Luke 9:51-end (NRSV)

The meaning of discipleship

Luke 9:51-end  (NRSV)

A Samaritan Village Refuses to Receive Jesus

 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’ But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.

Would-Be Followers of Jesus

 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

Mt text this morning is written in Luke 9:62:

Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

Up to this point in our study of Luke's gospel, Luke has concentrated exclusively on the deeds of Jesus. From now on Luke concentrates on Jesus' words. Jesus the teacher becomes the central feature of this central section of the gospel narrative. The end of the Galilean ministry ended with the injunction by Jesus to his disciples that they should follow him. In these verses Jesus begins the long road of teaching the disciples how to follow him. This journey is both figurative - where we learn what it means to be a disciple of Jesus - and literal in that Jesus was making his way to Jerusalem where he knew that his ministry would reach its climax on the cross. It would be a mistake if we were try to trace the physical journey from Galilee to Jerusalem because there are many confusing details. What is important here, are not these practical details but rather the theological significance of what Jesus taught. Kummel sums us the message as follows:

... the Lord, who goes to suffer according to God's will, equips his disciples for the mission of preaching after his death.

Jesus knew that he needed to move towards Jerusalem and so left Galilee and began his final journey. In order to get there, it was necessary either to move through Samaritan territory, or around it. Jesus decided to move through Samaria and so sent some disciples on ahead to arrange accommodation for the night. They returned with the news that they were not welcome and were obviously angered because they entertained the thought of destroying their rejecters. It is important to place this incident into its historical context.

Samaritans were descendants of Gentile settlers and Israelites. They were racially mixed. Purebred Jews looked down upon the half-bred Samaritans. Earle Ellis writes:

They [the Samaritans] were publicly cursed in the synagogues and made the object of a daily prayer - that they might not enter eternal life. Their centre of worship in Samaria was a countertype and rival to the temple in Jerusalem. Therefore, Galilean pilgrims, crossing Samaria on their way to Jerusalem, were subjected to harassment and sometimes to overt violence.

And so racial hatred developed between these two groups. This tension was so bad that Jewish travellers often walked around Samaria rather than through it, even though this meant that their journey would be considerably lengthened. Jesus had no preference for any people on any grounds and so it is not surprising that he wanted to go through Samaria and tell them about the Kingdom of God.

When the disciples were rejected they reacted in a typically human fashion with anger and retaliation. They had been wronged, of that there is no doubt. But because they had been hurt, they felt that they could legitimately respond in anger and even use violence. This is not Christian and is a repugnant sin against God. Violence is never and can never be justified. Jesus rebuked the disciples and Morris writes: 'That is not the way His followers behave. And without taking any steps in opposition to the Samaritans they went on to another village ...' (Morris 179).

While Christian people might use force to protect themselves, they are never people who perpetrate violence - physical, emotional, psychological. Christians reject violence in any guise. The commentator in the Life Application Bible (LAB) writes:

When others reject or scorn us, we too may feel like retaliating. We must remember that judgement belongs to God, and we must not expect him to use his power to carry out our personal vendettas.

For Luke there was special significance in Jesus' rejection in Samaria. One can see a parallel between this incident, the rejection of Jesus by Jews in his hometown - Nazareth, the Gentiles at Gerasa, and finally the people and leaders in Jerusalem. Finally, 'Jesus goes to the cross rejected by all'.

And so the journey continued!

By this time, it should have become apparent to the disciples that following Jesus was not an easy way out, rather, it presented a great challenge. Being a disciple meant a way of life that was totally different to even what was considered to be acceptable wisdom. What followed gave the disciples yet another dimension of what it would mean to be a follower of Jesus.

The first would-be follower of Jesus stated that he would follow Jesus wherever he went. Jesus replied: "Foxes have dens, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man doesn't have a place to call his own". (verse 58) This disciple and all Christians need to realise that 'the security of hearth and home which one expects in normal life has to take second place where commitment to the Son of man is concerned' (Wilcock p. 118). Christians need to realise that following Jesus is not necessarily going to mean an easy life - on the contrary, we might have to endure the complete opposite. The second would-be follower first needed to complete the task of burying his father. Once again, the historical context helps us to understand this verse.

