The first thing Jesus did was to respond to the needs of the mother. His heart went out to her, and he said, "Don't cry." Then he touched the coffin - an open woven basket - and commanded the young man to get up. "The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother."

What sort of person, who believed that healing miracles were possible, would stand judgment on the healer? The same sort of person who believed that their way was right and that the way of others was wrong. It is possible to believe in God, to believe that God's power was present and available to do good, and yet to belittle the way in which that power was used. "If it is not done my way, then it is wrong." Those people were in attendance at worship at the synagogue.

In the time of Jesus, leprosy was viewed as the classic punishment for sin. It was the telltale sign that the sufferer was a culprit who had committed sins unknown to his neighbors. The suffering indicated that while sin might be hidden from others, it could not be hidden from God, and it served as forewarning of the ultimate fate of the sinner.

Jesus borrowed Simon Peter's boat to use as a pulpit from which to teach the people. After he finished speaking he asked Simon to put out into the lake and to go fishing. It must have been morning, because Simon protested that he had been fishing all night, and had been unsuccessful. "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything." Yet, despite being tired, and discouraged, out of respect for Jesus, whom he acknowledged as 'Master' he did as he was directed.