Ordinary Time Week 3

Psalm: Psalm 146 or Psalm 30
Old Testament: 1 Kings 17:8-16, (17-24) or 1 Kings 17:17-24 
Gospel: Luke 7:11-17
Epistle: Galatians 1:11-24

Today we have two contrasting stories of two widows and their respective children being raised from the dead. The first incident involves Elijah and a widow from Sidon. You may remember the story: she was on her way to cook her last meal for her and her son when Elijah stopped her and asked for water and bread. The customs surrounding hospitality demanded that the women help the visitor, yet the reason Elijah was even in Sidon was because of a major drought in the region. Despite the women only having enough for one last meal, on the promise from Elijah that she will have enough to get her through the drought, she brought Elijah the water and bread. You'll probably remember that Elijah ended up staying with the women for the remainder of the drought and her flour and oil never ran out.

But our focus in the passage today starts a few years later when her son got sick and died. The widow is so upset with Elijah that she wished he had never even come and blamed him for the death. I find it so interesting that when Elijah first came they were at death's door and he actually saved them. Now, just a few years later, she seems to have forgotten that fact. (By the way, her food that day was because of Elijah.) But perhaps that was why she was angry! Perhaps she thought, If this man of God could provide food for all this time, why can't he save my son? Again, you may remember that Elijah did raise the son from the dead and this act convinced the widow that Elijah was indeed a man of God.

Moving into the Gospel reading, today we read about Jesus interacting with a women from Nain, presumably a Jew rather than a gentile like with Elijah. In both cases, the widows only had one son, who died. Their deaths were more than just sad for the mothers, the sons represented any chance the widows had of being cared and provided for. The sons would have been the ones to bring in the money and represent the family in the community and in the religious life of Israel. So on two levels Jesus felt "compassion" for the widow from Nain. (Notice compassion did not seem to be a motive for Elijah.)

This is the only time in Luke where Jesus directly felt compassion for someone. The word used is splangchnizomai (ἐσπλαγχνίσθη) and it is only found as a verb in the New Testament in the three Synoptic Gospels. Luke's other instances of the word are in the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. These are two classic parables which relay the grace, mercy, and love of the Father. We have probably all heard sermons where this word is exegeted, but it literally means to be "moved in one's bowels," as they thought the bowels were where such emotions arose.

Returning to the story, Jesus interrupted the funeral procession, told the women to stop crying, and then asked the man to rise up out of his coffin. To everyone's surprise but Jesus, the man sat up and begin talking. As we can imagine, this was shocking to the crowd and they feared Jesus and his power. But, the fear was in the Old Testament sense of respect and honor, not fear in the sense of running away in fright. The people began to glorify God and said "a great prophet has arisen among us." The people were harking back to the stories of Elijah and Elisha and comparing Jesus to them. Even in the Old Testament raising people from the dead was a rare thing. In fact, only those two prophets ever did it, each once, and then a third instance involved Elisha's bones. (1 Kings 17; 2 Kings 4; 2 Kings 13) That's it, three times! So Jesus is doing something completely remarkable and not something expected even of a prophet or man of God.

So then, how do we wrap this up and both compare our two passages to each other, and apply them today? The obvious differences are of course the setting, (private vs. public), the motivation, (exasperation vs. compassion), and the result. (Elijah moving on and nothing comes of his miracle vs. the news of Jesus spreading throughout the region) The one clear similarity of course is another result, both sons where brought back to life and both widow's were given hope and their own life's back to them for the future.

In terms of application, one thing we have to say is that God, through Jesus, has great compassion on those who are hurting. The woman didn't even ask Jesus for a miracle, yet he was so moved that he acted on her behalf. We are dealing with a God who came in the form of man, even a slave, motivated by love and compassion, to redeem all of creation. (Phil. 2) God's love never fails and his compassions are new every morning. (Lam. 3:22-23) The second thing I will say is that we must always remember that God reigns over death. Death won't have the final say! These moments of resurrection, and Christ's resurrection on Easter, are moments of the Kingdom of God breaking through in little moments of anticipation of the final day when it fully comes. In the end, Christ wins and death looses! And that is good news!

Two messages of hope for this week. Let us learn to live with this knowledge. Let it permeate our lives, and affect the way we live.

Grace and Peace.