According to Rabbinical teaching, the burial of deceased relatives was vitally important. The presence of a corpse made a person ceremonially unclean and so one could not perform any religious function. In the light of this, this man's request was proper and necessary. Why then does Jesus react in the way he did when he said: "Let the dead take care of the dead, while you go and tell about God's kingdom." (verse 60) The commentator in the NIV Study Bible explains:

If his father had already died, the man would have been occupied with the burial then. [But he was with Jesus so his father was most probably still alive]. ... he wanted to wait until after his father's death, which might have been years away. Jesus told him that the spiritually dead could bury the physically dead, and that the spiritually alive should be busy proclaiming the kingdom of God. (p. 1559)

The third person offered himself to Jesus but with a condition attached to the offer - he first wanted to bid his family farewell. This too - on the surface - seems like a reasonable request, but in fact it reveals rather a 'reluctance to take the final step' (Morris p. 180).

Salvation is possible through Jesus Christ. We know that entry into the Kingdom of God is through faith in Jesus' life, death, resurrection and ascension. But to accept this free gift of salvation implies that the saved person becomes a follower of Jesus. Faith leads to action or else there is no faith at all.

As the letter to James stresses: ‘... faith without works is dead ...’ together with 1 John: ‘You know you love God, when you love one another; you cannot say that you love God, whom you have not seen, unless you love your neighbour whom you have seen.’

And this action is revealed in the lives we live. We cannot think that we can make a decision for Jesus and still continue to do as we please. We need to reveal the fact of Christ's presence in our lives by the way we live. Wilcock states:

... God tests the earnestness of men's hearts by bringing them to this fork in the road. When it becomes necessary to choose between two ways, which do we follow? Comfort or convention, or custom - or Christ? The test from the very outset ... has been "Follow me". (p. 119)

Jesus requires total dedication from us, not commitment to him and his way of life when it suits us. God is not there for our convenience. We do not have the option of selecting those things about Christian living and belief that suit us - 'we have to accept the cross with the crown, judgement as well as mercy'. (LAB p. 1770) While entry into the kingdom of God is free - Jesus has paid the price - remaining there costs our very lives - everything we are and have. Salvation is not for those who have only entered and stayed for a short period of time - salvation is for those who enter and remain faithful, those who are willing to pay the price - what is often referred to as the cost of discipleship. Caird concludes:

... a man must be prepared to sacrifice security, duty, and affection, if he is to respond to the call of the kingdom, a call so urgent and imperative that all other loyalties must give way before it. The most difficult choices in life are not between good and evil, but between the good and the best. (p. 141)

Jesus put it this way:

‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

Amen

Luke 8.26-39 (NRSV)

Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac

26 Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. ²⁸When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me’— ²⁹for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) ³⁰Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Legion’; for many demons had entered him. ³¹They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

³² Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. ³³Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

³⁴ When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. ³⁵Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. ³⁶Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.³⁷Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. ³⁸The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying,³⁹‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

In verses 26-39 we see Jesus moving from the calming of the seas, to the calming of a deranged mind. No sooner had they arrived at the opposite shore than Jesus was confronted by a person who was possessed by a demon. The man called himself ‘Legion’, because he believed that he was possessed by many, many demons. The demons immediately recognised who Jesus was. They knew they were in for trouble, so they begged Jesus to spare them from total destruction. Jesus sent them into a herd of pigs which ran into the lake and drowned.

Many people have been perplexed by this. Why, they ask, did he not just destroy them and complete the task? One commentator suggests:

Because the time for such work had not yet come. He healed many people of the destructive work of demon possession, but he did not yet destroy demons. The same question could be asked today - why doesn't Jesus stop all the evil in the world? His time for that has not yet come. But it will come.

