Mormonism and Early ChristianityCollected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol. 4
Here we have the monotonous repetition as one standard miracle, the raising of the dead, performed to demonstrate to a skeptical world the reality of the resurrection of Jesus.
Section 023 · Expanding Galilean Ministry
The Centurion’s Servant & the Widow’s Son at Nain
A Gentile soldier’s faith astonishes Jesus — “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel” — and at the gate of Nain he halts a funeral and gives a widow back her only son.
Matt 8:5–13; Luke 7:1–172 of 5 accountsReading: CCE
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Study — reading text with parallel accounts; changes available.
? How to read this edition
The reading is the Covenant Christian Edition — the Joseph Smith Translation reading — carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the CCE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.
JST
Green — Joseph Smith Translation. Where the Covenant Christian Edition departs in substance from the King James text and the change is in the JST (confirmed against the parallel-column edition). Modernized English ( “has” for “hath,” “you” for “thou”) is not marked.
CCE
Burgundy — Covenant Christian Edition. Where the CCE’s reading departs from the King James but the change is not in the Joseph Smith Translation — the CCE’s own editorial reading (e.g. “this day I have begotten you” at the baptism).
DS
Plum — Testimony of St. John. The TSJ (a separate scripture text) and Denver Snuffer’s later commentary share the plum mark.
5And when Jesus had entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, imploring him 6and saying, Lord, my servant lies at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7And Jesus said unto him, I will come and heal him. 8The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof; but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed. 9For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this man, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it. 10And when they that followed him heard this, they marveled. And when Jesus heard this, he said unto them that followed, Truly I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 11And I say unto you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven. 12But the children of the wicked one shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 13And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go your way, and as you have believed, so be it done unto you. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
1Now when he had ended all these sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum. 2And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick and about to die. 3And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, imploring him that he would come and heal his servant. 4And when they came to Jesus, they implored him earnestly, saying that he was worthy, for whom he should do this: 5For he loves our nation, and he has built us a synagogue. 6Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not yourself. For I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof; 7wherefore, neither did I think myself worthy to come unto you. But say the word and my servant shall be healed, 8for I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers; and I say unto one, Go, and he goes, and to another, Come, and he comes, and to my servant, Do this, and he does it. 9When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned himself about and said unto the people who followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 10And they who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole who had been sick.
11And it came to pass, the day after, that he went into a city called Nain. And many of his disciples went with him, and many people. 12Now when he came near to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And many people of the city were with her. 13And now the Lord saw her, and he had compassion on her, and he said unto her, Weep not. 14And he came and touched the bier, and they who bore it stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto you, arise. 15And he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. 16And there came a fear on all, and they glorified God, saying that a great prophet is risen up among us, and that God has visited his people. 17And this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea and throughout all the region round about.
HN
Hugh Nibley
The Raising at Nain as a Sign of the Resurrection
Nibley gathered the early-Christian witness that Jesus’ raisings of the dead — the widow of Nain’s son among them — were remembered as the standing proof of his own resurrection to come.
The Prophetic Book of MormonCollected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol. 8 — quoting the Gospel of the Twelve Apostles (Patrologia Orientalis 2:135)
We want to see, O Lord, those people who were dead and buried, whom you revived, as a sign of thy resurrection which is to take place for us. We know, Lord, that thou didst raise up the son of the widow of Nain.
The second passage is an early-Christian apocryphon Nibley preserves and sets beside the Book of Mormon, not his own exposition; it shows the Nain raising remembered as a resurrection sign.
MB
Margaret Barker · the Jubilee ingathering
The Healings as the Great Ingathering
For Barker the healings and releases of Jesus’ ministry were the Jubilee’s “great ingathering” — restoring to the community those who had been shut out. The centurion’s servant and the widow’s son belong to that restoration, with the many who come “from the east and the west.”
The Time Is Fulfilled: Jesus and the Jubilee© Margaret Barker, 1999 ↗
The first miracle was an exorcism (Mark 1.21-26), setting one of his own people free from the power of Belial. He spoke of a woman bound by Satan and released her (Luke 13.16), of slaves to sin whom the Son could release (John 9.31-38). He forgave sins and illustrated his teaching with a parable of two debtors whose debts were cancelled (Luke 7.41-48). The healing miracles restored to the community people who would have been excluded as ritually unfit: the disabled, the lepers, a woman who was bleeding. This was the great ingathering of the Jubilee.
Points to Ponder
- The one whose faith astonishes Jesus is a Roman officer — an outsider to the covenant. What does it mean that “so great faith” is found not in Israel but in a Gentile soldier, who trusts a word he will never see spoken?
- The centurion reasons from his own place “under authority”: a word from the one in command is as good as the deed done. How does seeing Christ’s authority this way change the way we ask?
- At Nain no one asks Jesus for anything — he stops the funeral simply because he sees a widow who has lost her only son. What does this unbidden compassion reveal about him?