“And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.”
My Notes
What Does Luke 7:16 Mean?
Luke 7:16 records the immediate crowd reaction to Jesus raising the widow of Nain's son from the dead — one of three resurrection miracles in Jesus's ministry (also Jairus's daughter and Lazarus). The response reveals both what the crowd perceived and what they missed.
"And there came a fear on all" — the Greek elaben phobos hapantas (fear seized everyone) describes not casual nervousness but holy terror — the phobos (fear, awe, dread) that grips humans in the presence of the numinous. Something just happened that shouldn't be possible. A dead man sat up and started talking. The crowd's first response is not joy but terror.
"And they glorified God" — the Greek edoxazon ton theon (they were glorifying God) follows the fear. Terror gives way to worship. The crowd recognizes that what they've witnessed is God at work — the power behind Jesus's act is divine.
"Saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us" — the Greek prophētēs megas ēgerthē en hēmin (a great prophet has been raised up among us) is the crowd's theological interpretation. They place Jesus in the prophetic tradition — likely thinking of Elijah (who raised the widow of Zarephath's son, 1 Kings 17:17-24) or Elisha (who raised the Shunammite's son, 2 Kings 4:32-37). The parallel to Elijah is especially close: both raise a widow's only son.
"And, That God hath visited his people" — the Greek epeskepsato ho theos ton laon autou (God has visited His people) uses the verb episkeptomai (visit, look upon, care for) — the same word used for God's redemptive intervention throughout Luke (1:68, 1:78). The crowd senses that something epochal is happening: God is paying attention again. After centuries of perceived silence, God has turned toward His people.
The crowd is right about the visitation but incomplete about the visitor. Jesus is not just a prophet. He is the God who visits. But the recognition of divine visitation — even in its incomplete form — is the correct starting point.
Reflection Questions
- 1.The crowd's first response is fear, not joy. When has an encounter with God's power produced awe or even terror in you before it produced comfort?
- 2.They call Jesus 'a great prophet' — correct but incomplete. Where in your understanding of Jesus might you be right but not far enough?
- 3.'God hath visited his people.' After long seasons of God's apparent silence, what would a divine visitation look like in your life right now?
- 4.The visitation happened at a funeral — in the middle of grief. How does knowing that God often 'visits' in the darkest moments change how you interpret your hardest seasons?
Devotional
Fear first. Then worship. Then two declarations: a great prophet has risen, and God has visited His people.
The crowd just watched a dead man sit up in his coffin. Their sequence of responses is exactly right — terror, then glory to God, then an attempt to understand what they've just seen. They reach for the categories available to them: prophet, visitation. Elijah raised a widow's son. This man did too. God must be at work again.
They're not wrong. They're just not far enough. Jesus isn't a prophet. He's the one the prophets pointed to. God hasn't just visited through a messenger. God is standing in the street, touching the coffin, speaking to the dead.
But the crowd's instinct — "God hath visited his people" — is profoundly correct, even if they don't fully grasp how correct it is. That word "visited" carries centuries of longing. Since the exile, since the prophets went silent, since the temple was rebuilt without the glory cloud, Israel has been waiting for God to visit. To pay attention again. To turn His face back toward them.
And here, on a road outside a small town called Nain, in front of a funeral procession, God visits. Not in fire or thunder. In a hand on a coffin and a voice that says "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise."
If you've been waiting for God to visit your situation — to show up, to intervene, to prove He's still paying attention — this verse says the visitation might not look the way you expect. It might look like an interruption of a funeral you assumed was final. It might arrive on a road you were walking in grief. And your first response might be fear, not joy — because when God actually shows up, the first thing you feel isn't comfort. It's awe.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And there came a fear on all,.... That were there present, and heard, and saw what was done. Not a fear of dread, and…
Came a fear on all - An “awe” or solemnity at the presence of one who had power to raise the dead, and at the miracle…
God hath visited his people - Several MSS. and versions add, εις αγαθον, for good. Sometimes God visited his people in…
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…
a great prophet The expectation of the return of Elijah, Jeremiah, or "one of the Prophets" was at that time widely…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture