Second Sunday of Trinity . June 9 2013
Widows and Sons.
1 Kings 17:17-24; Galatians 1:11-24; Luke 7:11-17.
Some of the sadder funerals I have taken have been those where a parent is left bereft following the death of their son or daughter. Their child might be in their 40’s, 50’s or even 60’s but the parent still feels the natural order of life has been turned on its head. And they often say “It should have been me” or “It’s not right that a child should go before its parent”.
The death of someone whom they have loved and cared for from birth, adds a poignancy to their grief which in some cases stays with them for many, many years.
So the two stories, one from Kings, the other from Luke, show us the plight of women who lose their sons. Already these women have lost a husband, they each have an only child, sons, who in the culture of the time would care and look after them in their old age. Widows were particularly vulnerable especially if they had no sons to support them. And the sons of these widows died.
In Kings Elijah had been staying with the widow of Sidon. Many people would sympathize with the sense of shock they felt when her son died. Face it, even today, such events cut into our confidence in the loving care of God. Elijah and the widow both see God as being responsible for the situation and she sees the death as punishment for sin. Elijah does not accept the finality of the death and turns to prayer which God answers and the Sidonian woman comes to faith in God. In addition one lonely and courageous prophet is affirmed and encouraged before moving on to greater and more dangerous challenges.
Now Nain, where Jesus meets the widow on the way to bury her son, is only a couple of miles away from Sidon from where Elijah raised the widow’s son. Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd are funnelling into the town gate when they meet another crowd pushing in the opposite direction with the widow and the stretcher carrying her dead son coming out. Jesus reacts to her grief and perhaps also to the wider implications of her social position in two ways. He speaks to her in an ordinary human way and then goes to the dead boy and touches him. The strong taboos, the ritual defilement that this involved make this a heart stopping and dramatic moment for both crowds. No wonder they stand still. The awed reaction of the crowd, perhaps remembering Elijah’s raising of a widow’s son from the dead, results in the exciting news spreading like wild fire through Judea and the surrounding country.
Jesus raised the dead on three recorded occasions during his ministry; the widow’s son which we heard today, Jairus’ daughter which can be read in Mark and Luke and the raising of Lazarus which can be read in John.
In Jesus we have a saviour who can heal and we also have a saviour who conquers death. This incident prefigures the resurrection of Jesus, the king who rules over life and death. The sons whom Elijah and Jesus raised were not like Jesus; they were resuscitated to earthly life and later they would really die. Jesus died but was raised to a new sort of life, breathes new life into his apostles and then ascended in heaven like Elijah where he lives and reigns forever.
God does not cause evil, although at times it seems that God cannot prevent it. But God has compassion on us, strengthens us, breathes new life into us, so we are never alone. Jesus is always with us. When we are bereaved our dead are with Jesus and so they are close to us every time we pray. Jesus is the once and future king; he conquered death once and for all 2,000 years ago; he reigns in our lives now, and he will see us safely through the gateway into eternity when our turn comes to die. Never ending life on earth is not our final destination.
The philosopher Socrates, who was condemned to die 400 years before Christ, taught that there is no reason to fear death. He said, “For all we know, death may be the best thing that happens to us” AMEN
Rev’d Edwina Wallace.
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