It is probably also true that there are no such beings as demons, and so it is more about needing to deal with the fact of human sin – and this remedy is much more difficult to implement. Perhaps, therefore, a more significant reason might be that the disciples and the people of the region needed to learn an important lesson. Christ is not the source of evil and suffering in the world - sin is - and the sin of the people who rebelled against the loss of their pigs, is graphically revealed in this incident.

Some suggest that Jesus had every right to destroy a herd of 2 000 pigs, because God owns everything. We are reminded of this fact in Psalm 50:10-11:

Every animal in the forest belongs to me, and so do the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds in the mountains, and every wild creature is in my care.

Because God owns everything, he has every right to do with it as he pleases. Nothing that we are and have belongs to us. We are merely entrusted with everything and, as stewards, we administer what belongs to the Lord. When we realise this - we are liberated from another sort of bondage - possession by our possessions. But this is only good theory. In practice this is a concern because we also know that God is love and that Jesus is the incarnation of God because he embodies this love. This being true, we know that God wants all suffering to end and it is almost insulting to God to just say that because everything is his, He can do what he likes with it. We know that what God wants is love and the end of suffering. We need to think more clearly about this and not allow simplistic answers to complex issues to tempt us away from the important task of wrestling with this.

The community should have thanked Jesus for delivering the man from his demon possession, no matter what it cost. But what was their response. Verse 37 explains: 'Everyone from around Gerasa begged Jesus to leave'. A commentator in the Life Application Bible writes:

People have always tended to value financial gain above needy people. ... People are continually being sacrificed to money. Don't think more highly of "pigs" than people. Think carefully about how your decisions will affect other human beings, and be willing to choose a simpler life-style if it would keep other people from being harmed.

The healed man, in obedience to Jesus, returned to the village and told others about what had happened to him. His insistence that he remain with Jesus might well have been motivated out of fear that he might fall prey to demons once more. We too, are often racked with insecurity, but like this man, if we are faithful to what Jesus calls us to do, we will be kept safe. As Miller (p. 93) states: 'Unless faith issues in obedient action it is no permanent safeguard against evil'.

Here again we are reminded that those who hear the word and keep it are the true citizens of the New Kingdom. Faith is the response through which one receives the benefits of being a citizen of the Kingdom of God. When people exercise their faith, it grows and one knows life in all its fullness. This theme was taken up by James in his letter (1.1-4) where we read:

My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested. But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything.

This too is often used as a simple answer to complex issues. It is easy to say ‘be glad’ from where we are sitting in our comfort and relative ease; I think we need to delve deeper and not be content with a simplistic understanding of this text either.

Caird suggests that Jesus is here calming a deranged mind – a disintegrated personality – and this is evidenced in the morbid preoccupation with graves, abnormal strength, insensitivity to pain, refusal to wear clothes and a multiple and fluctuating self – the man thinking that he was possessed by a whole regiment of demons. It may be that he was this way because of traumatic experiences associated with the Roman occupation. His cure came with a violent convulsion, which was so dramatic that it caused a herd of pigs to stampede in panic. Those observing all this made an association between unclean demons and unclean animals assuming that the ‘demons’ found a new unclean home and that this must have happened with the consent of Jesus.

This story is difficult to get to grips with, with a modern way of thinking, but it is helpful to remember that, at the time of Jesus, demons were very real to the people. Whatever was the cause, this man was so ill that he was considered a danger to others and forced to live away from society. His immense strength suggests that it was courageous of Jesus to go even near him. It would appear that everyone else was too afraid of him and so he was left to his own devices.

Barclay suggests that we have made too much of the matter of the pigs, especially those who feel inclined to condemn Jesus as being guilty of immoral cruelty. He too suggests that we need to remember the intensity of the contemporary belief in demons. It seems that the man was so ‘possessed’ by his illness that he would need a visible sign to prove to him that the demons had left his body – and the pigs served this purpose. It is almost as if Jesus was able to say to him: “Look your demons have gone!”(Barclay, p. 108) Barclay adds that the love of Jesus for this man required him to find some way to get through to him.

