In a couple of week's time, the Lectionary gospel reading will be Luke 7:11-17:
Soon afterwards, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out – the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, ‘Don’t cry.’
Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’ The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
They were all filled with awe and praised God. ‘A great prophet has appeared among us,’ they said. ‘God has come to help his people.’ This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
Because lots of churches follow the lectionary, there are lots of resources that comment on the readings set for any given Sunday. However I'd like to make a plea to anyone preaching on the Second Sunday after Trinity this year not to use resources uncritically. In particular, please do not miss the miracle that Jesus did.
Here is one paragraph of text on this passage, taken from a resource that ... oh, I'd better not tell you where it comes from:
Widows were invariably poor and the loss of a bread-winning son would lead to almost certain penury thereafter. For this reason the first disciples had a special concern for the poor and the marginalised. Luke has a similar focus, and this story not only shows Jesus's care, but places it in a tradition. Although 'the poor are always with us', this does not mean that Jesus does not care, nor that we should not. Quite the opposite in fact.
(That was the comment given for Sunday week's gospel reading - I didn't just print a part of what they wrote.)
Here's how that paragraph is applying Luke 7 to today: 1. Widows were poor. 2. The widow had just lost the breadwinner in her family (her son). 3. By raising her dead son, Jesus helped the poor widow. 4. So we should help the poor.
You'll see the problem with that if we tweak it slightly: 1. Widows were poor. 2. The widow had just lost the breadwinner in her family (her son). 3. By raising her dead son, Jesus helped the poor widow. 4. When the breadwinner in a family dies young, we should raise them from death, and so help the poor.
We're not Jesus. It's quite true that Jesus had a special concern for the poor, which James 2 (amongst other passages) says that Christians should also have. Luke's gospel does focus on Jesus' especial concern for the marginalised of his day. I'd only question whether this is why Luke has included this miracle in his gospel. Luke in fact records two resurrection miracles. The other is the daughter of Jairus, the synagogue leader, found in Luke 8:40-56. He may not have been very wealthy, but he was a dignitary of sorts and certainly not unduly poor.
The trouble with this approach to this story is that it misses the fact that Jesus raised a young man from his coffin. He even had the confidence in his own ability to do so that he dared to stop the funeral cortege, touch the coffin, and tell the grieving woman not to cry. If you're going to do that, you're either totally confident of what's about to happen, or a blundering and insensitive fool. To preach this miracle, and to miss the main event, would be almost as tragic as the funeral Jesus cancels.
To put it bluntly: Any interpretaion of this narrative that doesn't need Jesus to have raised the dead will have missed the point.
Just imagine someone who has never heard this story before listening to you explain it. You explain that Jesus is going to care for this deeply empoverished woman.
You: "... and so he gave her son back to her, which is a wonderfu example of how ..."
Listener: "Wait, he just brought her son back from the dead?"
You: "Yes, but don't focus on that - this story is really about..."
Listener: "What do you mean, don't focus on that? If he really did that, the implications are massive!"
You: "Sure they are, but it's not what Luke wants us to think about."
Listener: "I can't think of anything else. The thought that Jesus might be able to solve death is an idea I just can't get out of my head. It's brilliant!"
Why is this in Luke's gospel? As always, the answer is in the text:
They were all filled with awe and praised God. ‘A great prophet has appeared among us,’ they said. ‘God has come to help his people.’ (Luke 17:16)
The only conclusion to draw is that Jesus is more than just a great prophet. He is God himself come to help his people. Time and again in Luke, he echoes the words of the songs from the early chapters of his gospel. Those songs are programmatic - setting out the agenda of what the newly born Jesus is to do.
He [i.e., God] has brought down the rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble. (Luke 1:52)
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them. (Luke 1:68)
Luke is building his case that, with the arrival of Jesus, God himself has come to earth, to deliver his people from the tyranny of sin and death. His help comes not to the mighty, but to the humble - to those who truly need the help that Jesus came to bring. The widow of Nain is a beautiful picture of Jesus stooping to help those who cannot help themselves, and to give them something that they truly need.
We are in the story, but we are not Jesus. We are the widow - those who need the deliverance Jesus came to bring, and who need to humble ourselves to receive his "help". We are the crowd - those who can see what God has done among us, and should be filled with awe and praise.
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