2 Pentecost, Year C

"THE GIFT OF A CHILD, THE GIFT OF LIFE”
A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois, on Sunday, June 6, 2010
Proper 5: I Kings 17:17–24; Psalm 30:1–6, 12–13; Galatians 1:11–24; Luke 7:11–17

“And he gave him to his mother.”

Those are the words that struck me as I read and reread this morning’s gospel text.

They describe the aftermath of Jesus’ raising of the only son of a widow in a town called Nain (which is located southeast of Nazareth, and southwest of the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Galilee).

With the coming of this season of Pentecost, we return, in this Year C of the three year lectionary cycle, to the third gospel, that of Luke. We will spend the remainder of this Church Year with Luke, until the end of November.

So, let’s turn our attention to this miracle, the raising of the unnamed son of an unnamed widow in a small town called Nain.

There is much going on under the surface of this account, and it is our intention to dig into the depths of the event, taking into consideration the cultural facets of it which will shed light on “what’s really going on here”.
First of all, we ought to note the parallels to the raising of the widow’s son as we hear it in I Kings this morning. The parallels are obvious.

These parallels would have been obvious to the Jewish crowd and to Jesus’ disciples as they witnessed the raising of this son, for I think we can safely say that everyone in the crowd, and among the disciples, would have known the account which comes to us from I Kings. They would have known it intimately and in fine detail, most likely.

But, there are differences, as well….In I Kings, we hear Elijah calling upon the Lord three times to bring the child back to life. However, Jesus simply speaks the word, “Young man, I say to you, ‘arise’”, and the man comes back to life. Moreover, the return of life to the child in Elijah’s case comes in an upper room, while, in the case before us today, the raising of the dead occurs in full view of the crowd and of the disciples.

But, the impact on each mother is the same: They regain their child, and they regain their life.

It’s worth repeating this last statement: Each widow regains their child, and they regain their life.

The point seems to be: Jesus restores life, and gives hope, in the process.

You see, in ancient Israelite/Jewish culture, being a widow was the worst state of life that one could come to.
For, outside of the practice of Levirite1 marriage, life after the death of a husband entailed economic hardship and deprivation.2 Being a widow was a hard and unforgiving life, for the culture of the time was male-dominated, and few economic opportunities were available to women outside of marriage.

So, it is in this context, that Jesus’ raising of the son of this widow spells new life and new hope for the mother in today’s account.

Luke seems to have two goals in mind in relating this event from Jesus’ life. (Recall with me that Luke is the only one who records this event for our benefit.) They are:

• Jesus is the prophet who not only fulfills all the prophecies of the Old Testament prophets, but He is greater than a prophet: Jesus not only does what Elijah did, but He does it “one better”. He simply says the words, “Young man, I say to you, ‘arise’”, and the man is raised to new life.
• Jesus comes to offer new life, new hope: If we take into account the cultural setting3 of today’s scripture, then we can see that Jesus’ actions offer new life and new hope to the unnamed widow in today’s account. Her son not only signifies the continuation of the family name and the family line, but his continued life equates to economic salvation for his mother, and the restoration of hope.

We would do well, before we leave consideration of this event, to consider its effects on our own lives.

So, consider with me:

• When has new hope arisen, just at the time when there seemed to be no hope, in your life and mine (or in the lives of other Christian believers you have known)?
• Jesus comes, offering life. Has there been a time in your own life when there seemed to be no life at all, no hope at all, as you looked into the future?
• Have you witnessed miraculous healing (either physical, mental or spiritual) that medical science could not account for?

All of these things still occur. They are all precursors of the final resurrection, of which Jesus Christ is the “first fruits”. (See I Corinthians 15: 23).

For Jesus Christ comes, offering new life, new hope, for this present life, and for the life of the world to come.

Thanks be to God!

AMEN.
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1) See Deuteronomy 25:5–10, where the practice of marrying a sister-in-law upon the death of her husband is described. The intention was to “raise up children” for the deceased brother. The name “Levirite” comes from the Latin, whose root word means “brother-in-law”.
2) The economic consequences of widowhood extended into the New Testament period. A check of a good concordance will reveal how many references were made in the early Church to the care of widows.
3) Theologians use a technical term (which comes from the German) to describe the cultural settings of the biblical accounts we read. This term is “Sitz-im-Leben”, meaning “setting in life”.