There is therefore the real sense that what angered the people more than anything was their loss of material wealth and that they cared more for their possessions than for this poor wretched man.

There is a disturbing modern parallel. A while back we heard of the tragic loss of life in the sweat shops in Bangladesh, where hundreds of people suffered to provide the west with cheap clothing. Is the west’s insistence on cheap food and clothing, when most of us can afford to pay much more for things, just the same? Profit seems to be valued above the value of human life. If we stand on the rights of the pigs in this story, and complain about what Jesus did, are we too not placing a higher value on things rather than people? The Gerasenes should have rejoiced that this poor soul was healed and saved, no matter what the cost.

Luke 7:36-8:3 (NRSV)

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

³⁶ One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. ³⁷ And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. ³⁸ She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. ³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.’ ⁴⁰ Jesus spoke up and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Teacher,’ he replied, ‘speak.’ ⁴¹ ‘A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?’ ⁴³ Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ ⁴⁴ Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’ ⁴⁸Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’⁴⁹But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ ⁵⁰And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’

Some Women Accompany Jesus

⁸ Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, ²as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, ³and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

My text today is written in Luke 7:48-50:

⁴⁸Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’⁴⁹But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ ⁵⁰And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’

I am indebted to Barclay, Caird, Miller and Ryle for this reflection.

Jesus was on the road, as all the synagogues were now closed to him. Instead of finding welcome and openness in the Jewish meeting places, he had found hostility. He was accompanied by a small group of women who provided for Jesus and the disciples. It was always considered to be a pious thing to do to support a rabbi and so this would have been nothing out of the ordinary. What was different was the composition of this group. There was Mary Magdalene from whom Jesus had cast seven devils; there was Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s epitropos – one who served Herod’s interests. In those days, it would be unheard of for women of such different social status being brought together like this.  In Christ the Church the people of God need to be yoked together in a common harness to work for the kingdom and they are, status being of no consequence!

In this group with Jesus were people whose help was practical: they were women so they would not have preached but they gave generous gifts of what they had. This makes a vital point and that is that it is not always the people in the foreground who do the greatest work because without it, nothing can happen. Barclay concludes: “Many of the greatest servants are in the background, unseen but essential to his cause.”

This is so important: what matters is that we are linked together as children of God, that we are committed to following the ways of Jesus and doing his will, and that we treat all people with equal dignity and respect, not even taking into account mistakes of the past – a lesson that the small company who met in the Pharisee’s house needed to learn.

When all of us, in our own small ways, are faithful to what Jesus calls us to do, great things can and do happen!

Today's lesson reveals a number of important truths. Firstly, we must never confuse respect for Jesus and his message with what it means to be a true disciple. The Pharisee, Simon, respected Jesus enough to call him Rabbi. He might even have gone so far as to suggest that he was a prophet. He was sufficiently interested in Jesus to invite him to dinner. Missing, however, were the little gestures of genuine hospitality - the footbath, the kiss and the perfume.  Miller suggests that

Simon's motive in inviting him to dinner is not mentioned. The fact that the common courtesies were not extended to Jesus ... has suggested to some that Simon invited him out of mere curiosity.

But Jesus was willing to go, even though he must have known that Simon's motives were questionable. Irrespective of what Simon's motives were, he showed Jesus more respect than many others. However at the heart of the matter is that there is a difference between being outwardly civil - and real, deep and intimate love.

In this lesson therefore, Jesus warns people to beware that they do not fall into the trap of believing that everything is alright with their souls simply because they do the right religious things like attending church regularly. J C Ryle explains:

It is quite possible to have a decent form of religion, and yet know nothing of the Gospel of Christ, - to treat Christianity with respect, ... to behave with great correctness and propriety at Church, and yet to hate justification by faith and salvation by grace.

