s present, and again when He was far from the
subject of His beneficent power; bodily diseases had been overcome, and
demons had been rebuked at His command; but, though the sick who were
nigh unto death had been saved from the grave, we have no earlier record
of our Lord having commanded dread death itself to give back one it had
claimed.[557] As Jesus and His followers approached the town, they met a
funeral cortege of many people; the only son of a widow was being borne
to the tomb; the body was carried according to the custom of the day on
an open bier. Our Lord looked with compassion upon the sorrowing mother,
now bereft of both husband and son; and, feeling in Himself[558] the
pain of her grief, He said in gentle tone, "Weep not." He touched the
stretcher upon which the dead man lay, and the bearers stood still. Then
addressing the corpse He said: "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise." And
the dead heard the voice of Him who is Lord of all,[559] and immediately
sat up and spoke. Graciously Jesus delivered the young man to his
mother. We read without wonder that there came a fear on all who were
present, and that they glorified God, testifying that a great prophet
was amongst them and that God has visited His people. Reports of this
miracle were carried throughout the land, and even reached the ears of
John the Baptist, who was confined in the prison of Herod. The effect of
the information conveyed to John concerning this and other mighty works
of Christ, now claims our attention.

JOHN BAPTIST'S MESSAGE TO JESUS.

Even before Jesus had returned to Galilee after His baptism and the
forty days of solitude in the wilderness, John the Baptist had been
imprisoned by order of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and
Perea.[560] During the subsequent months of our Lord's activities, in
preaching the gospel, teaching the true significance of the kingdom,
reproving sin, healing the afflicted, rebuking evil spirits and even
raising the dead to life, His forerunner, the God-fearing, valiant John,
had lain a prisoner in the dungeons of Machaerus, one of the strongest of
Herod's citadels.[561]

The tetrarch had some regard for John, having found him to be a holy
man; and many things had Herod done on the direct advice of the Baptist
or because of the influence of the latter's general teaching. Indeed,
Herod had listened to John gladly, and had imprisoned him through a
reluctant yielding to the importunities of Herodias, whom H