Luke 7:11-17

      Jesus came to the town of Nain. His disciples were with him, along with a large group of the faithful, and the curious.
     A commotion was going on in the town. A young man had died and was being carried out for burial. The mother of the man was a widow and this was her only son.
     Losing a son or daughter must be incredibly hard. There are those who have experienced both the loss of a spouse and of a child and say that latter loss is even more difficult than the first. To lose a son or daughter goes against every instinct a parent has to nourish and protect. It goes against all expectation as well, for a parent expects a child to outlive them.
     Although it may not have been on her mind at that moment with its focus on the grief of her loss, the widow in Nain also faced a desperate future. She was without a husband and now without a son to support her. Women had little status or economic power in that society.
     The story is simple and straightforward. Jesus had compassion for her and he bid the young man to rise. The man sat up and began to speak. Fear seized everyone who saw it. They glorified God and said that a great prophet had come to them. Even more rumors began spreading about Jesus.
     Jesus was not the first to be recorded a bringing the dead back to life. Elijah did the same, and such rumors were spread even about others. Those who find it difficult to credit a death to life miracle might say that the young man wasn’t actually dead. That he was in a coma or otherwise unable to respond. In truth, it was not uncommon for that to happen. Without sophisticated medical equipment, the determination of death was not certain.  It was even a custom in some periods of history to place a string in the coffin connected with a bell above ground, so that if a person was alive, they could pull the string and be rescued from their grave.
      Would it actually be less of a miracle for Jesus to save a man from being buried alive?
      Regardless of how you regard the miracle, the compassion of Jesus is plain. He knew what grief was for those who are left behind. And the scriptures consistently called for awareness of the powerless in society. A widow was frequently named as one of that group representing the powerless. Jesus responded to her need and new life became possible.
     An interesting sidelight is the response of the people. They were filled with fear, yet they praised God. Today we may think of fear as a negative emotion, necessary in the ‘fight or flight’ response, but still negative. Modern people have sometimes been confused by the biblical injunction to fear the Lord, especially when reading other statements that love casts out fear. There is fear as we would experience at the threat of a great danger, and yet great and fierce awe can also be described as fear. God is holy and awesome, mysterious and beyond our control. For the people of Nain, to see this in action, would engender something called fear, but not as the fear they would experience if seeing the Romans advance on their town with sword raised. It was a wholesome fear for they recognized the presence of God in their midst.
     New life was a specialty of Jesus’. A tax collector hated by his society was accepted and renewed. Those who were despised and rejected were loved and given new opportunities. Those about to stone an adulterous woman were reminded of their sin and dropped their own stones. The woman was raised up and her would-be murderers must have experienced a curious release. Even in Jesus’ final hours, a thief reaching out was promised paradise. And when the universe seemed dark and untenable after the crucifixion, a light dawned on the third day inviting the friends of Jesus into an experience of incredible joy.
     What’s the miracle? It wasn’t what he did, but who he was.

What in your life needs to be raised to new life?
Can you write a prayer offering that to God?
Where can you be an agent of Jesus in bringing new life to someone around you or in your community?