Secondly, we see that all those who have experienced Christ's salvation, reveal this fact by their love. Jesus explains this in his dealing with the sinful woman. Verse 37 describes her as 'a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town ...' This woman was more than likely a prostitute - considered then as today to be one of the most degrading things for any person to do. In order to understand the significance of what follows it is useful to explain what happened.

Simon's house was probably built around an open courtyard in the form of a hollow square. In warm weather, meals would be enjoyed in this yard. It was common practise that, when a Rabbi was at a meal in such a house, all kinds of people were permitted to come in to the area to listen to his teachings.

Normally, and especially when a distinguished Rabbi was visiting, the host would do three things as the honoured guest entered the house: (i) place his hand on the guest's shoulder and give him the kiss of peace; (ii) the guest's sandals would be removed and his feet washed - preferably by a slave - because it was considered below the average person even to touch anybody's feet and (iii) either a pinch of sweet-smelling incense was burned or a drop of attar of roses was placed on the guest's head. To do these things was considered nothing more than good manners.  They were not done for Jesus and no reason is given why.

After these gestures of hospitality were completed, the guests would recline on low couches with their feet behind them. What would follow would be the meal and discussion.

While it was not uncommon to leave the doors open on such occasions to allow all sorts of people to enter, a prostitute would never, under normal circumstances, have even dared to do such a thing because they were considered to be ceremonially unclean. They were completely shunned by respectable people.

It seems unlikely that Jesus and this woman had ever spoken before. She had probably heard him teach from the fringe of the crowd. Caird explains:

... that had been enough to soften the hardness of her heart and set her back on the road to self-respect. She had been a woman of evil ways and evil reputation: the reputation remained, but the ways were changed.

Verse 38 describes a wonderful scene of love and worship:

... she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

Caird paraphrases what happened in a beautifully sensitive manner. He writes:

... she came to make a magnificent gesture of gratitude; but tears came before she could get the stopper out of her bottle of perfume, and, forgetting that this was something a decent woman never did in public, she let her hair down to wipe them away.

Simon was shocked. He would have avoided any contact with the unclean woman. All he saw was a filthy sinner - Jesus saw a sinner who had been pardoned and restored. Simon, in typical judgemental style, frowned on the fact that Jesus had allowed this woman to publicly humiliate herself and him. He thought that this brought into question whether or not Jesus actually was a prophet. But Jesus re-established his credentials by showing that he could read Simon's thoughts, and taught the people using a parable.

Verses 41-43 record the story of the two debtors who were excused their debts. It is pretty obvious which one would love their benefactor more. Simon rather reluctantly agrees. Verse 43 records his words 'I suppose the one with the bigger debt'.  Verses 44-46 explain the meaning of the parable. Even the words 'Do you see this woman' are important because Simon did not really see her at all - because all he could see was what the woman had been. Jesus then compared what she had done with what Simon had done. While Simon had not even shown the customary hospitality, the woman had spent everything she had, emotionally and financially, to bless her Lord.

Jesus did not gloss over the woman's sins. In verse 47 Jesus refers to them as being many. It is all too easy to develop a familiar attitude toward sin and sinning because we know that forgiveness is possible. It is also dangerous to think that we can freely sin and just repeatedly turn forgiveness on or off whenever necessary. It is sad that many, many people think that they are forgiven when they in fact are not! It costs something to be forgiven - it cost Jesus' life - he shed his blood so that people could be forgiven. On our part, it takes a deliberate act of the will, a conscious decision - what John the Baptist and Jesus referred to as repentance. Remember the Greek word metanoia means to turn 180 degrees. To be forgiven requires more than being sorry for what one has done, it also requires a decision never to do it again. One cannot, e.g. expect to be forgiven for living in adultery if one does not end the relationship, one cannot expect to be forgiven for stealing if one continues to steal. In short, it becomes evident in a person's behaviour whether one has real sorrow, repentance and gratitude - whether one has been forgiven. As Jesus explains in verse 47 - '... I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - for she has loved much'. Caird explains: 'Her love was not the ground of a pardon she had come to seek, but the proof of a pardon she had come to acknowledge'. She most probably did not understand the dynamics of what had happened. The commentator in the NIV Study Bible adds:

She must have heard Jesus preach, and in repentance she determined to lead a new life. She came out of love and gratitude, in the understanding that she could be forgiven.

