Daniel Hathaway
Our text takes place in the middle of Jesus’ ministry
in Galilee during a period of His increased popularity. Looking back to 6:17b-18
Luke reported, “A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great
number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of
Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.”
While Luke lacked first hand knowledge, one can understand why an account
of the ministry of Jesus needed these details. From Korazin, the likely place
where Jesus gave His sermon on the hillside, Jerusalem was 120 miles away
and Sidon was 60 miles away. Sojourners would have had to cross mountains,
deserts, rivers, and wilderness to reach the place where Jesus taught. With
an average distance of 16 to 23 miles a day, some of these travelers had journeyed
a week to join the crowd. One must wonder about food, water, and general sanitation.
In spite of these hardships, the crowd continued to follow Jesus.
The large crowd followed Jesus 25 miles to the small town of
Nain where they met another large crowd coming out in a funeral procession.
There, lying in the long wicker basket (coffins were not in existence) was
the only son of a bereaved widow. Two crowds watched intently as the Savior
tenderly spoke to the woman, “Don't cry.” Then Jesus touched the
dead, cold body of her son. In a moment, as still as the basket bearers, Jesus
commanded the dead son to get up and return to his mother. God had come to
help His people. Both crowds filled with awe responded by praising Jesus.
A great prophet had appeared among them they shouted and spread the news throughout
Judea and the surrounding country.
Only Luke provided this account of Jesus’ journey to Nain.
Was Luke intrigued with raising the dead? Luke was a physician and would have
interest in a life-after-death experience. Certainly, Jesus defied current
medical practices. Jesus did not carry any little black bag, nor express the
whimsical, colorful language and practices of a magician. There were no animal
sacrifices made or prayers to God. Jesus simply spoke and the dead son came
to life. However, it is more likely Luke added this account for three other
reasons.
Jesus’ compassion for the poor was established. A widow
without a son was in a terrible position. She would be destitute quickly and
left to scrape out a meager existence, if there was enough to live on at all.
Second, it exhibited God’s willingness to cross any barrier to reach
out with grace to His creation. Distance and personal comfort was not a barrier:
Jesus walked 25 miles to an unremarkable town to show compassion for a distraught
widow. Reputation was not a barrier: Jesus defiled himself by touching the
dead. No good teacher of the law would purposely defile himself the way Jesus
did. Even death was not a barrier. Jesus simply spoke and life returned to
the son.
Our text calls for two responses. First, for the preacher, this
passage provides grace to the person feeling beyond hope in the Church. We
must remind our people Jesus still crosses whatever barriers are necessary
to reach the lost, hurting, and lonely among us. Second, this passage challenges
us to respond as Jesus did outside the Church. We ought to respond to the
poor and hurting with compassion and willingly inconvenience ourselves to
spread the Good News. We must risk our own reputations by eliminating barriers
that alienate the lost and cause them to feel unwelcome. We are called to
ask, “what would Jesus do,” and then go and do likewise.
(For the full manuscript
of this sermon go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click on “Sermons.”)
The sermon begins by painting a picture of life as a widow in
ancient Israel. Mosaic Law had partially addressed the widow’s plight.
In Deuteronomy 25:5-10, we find the law required the deceased’s brother
to marry the widow. In Leviticus 22:13 shows some parents took their widowed
daughter back into their household. Yet, widows were often exploited, ignored,
and treated harshly. The widow often bore the disgrace and stigma of her deceased
husband’s death, because of the belief that sin could cause an early
death. (Ruth 1:19-21; Isaiah 54:4). A widow lacked rights to an inheritance
and often lived without basic human necessities. A widow without family and
too old to marry faced the ultimate dishonor of deciding whether to turn to
prostitution or die of starvation.
There are still difficult choices and stigma today. While social
policies such as Medicaid and food stamps have reduced exploitation, we still
find examples of people facing harsh treatment, exploitation, and stigma.
Elderly often must decide whether to pay for their medication or heating bill.
Homeless live on the streets with drug addictions and mental illness, ignored
or abused. Single parents face criticism and financial hurdles as they try
to raise their children. AIDS patients often must decide whether acknowledging
their condition and seeking treatment is worth the social stigma they will
endure.
However, there is Good News! The Bible boldly declares God’s resolve to extend grace to the least of these. Deuteronomy 14:28-29 reminds us of the need to care for the aliens, fatherless, and widows. In Matthew 25:40 Jesus reminds us, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” God does not ignore, exploit, or criticize the “least of these.” Jesus’ appearance in Nain is God’s exclamation point. There is no barrier to God’s grace: No place is too small, no disease is too great, no person too insignificant, and no sin too costly for Jesus. Our mission field is outside the Church walls. Like Jesus, we must willingly cross social, racial, and economic boundaries to bring Good News to a dying world. “When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, ‘Don’t cry’ (Luke 7:13). In turn, God’s people must go and do what Jesus did.
