What is the miracle in Luke 7 verses 11-17?

Answer 1

Luke 7:10-17 tells of Jesus entering Nain at the city gate, when he saw a grieving widow accompanying her dead son being carried out. Jesus had compassion on the widow and touched the coffin, calling on the son to rise up, and he delivered him to his mother. This is one of a number of miracles attributed to Jesus, in which he raised someone from the dead.
Scholars say there are too many parallels between this account and a similar account in 1 Kings, in which Elijah raised the widow's son from the dead. They conclude that the account of Jesus in Nain was inspired by the story of Elijah, in which case Jesus did not really raise the young man from the dead, and probably did not even visit Nain. Some parallels between the two narratives:

• Both stories mention the "city gate" (1 Kings 17:10; Luke 7:12)
  
• Both stories concern raising the dead son of a widow (1 Kings 17:10,21-2; Luke 7:12)
  
• Both stories use the same introductory phrase, "And it came to pass" (1 Kings 17:17; Luke 7:11)
  
• Both stories use the phrase, "delivered him to his mother" (1 Kings 17:23; Luke 7:15)
  
• As a result of these miracles, Elijah and Jesus were both declared to be prophets (1 Kings 17:24; Luke 7:16)
  

Rex Weyler says (The Jesus Sayings) that the evidence that Luke copies from the earlier story is confirmed because no wall or city gate appears in the archaeological record of Nain, which was only a small village in Galilee, and villages did not have defensive walls and city gates. He says the author was unfamiliar with Galilee and simply unaware of this.

Answer 2

The son of the widow of Nain raised from death by Jesus.