And so we rejoice today because we know that forgiveness is possible for all those who really seek God's forgiveness in Jesus Christ. If one earnestly desires to be made whole, one can be restored. There is nothing that anybody can ever do that can be so bad that they will be turned away if they come to Christ. But come to Christ one must. It is because we have been forgiven much that we love much and we demonstrate this in our worship, study, prayer - all the things that make Jesus the central focus of our lives.

Jesus said to the woman and he says to all of us as we come in repentance and faith:

…  ‘Your sins are forgiven.’⁴⁹But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ ⁵⁰And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’

Amen.

Luke 7:11-17

Love in Action - The widow.

Luke 7:11-17 (NRSV)

¹¹ Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. ¹²As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. ¹³When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ ¹⁴Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’¹⁵The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. ¹⁶Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’ ¹⁷This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.

In this event, we see death at its worst. A young man had died. It is always easier to come to terms with death in old people, especially when they have lived long, full and productive lives. When people are old and frail, we even look forward to death for them, because we know that they will be liberated from their frailty and suffering and will be transported into the presence of the Lord when their soul departs from their bodies. We as Christians never see death, any death as a tragedy, because we know that life with Christ in heaven is far better than life on earth and also that in Christ, we have the victory over death - its loses its sting. But while this is true, Christians also love life on earth, because Christ gives us life in all its fullness as he transforms us from sin to holiness.

When a young person dies, it is more difficult to deal with, not because Christians have anything to fear in death, but because we love people and want to be with them for a time longer. When young people die or are killed, the pain is therefore much greater and we need God's grace in abundance to help us to deal with our great loss. I don't think many of us realise the vast amount of pain experienced in our country at the moment. We so glibly hear of the countless hundreds who die daily in the violence in our land. It is too easy not to think of the many mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, in short the many people who have been devastated by the unnecessary loss of dear young people through the violence and hatred that ravishes our land. Again we are reminded that the only solution for our country is Jesus Christ, convicting of sin and healing the brokenness that so characterises these times.

Miller suggests that in this story of the widow, 'death is seen at its worst'. The man was young and his only remaining relative was a widow. This death therefore had serious consequences for the widow. In addition to losing her husband, she had now also lost her son and thereby her last means of support.

Widows had no legal rights in these times and they were not allowed to receive any inheritance. On the death of their husbands, widow were therefore totally dependent upon their sons or other relatives. The death of this widow's son therefore meant that, in addition to the pain she felt at losing a loved one, she had now also become defenceless in a particularly cruel world. The commentator in the Life Application Bible writes:

Unless a relative came to her aid, her future was bleak. She would be an easy prey for swindlers, and she would likely be reduced to begging for food.

But notice verse 13, which has to be one of the most precious verses in all of Scripture. It reads:  “When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her ...”

Jesus never waited for her to come to him for help. The woman was too broken to do anything; she was too devastated to be able to think straight. Again we see the wonder of the humanity of Jesus. Jesus was fully human. He knew a mother's tender care because he had known Mary's love for him and so even though the widow was rendered powerless by her grief, Jesus reached out to her.

This is a wonderful truth that we should all take to our comfort. Even when we are powerless, in fact, especially when we are powerless to do anything, Jesus often comes to us and blesses us. We must never forget that Jesus is the same God, yesterday, today and forever. Jesus never changes. And Jesus is alive. He lives. He is as real to us today as when he lived on earth, in fact we know that he is even closer to us because he fills us with his Spirit. Our spirits are linked to Jesus' Spirit in an intimate and extremely personal way. The words that Jesus spoke to the people as recorded in Luke's gospel are real and alive and are addressed to Christians of all generations. And so when Jesus comforts the grieving widow - he comforts us to. J C Ryle elaborates:

He lives, who made the widow's heart sing for joy in the gate of Nain. He lives, to receive all labouring and heavy-laden ones, if they will only come to Him by faith. He lives, to heal the broken-hearted, and to be a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

Coupled with this unfathomable compassion, we see also in this incident the immense power of our saviour. Verses 14 and 15 read: ‘Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" ... and Jesus gave him back to his mother.”

