Maybe it’s because I lived in
The unusual, the strange - unsettles us. That which jars with everything that we’re used to makes us feel a bit uncomfortable. It startles us awake - and even if we’re already awake, it somehow makes us more aware. Our hearts race, we lie very still and hold our breath and listen - or we get up and look out the window to see what’s going on.
Or - the more passive among us, the deeper sleepers just keep on dreaming; unaware that anything unusual - anything strange has just happened.
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Readers of scripture - filled with the miraculous and wonderful signs that point to God sometimes get a bit numbed to the miraculous. “Oh - Jesus raised a dead person, what’s he going to do next?”
He just healed a centurion’s servant (by remote control), later on he will forgive a sinful woman her sins (to the shock and derision of the people whom he’s dining with), but right now he is raising a dead person. (All in a days work for Jesus.) Later on he will die and rise again. We are treading on the verge of the ridiculous - and we need to recognise the strangeness of all of this or we won’t appreciate just how amazing, controversial, shocking the message and life of Jesus is.
We’re so used to the unusual, so used to suspending our brains a bit when we read scripture that we neglect to realise that what we have just read is highly unusual.
It is downright weird.
The kind of thing that should wake us up, should get our heart racing, freak us out a bit.
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Luke tells us in his gospel that the crowd who witnessed this miracle were ‘filled with fear’ (GNB) or seized by fear (NRSV). They were amazed at what Jesus had done by raising a dead boy to life and their fear led to a response… They spread the news that God looked favourably on his people, that a prophet had risen among them, that God had noticed his people.
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But many of us I guess are stuck on the miracle. It’s too strange!
Can we accept that something as different as this actually happened!?
As a 21st century person I struggle to make room for the miraculous, I want verification, I want someone to perform an experiment to prove what has been said to be true.
Proof.
And we will always want more.
I can offer some proof - proof that leads me to believe.
We have the testimony of a secular historian that says that Jesus performed miracles.
We have the witness of an early church that took Jesus’ message (backed up by his miracles) so seriously that they gave up nearly everything they had, status, wealth and power (even their lives) to follow him.
And we know that Jesus made quite a stir, and is still making one today. He must have done something amazing for people to believe in him so fervently and consistently.
In the midst of our desire to know the rational the beauty of the miraculous is that the miraculous is unusual, irrational and surprising…
Sometimes these miracles are a reminder for us to make more room in our lives for God to do things that go against what we think is normal and reasonable, make room for God to surprise us every now and again.
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But let us get back to the surprise - the miracle of which Luke writes - and what that means.
When reading gospels it’s often helpful to read what happens before and after the text which you read. Often the gospel writers use Jesus’ actions to interpret - or emphasise what Jesus has taught.
Luke chapter 6 has some particularly difficult teaching, the blessings and woes (or Luke’s version of Matthew’s beatitudes)…
Blessed are the poor.
Blessed are those who weep.
Blessed are those who are hated and excluded on account of the Son of
Woe to you who are rich.
Woe to you who are full.
Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to false prophets…
The command to love your enemies.
The command to give to those who beg from you, even your coat.
The command to be merciful - Be merciful just as your Father is merciful - he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked…
Do not judge, do not condemn… forgive and be forgiven.
A set of teachings that make us cringe as we look at the way we live, a set of teachings that tell the rich to care for the poor. That remind us to stop being so self righteous and uncaring…
* * *
Jesus proclaims a difficult and radical message which upturns what everyone thought about God. The rich and powerful acted like God belonged only to them.
Being poor was considered to be a result of sin… it meant God didn’t like you very much ‘cos he hadn’t blessed you.
Jesus was preaching a surprising and miraculously strange message, that all those whom religion thought they had righteously rejected were actually God’s favourites…
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Jesus’ point is illustrated when he heals a Roman Centurion’s servant - saying: “I have never found faith like this, not even in
* * *
He then raises a widow’s only son… the story at hand for today.
Although Jewish law commanded that widows be cared for - it seems that many of the laws regarding care for the poor and destitute were not well observed. A widow without a male son would possibly be in a very vulnerable position in society.
I can imagine that in her despair at the loss of her son there are practical and emotional concerns. A feeling of helplessness - what am I going to do… burial took place on the day or close to the day the person died (the wounds are fresh) the disaster is not even processed.
In this crisis, Jesus meets the most vulnerable person at their most vulnerable and by a subtle touch to the stretcher on which her son’s body is laid - Jesus restores him to life, and gives him back to his mother.
“Women here is your son.”
* * *
The action, combined with the teaching which Jesus has given is interpreted and sounded out by the crowd who witness what Jesus has done: “The all were filled with fear and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us!” they said; “God has come to save his people!”” (7:16)
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The gospels tell us, especially John’s gospel, that Jesus is a true reflection of what God is like… the crowd interprets the miracle for us.
The say “God has come to save his people!”
The Greek original could be directly translated as “God has seen his people.” In the sense that people stranded on a desert island are spotted by a rescue boat… and jump up and down celebrating. We who are poor and lowly and struggling - personified by the widow who has nothing - matter to God.
God does care for us when we are at our lowest and weakest. When everything seems like a disaster - God reaches out to us in particular at those times.
The reaching out is not always extreme or spectacular in the way it is done; often it is subtle - in this case Jesus just touches the stretcher on which the body is laid and the result is the giving of life.
The miracle is a wake up call - God does care.
* * *
What does it mean for us today?
Well, if we’re in despair - we should remember: God has seen us and cares for us.
If we’re OK - remember God has seen those in despair around us, and called us to be Jesus to them. Last week we read from John 14:12 - You will do greater works than I have done. We saw how the Spirit moved at Pentecost, empowering the disciples to become the people God called them to be.
Jesus compassion for the widow is a call to us to share in God’s compassion for people who are side tracked, beaten down, weak and powerless.
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A miracle, a strange event - the supernatural that disturbs our peace, makes us sit up and pay attention… God has noticed us, God has noticed you.
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What is it today that brings you pain, that brings you despair, that makes you feel like there is no more hope in the world.
I invite you to bring that to Jesus - knowing that Jesus cares enough to do something, just a simple touch. I invite you to speak to someone here - we are all servants of Jesus.
Who do you know who is in despair, who is vulnerable - how can you carry the miracle of Jesus to them?
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Perhaps one day, when people see how we care for one another, how we care for others - people will see a miracle here (something unusual, irrational and strange) and filled with fear and awe - and they will say: God has sent a prophet to be among us; God has seen his people and cares for them.
Then I believe we will begin to see the Kingdom in this place.
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