Xth Sunday. O.T.

1 Kgs 17:17-21, 22-24; Gal. 1:11-19; Lk. 7:11-17

The central theme for this Sunday is that, in a world of broken hearts, God sees and cares for us in our grief. He has compassion on our miseries and gives us His healing touch. Widows were particularly vulnerable. They could easily starve to death without a son to support them. Both Elijah the prophet and Jesus know this, and show how merciful God is to widows.

Elijah’s miracle invites comparison with the miracle performed by Jesus in today’s gospel. There are obvious similarities. St Luke is aware that the widow of Nain reminds us of the widow of Zarephath.

In touching the bier, Jesus deliberately ignores the ritual uncleanness of the dead body, which required ritual purification by Jewish law. St Luke also wants us to see the significant differences between the power of Elijah and that of Jesus. In the case of the widow of Zarephath it is not altogether clear that the child is dead. But there is no such uncertainty in the case of the son of the widow of Nain. Evidently, Jesus is much greater than Elijah; he has raised a dead man and he has done this merely by speaking a few words to the corpse. Jesus will again resuscitate a dead body, Lazarus, on the fourth day, even after decay sets in.

The raising of the widow’s son is not only proof that Jesus has direct access to divine authority; it also gives us an extraordinary insight into divine compassion. There is no indication that Jesus is concerned about the dead man himself. This is a miracle performed not for the sake of the son but for the sake of his mother. What matters to Jesus is her well-being. Without her son she would have been left with no means of support and no one to comfort her in her old age. So the raising of her son tells us that God is not only concerned with our ultimate destiny but also with our present needs in our life on earth. Jesus reveals the concern of a God who knows our needs better than we do.

The raising of the widow’s son also casts light on something less obvious – the love that Jesus has for his own mother. It is in-conceivable that the man who showed such compassion to a complete stranger would not have been anxious about the fate of his own mother. And so this miracle helps us to understand that moment before his death when Jesus entrusted his own mother to the beloved disciple. The image of the widow of Nain mourning her son must surely make us think of Golgotha and another mother’s grief; a grief that at this point in the gospel still lies ahead.

The son of the widow of Zarephath brought back to life by Elijah died again.  The son of the widow of Nain brought back to life by Jesus died again. Lazarus raised by Jesus died again. Because, our life here on earth is not meant to go on for ever. Those miracles were signs to show the power of men of God over death, the only phenomenon over which men stand powerless. Death remained as a fearful entity till Jesus won the decisive battle over death and rose from death. This miracle shows Jesus holds the key to death. He was sent by the Father to bring life to a dead humanity.  He raised the widow’s son to life, because he is himself the resurrection: “I am the resurrection and the life: those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25). 

Starting with baptism, our life is a struggle against death. The moment we surrender to God, a new, vigorous, indescribable life will flow into our body transforming it into a glorious and powerful one. No one dies twice but only once. We Christians die with Christ at Baptism and so we live with him for ever.

The lesson of this encounter between Jesus and the widow of Nain is so simple: God cares about us.

No one asked him to perform this miracle; he took the initiative to intervene. The helplessness is ours, not His. With God everything is possible. And apart from me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5) 

 He cares too much about us, in spite of our sinfulness, weakness, and brokenness. No one has ever suffered more than what Jesus suffered. No one had so much compassion on people as Jesus had. We never have to suffer alone. He has taken on all our afflictions, even death itself.  Even more: he has taken on the thing that is farthest from God, sin.  “For our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

For Christ's faithful friends, all suffering is temporary. We will hear Jesus say to us exactly what he said to the widow: "Do not weep."

On this tenth Sunday, God wants all of us baptized, to be channels of His mercy to the helpless ones of our parishes, cities and villages.