The crowd were filled with awe. They immediately recognised him as a great prophet because they would have known that what Jesus had done was paralleled in their Scriptures. In fact, verse 15 is a quotation from the story of Elijah and the raising of the widow of Zarephath's son as recorded in 1 Kings 17:23. But we know that Jesus is far more than a great prophet, Jesus is God Himself, who came to earth to reveal Himself to us and save us from sin and its consequences.

We see therefore a beautifully intimate picture of our God, perfectly revealed in and through Jesus Christ: We see God who is sensitive to and who understands everything that humans have to go through; we see God who has compassion for humans who are hurt and helpless and who loves us so much that He is willing to allow His heart to go out to us; we see God who is willing to do even more and intervene into our various situations and do things to mend our brokenness; we see God who is powerful enough to achieve what is humanly impossible - forgiveness, worthiness, wholeness; we see God who has had nothing to do with anything evil, sin, suffering - in fact anything negative in the world - who even warns people against all these things, and yet, He never loses patience with us when we ignore him, go our own way and thereby cause hurt and pain to ourselves and others; we see a God who never turns away from anyone who turns to him in their helplessness and powerlessness.

It seems obvious that the widow was prepared to accept the gift of her son's life at our Lord's hand - it would seem ridiculous that she might ever even consider refusing it. Yet Christ offers new life to all people unconditionally and yet most people turn their backs on Him and reject it. Jesus offers all people a wonderful life on this earth, a life of dignity, worth, contentment, purpose and inner peace even in the face of the sin and suffering that characterises this life - and yet, most people choose to reject it too.

Jesus knows everything about every individual. There is nothing that he does not know. Jesus also loves all people. He has compassion on every one of us and his heart goes out to us in our need. He also offers all people a new life.

If only more would accept the gift and live …

It is interesting to be reminded by one of the top theologians and philosophers of today – Keith Ward - that the only credible means of using Scripture is to not take it literally, but to read it for what it is: a human document where people try to put into words the inexpressible; people’s experience of God. These authors were not conscious that they were being inspired, they were just honestly trying to convey to others, the joy and beauty of their experiences – as best they could. Like so many things, trying to explain to others when something special has happened, we find words fail us and we need to resort to ‘you had to be there’ because no words ever do justice to what we have experienced. What is also evident is that just as we interpret things wrongly, some of the authors were also mistaken and so needed to have their misconceptions challenged and corrected. The Book of Job is a case in point where people thought that if they were good they would prosper and if they were evil they would suffer loss. Job points out that even the ‘good’ suffer, not because of anything that God does but because of the reality of sin and evil in the world we inhabit. It is vital that the misconceptions remain part of the biblical canon, because we can follow the journey of others and so learn from their mistakes.

Fundamentalism is a relatively recent innovation. Aquinas spoke of the need to use analogy when speaking of God because God, by definition is so ‘other’ that human vocabulary can never come close to understanding or expressing divine truth. Throughout the ages people sought to differentiate between the literal and allegorical messages of Scripture. Neither Luther, Calvin or Zwingly were fundamentalists. Fundamentalism was never the intention of any of the authors who rather spoke into different contexts. The resulting so-called contradictions are not contradictions at all, but merely revealing the need to address different specific situations.

It is a complex matter, and I do not do justice to Ward here, but am inspired yet again to wrestle with Scripture in an attempt to discover what God is saying to us now and in our context. I am reminded of my calling as written in 2 Timothy 2:15:

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.”