Soon afterward Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother (who was a widow), and a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and those who carried it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 So the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and they began to glorify God, saying, “A great prophet has appeared among us!” and “God has come to help his people!” 17 This report about Jesus circulated throughout Judea and all the surrounding country. (Luke 7:11-17)
Last week we began a 6-part study on discipleship. In Luke's narrative the period of instruction (commonly called the "Sermon on the Plain") gives way to action; instruction gives way to doing; and what follows is a series of fascinating encounters. We are using these encounters to see what we can learn about being 21st century disciples of the Master. Last week (week 1) we saw that Learning from the Master was all about the outsider... and how God's grace is (surprisingly) FOR THE OUTSIDER. Indeed, we saw that WE TOO are outsiders; we saw that being an outsider is a good thing.
As already noted, the first four weeks of this series sets the 'outsider' theme and sticks with it for a while. Last week's outsider was a Gentile member of the despised occupying Roman Army. Though he was considered 'exceptional,' there's no getting around the fact that he was an outsider.
In Week 2 of our study the focus shifts. The 'outsider' under consideration this week would not normally have this designation. She is an Israelite; a child of the covenant; part of the people of God; a "daughter of Abraham." As insiders go, she's a full member. HOWEVER, there's a problem. According to the text, she's a widow (vs 12); and to make matters worse, her only son has now died. This would be a very sad situation in any society of any time. But in this particular society, it is especially sad. Marriages were arranged; with very few exceptions, the only status a woman has is through her husband. Even the husband's family of origin will look upon her with skepticism until she bears him at least one son. This woman had done that, but somewhere along the line her husband had died. Still, with an adult son, she would be cared for. Until now. Now that her only son had also died, there was nothing standing between this woman and a beggar's life. It would not be an exaggeration to say that there was now very little standing between this woman and her own death. This is, in the fullest sense of the term, a DEATH MARCH that Jesus encounters at the village gate. And this widow is now an outsider.
But we saw last week that God's grace comes to outsiders. This week we get a closer look at what this grace looks like at ground level. It looks, specifically, like COMPASSION (v13); and it looks like NEW LIFE (v14). Of course for this widow and her son (note... for the 2nd week in a row the actual recipient of the miracle was completely passive, last week's slave and this week's son) this compassion and new life meant one thing. In a universal sense it will mean something different--yet we cannot lose sight of the fact that the same Lord who had compassion this day in Nain 2,000 years ago reigns in heaven and continues to look upon humanity through the compassion of the Gospel. He continues to offer humanity new life--first in terms of the new life of faith, and then hope and renewal of all of those parts of life that we've managed to mess up.
Cheers,
T.M.
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