Luke 7:11-16
At that time, Jesus went to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In our Gospel reading we are told that when our Lord saw the widow, ‘He had compassion on her.’ It is not hard to understand why. As is often said, no parent should have to bury their child. In this case, the child is not only the woman’s only son, but he is also, in fact, her only child, as the Fathers tell us. And, as the Fathers also point out, as she is a widow she will have no more children.
Adding to the sadness is that fact that her son is clearly quite young. How young is uncertain. St Luke initially says that a man who had died is being carried from the city and later describes him as a young man. However, other translations call him a boy. We must remember here that in the ancient world a boy would become an adult, legally speaking, at what would seem quite a young age to us. The Romans, for example, had a ceremony where a boy would assume the wearing of the toga, a mark of citizenship and adulthood, usually between the ages of fourteen and seventeen.
At that time and place a person was buried very soon after they died, usually on the same day and within a matter of hours after their death; sometimes even sooner. We may recall here the events recorded by Saint Luke in chapter five of the Acts of the Apostles concerning the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira. Ananias having sold some property, tells Saint Peter that he has donated all the money to the Church; however, he is lying, not to men but God, and falls dead as a result. He is immediately taken out for burial. Three hours later, Sapphira arrives. Not knowing her husband is dead and already buried, she tells Saint Peter the same lie and also falls dead and is at once buried.
Therefore, this boy has probably only died a short time before Jesus arrives; and the grief of his must be very raw indeed. So raw that she probably hasn’t had time to process what this loss means for her, other than the gaping hole that now exists within her heart that can never be filled. For as the Fathers explain, this boy would have been her entire hope for the future, the one who would be the care and comfort of her old age. There were no such things as state pensions back then, so this poor woman is facing a very bleak future indeed.
But all that changes in a moment. No one tells Jesus what is happening. He already knows. He stops the funeral procession. He tells the grieving mother not to weep. He touches the bier and tells the dead boy to rise. At once he sits up and our Lord restores him to his mother. The crowd are seized with fear and immediately begin to glorify God.
But there is more to these events than a feel-good story in which a boy who’s life had been cut short on the very cusp of manhood returns to life and a mother’s terrible grief is turned to joy, able to hug and kiss her son once more. Every day before that day in Nain since the Creation and Fall people have died in circumstances as sad or perhaps even sadder with no divine intervention to change the ending. And everyday since that day in Nain up until this day it has been the same and doubtless will be until the end of days when our Lord comes again.
No, the significance of that day goes beyond one boy and his mother. They are universal, they apply to all people, then, since, now, and forever. For, as the Fathers assure us, by this resurrection our Lord demonstrates His power over death, and thereby reassures of the resurrection unto eternal life He promised to all who believe in Him. That day in Nain may have been a cause of joy to a poor widow, and of fear and wonder to the great crowds of people who witnessed it, but for us it is a cause for hope, the hope we have in Christ of our own resurrection. Amen
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