Luke 7:1-28

What is Left Unsaid.

Silver Blaze is one of the Sherlock Holmes short stories, but it is often thought of as “The Curious Case of the Dog That Didn’t Bark.” As usual Scotland Yard thinks they have things all wrapped up only to have detective Holmes discover that they have the wrong man. In this case the vital clue for Holmes was the fact that the dog didn’t bark, meaning that the murder was committed by someone with whom the dog was familiar.

The passage today tells us about the Widow of Nain. Her son was dead and while he was being carried out to be buried Jesus met the procession and raised him from the dead. Luke is the only gospel that records this incident. Think about that for a moment. It is true that the raising of Jairus’ daughter is recorded in three of the gospels, but it is also true that the raising of Lazarus is only mentioned in John. What’s going on here?

There are those who would have us believe that the New Testament (especially in the case of the gospels) is a finely crafted hoax. They would have us believe that the writers collaborated and shaped stories to suit their own agenda without regard for literal facts or truth. Ah, but what about that dog that didn’t bark?

It seems to me that raising the dead is a pretty big deal. If I were writing a propaganda tract about Jesus and I knew that it would likely be the only information many people would have about Him...and I wanted to make Him appear to be incredible...and I had no real regard for facts or truth...and I knew, or had read in a previous similar tract, that He raised someone from the dead...well, I think I would include that information in my tract. In fact, I would stuff my tract full of every wonderful miraculous thing I had ever head, or could imagine, He ever did.

But the Gospel writers didn’t. What do you think that means?