The Village Of Nein

An early morning stop here at the village of Nein. 

(Arabic) - which means "pleasant place, or charming."

 In English Bibles it is Nain or Naim.

 It is an Arab village that was destroyed

 in the 1948 Arab- Israeli war. 

It is located almost nine miles south of Nazareth.

 Jesus would have been able to see Nazareth

 from the ridge entering Nein.

Not a heavily populated place. 

 A simple cross road marks the entrance to the village.

Can well imagine here the story of Jesus

 entering and seeing the funeral procession.

Luke tells the story of Jesus in Capernaum

 and healing the centurion's servant.

The day after, in Luke 7:11-17,

 he is entering the city of Nain, 

with many of his disciples and a large crowd. 

As he nears the gate, a dead man is being carried out. 

He is the only son of a widow.

A large crowd was with her also. 

Jesus had compassion on her, 

touched the open coffin, and spoke to the man. 

The dead man sat up and began to speak.

The amazed crowd began to Glorify God. 

The story about Jesus went throughout

 all of Judea and all the surrounding area.

Today in this Arab village, these are some of the typical

 large generational houses that

 dot the Israeli countryside.  

They often house one generation per floor in a family.

Nein is mentioned in the writings of
 Eusebius (c. 263-339) and Jerome (c. 347-420)
 as being situated near Endor. 
The Crusaders recognized this site 
and built a church there
 to commemorate the site of the miracle,
 a church rebuilt by the Franciscans.
Nothing remains of the the church
 except for some very recently
 found foundation pieces.  
Nothing has really been excavated here yet.
More complicated now in an Arab village.

A small village, but a memorable image.
Jesus still interrupts the funeral processions
of His followers, bringing NEW LIFE news.
Death has lost its sting because of the love of a Father,
who sent His Son, who died for me, and rose again.
That promise is my very own-
Jesus has destroyed the power of death.