The Raising of the Widow of Nain’s Son
Maddy and I moved to Frisby from New Romney at the end of 2007
Story: As we were taking the bedroom apart, I was surprised to find a small basket underneath our bed with three eggs and £1000.
I was a bit puzzled and so I called Maddy and asked her what this was all about.
She said: “Well I have to be honest with you. Every time you preached a bad sermon, I put an egg in the basket.”
I thought – well three bad sermons in 3 years – not bad going.
But I was still puzzled – “Well, what is the £1000 about”
She replied, as all good wives do: “Every time I got a dozen, I sold them”.
Introduction
Today’s Gospel reading isn’t a very easy passage to speak on.
It might be an “egg sermon” but I do pray that it will be an encouragement to you all
I think the key to understanding why Luke included this story in his Gospel can be found in the final passage of Lk 7 - Luke 7:18 35
John the Baptist has held in prison by King Herod for a long time and is beginning to lose his faith
So he sends some of his followers to ask Jesus if he really is the Messiah.
And Jesus responds in Lk 7:22 by saying
“Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the Good News is preached to the poor”
Strange response, isn’t it?
Why didn’t Jesus simply say “yes”
I think there are two answers
1. Jesus wants us to look at the evidence to come to our OWN conclusions
2. Secondly, the term “Messiah” was a highly charged term at the beginning of the third Decade of the First Century AD.
The Jews were expecting a political Messiah - someone who would free them from the oppression of a foreign ruler.
Someone like Judas Maccabeus, who in 167 BC threw the invaders from Syria out - the Seleucid king Antiochus IV (Epiphanes).
Galilee in Jesus’ day had become the “Helmand province” of the Roman Empire.
Messiahs sprang up left right and centre – two are recorded in Acts when Gamaliel says:
“36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.
37 After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.
The Jews wanted to use force to throw the Romans out - THAT was the type of Messiah they were expecting
But Jesus wasn’t the all conquering hero that the Jews were expecting – similar to Judas Maccabeus who had chased the occupying powers out in BC 167
He came with great humility, doing good works and bringing sound and sensible teaching, thereby confirming his authority to preach the “Good News”.
There are three recorded instances of Jesus raising people to life on the pages of the New Testament.
And in each of these miracles, the people in attendance are touched by the presence and power of Jesus Christ.
1. Jairus’ daughter (Mk 5:21-43)
The first of these miraculous raisings from the dead is described in Mark 5
It takes place at the home of Jairus, a synagogue ruler whose 12 year old daughter has just died.
Everyone is crying. Everyone is upset.
When Jesus comes he sends everyone out of the room except for Peter, James, and John.
He then takes the girl by the hand and says
“TALITHA KUM!
LITTLE GIRL, I SAY TO YOU, GET UP!”
Immediately, the girl sits up and everyone praises God
2. The Raising of Lazarus
The second and most famous miraculous raising from the dead can be found in John chapter 11.
Lazarus has been buried in his tomb for four days and has started to decompose.
But Jesus steps forward and says, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."
And then Jesus says “Lazarus, come forth!
And immediately, Lazarus rises from the grave.
3. The son of the widow of Nain
And the last miraculous raising from the dead can be found in the funeral of our Gospel reading this morning.
The story of the raising to life of the Widow of Nain’s son.
It is a story outside my experience because I have never seen any one raised from the dead
And I am sure it was outside the experience of those attending what they thought would be a “normal” funeral.
Try to imagine the scene – and how the mother must have felt.
Of all deaths, the death of a child is most unnatural and hardest to bear.
Story: When my brother Eddie died in Jan 2001 at the age of 36, my mother said: “It isn’t right for the children to die before the parents”.
And I am sure Eddie’s death drove my Mum to an earlier grave.
It is trauma to lose a child.
What was even harder for the widow of Nain is that not only had she lost her husband but now her only son was gone too.
A widow in those days was in a totally vulnerable position if there were no male relatives to protect and provide for her.
There was no social security network
On top of that there was also the social stigma she would have to bear as well.
Because you see according to the Jewish folklore losing an only son was especially painful since it was often regarded as divine punishment for sin.
Jesus comes to dispel that myth.
In our Gospel reading this morning, we see the collision of two processions.
1. One procession was a procession of death (the funeral), where everyone was sad.
2. The other was a procession of Life where the people were happy following Jesus – still buzzing from the miracle of the healing of the Centurion’s servant that we can read about in the previous verses of Luke 7 (Lk 7:1-10).
And as I prepared this talk, I recalled the words of Jesus, when he said in Jn 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”
In our day if we see a funeral procession, we pull to the side of the road and allow the procession to pass on by – and WE then go on our way.
In Jesus time, if you ran into a funeral procession, you joined it.
Jesus and his followers joined the funeral procession – and Jesus’ presence CHANGED the whole situation.
I doubt the widow knew anything about Jesus, before he raised her son to life.
Probably her world that day was limited to a dark despair of grief.
There is no record of the woman approaching Jesus to ask him to raise her son – indeed there is no record of her having any faith at all
In Luke 7 we see two contrasting scenes. One is the of the healing of the centurion’s servant in Luke 7:1-10 .
The other is the raising from the dead of the Widow of Nain’s only son – which we read of in today’s Gospel
Chuck Swindoll has described the contrast in the two scenes like this
“In one scene, there is a confident, clear thinking soldier; in the other, a vulnerable widow, drowning in her own turbulent emotions.
In one, there is unquestioning faith – “Just say the word and my servant will be healed” (Luke 7 v. 7;) in the other, grief as if there is not tomorrow.
In one, there is eloquence and protocol; in the other, unbridled pain and enough tears to dissolve the strongest prayers.
These differences illustrate that Jesus our Saviour doesn’t demand that we fit into a set pattern to receive his help.
He doesn’t restrain His compassion because we fail to meet “our good deed quota.”
Or because we don’t say the right words. Or because we forget to follow the correct ritual.”
[Charles Swindoll. The Continuation of Something Great. Luke 7:1-10:37. Bible Study Guide. (Anaheim, Calif.: Insights for Living, 1995) p. 4]
I think John Hamby summed it up well when he said:
The centurion’s faith of the first eleven verses of Luke 7 inspires us, but in truth we may identify more with the widow.
You may even envy the centurion’s faith, but don’t feel that your life exhibits that kind of faith.
You might secretly wonder if Jesus really hears our prayers and notices our tears.
Perhaps you are like the widow who had run out of hope?
You don’t just need a change of attitude.
You simply need to connect or reconnect to the source of hope.”
I like the way he put it because Jesus is not some remote Guru unaware to what real life is about.
The Bible says in Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, …”.
He knows what we feel like
Jesus was and continues to be moved by the hurts and sorrows of his people.
Even when we cannot see him or even feel his presence He at work on our behalf.
The message of our Gospel reading today is this
Don’t give up - for with Christ there is always hope.
The words of Isaiah 40:31 sums this up well
But those who hope in the Lord,
Will renew their strength
They shall soar on wings like eagles
They will run and not grow weary
They will walk and not be faint
Amen
