21) and later to Jesus (see John 6:14; cf. chs. 4:19; 7:40).

Every Christian who mourns the loss of dear ones can find consolation in the compassion Jesus felt for the widow of Nain (see on v. 13), and has the privilege of comfort in the fact that the same Jesus still “watches with every mourning one beside the bier” (DA 319). He who holds in His hands the keys of death and the grave (Rev. 1:18) will one day break the bonds that bind His loved ones and set them forever free from the clutches of this great enemy of the human race (see 1 Cor. 15:26; 2 Tim. 1:10).