Luke 7.11-17

THE COMPASSIONATE GOD

(Luke 7.11-17)

'When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her.' (Luke 7.13)

Today, we have a very clear example of how the Old Testament reading mirrors the New Testament with the story of the raising of the son of the widow of Zarephath in the Old Testament reading, and the raising of the son of the widow of Nain in our Gospel reading.

In our Old Testament reading for today (1 Kings 17.17-24), we are told about the death of a son of a widow, who lived in Zarephath. Since the prophet Elijah was staying at the house of the widow, she asked him what she had done wrong for this to happen to her son.

Elijah responds by taking the body of the dead son up to his bedroom and laying him on his bed. He then stretched out himself upon the child three times asking God ‘to let this child's life come into him again'. We are told that God answered his prayer, and that Elijah brought the child down from his bedroom and gave him to his mother with the words, ‘See, your son is alive'. And the widow replied, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God'.

In our Gospel reading, which is peculiar to Luke's gospel, we are told how Jesus and his disciples went into the town of Nain, some five miles south of his home town of Nazareth. As they approached the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out on a bier to be buried in the local cemetery. He was the only son of his widowed mother.

Jesus ordered the bier to stand still and, breaking all ritual laws, he went over and touched the bier. He said to the dead man, 'Young man, I say to you rise'. We are told that the child rose and began to speak. Jesus then gave him to his mother, who replied, "A great prophet has risen among us'.

Now you will have noticed that both these stories have the same form or structure, namely, the recording of the seriousness of the situation; the word of command; the success of the miracle, and the effect upon the bystanders. In fact, all miracle stories in the Bible have the same form or structure.

But that is not all. Even the details of these two miracles are similar. They both concern a widow. In both the son of the widow is brought back to life. In both the miracle is acclaimed as the testimony to the greatness of the prophet. And finally, in both the Greek phrase, 'gave him to his mother', is used.

However, despite the similarities of form or structure, and of details in both stories, there is one major difference.

Whereas, in the story of the widow of Zarephath, it is the woman who requests the help of Elijah, who in turn prays to God, in the story of the widow of Nain, it is Jesus himself, out of compassion for the woman, who restores the dead person to life. The miracle is not dependent upon the faith of the woman, but rather upon the compassion of Jesus.

I would therefore suggest, that the focus of our attention should not be upon the dead son, in our Gospel reading, but upon the widow, and the response of Jesus to her, "When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her, and said, 'Do not weep’".

Now, such a human reaction as compassion, would have appeared very strange to Luke's Greek Gentile audience, for whom he wrote his gospel. In fact we could say, it would have appeared nothing short of being heretical, because they believed that God was incapable of feeling.

Let me try to explain.

If someone can make another sorry, glad or joyful, it means that, at least for that moment, he or she can influence that person. Now, if he or she can influence that other person, at least for that moment, it follows that he or she must be greater than and superior to that other person.

Now, as far as the Greeks were concerned, no one could be greater than God and therefore no one could influence God. It therefore follows that God must be incapable of feeling.

In order to protect God from such contamination he must be remote from day to day life upon this planet so that he can remain all-powerful.

This regrettably, is a picture of God which some people still believe in today. God is a remote and terrifying person of whom one is afraid. He is a God who is unapproachable and not interested in our mundane, day-to-day existence. We are on our own because God has the British, stiff upper lip. No matter what may happen, he remains at all times unmoved.

But, my friends, this is not the picture of God which Christians believe in. It is not the picture of God which Jesus revealed throughout his ministry. And it is certainly, not the picture of God that the widow of Nain would have recognised from her personal experience of God, through Christ.

On the contrary, he is a compassionate God. A God who sees our human situation and comes to us and saves us. We do not have to call God into a situation, as one might call in a rescue helicopter, because he is already there, beside us, responding out of love to our particular needs.

The widow of Nain did not stop and call Jesus into her situation of distress. She did not turn to him to help her, as did the widow of Zarephath turn to the prophet Elijah. Jesus responded automatically to her distress out of compassion. In other words, God feels our pain, our frustration, our disappointment, our helplessness, our joy and our happiness because, through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, he has been here among us and knows what life is really like.

So when we turn to God, he understand us. Emmanuel - God with us. He is no distant and unmoved God whose favours must be bought by sacrifices, but one who out of compassion cares for you and me, as he cared for the widow of Nain in her distress.