beyond the miracle

Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country. (Luke 7:11-17, ESV) 

Unlike the centurion, these people weren't looking for Jesus to help them. Jesus does it out of compassion!

The response to the miracle is fear and glorifying God. In a similar, but perhaps more extreme, way to the fish miracle a couple of chapters ago, the people are not obsessed with the miracle but are suddenly awestruck and obsessed with the God who has done the miracle. If we don't look beyond the miracle to the one behind it, we've missed the point - the man will die again later with just a few more years on the clock. But if we look to the one who performed this miracle out of his great love for us - then that changes everything.