Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”
Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.” (Luke 7:11-16)
In any given week any of us might hear about a tragedy which has struck someone we know. Someone is diagnosed with cancer, a young couple suffers a miscarriage, mental illness interrupts a family’s plans, a father loses his job, a wife is told her husband plans to divorce her. A death occurs and we must attend a funeral.
Many of us have experienced such news, and perhaps we felt totally sick deep inside because of what was going on.
In today’s Gospel, we see our Lord Jesus moved to compassion for a woman when he learns that she is already a widow and now her only son has died. Jesus was deeply moved by the grief he observed in others. Thirteen times in the New Testament we read about Jesus being moved to compassion when he encounters the suffering of others. And we might note the word compassion is used in the New Testament only of Jesus. No one else in the New Testament is said to be compassionate except Jesus.
When Jesus encountered this widow, the text of the Gospel says Jesus felt the loss in a gut wrenching way. His stomach tightened. His throat constricted and he swallowed hard. His body was moved by the pain he saw in another.
And yet, he was not defeated by death, as Isaiah the Prophet had said of God:
He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 25:8)
And we who are united to Christ are to bring the compassion of the Savior to all of those who weep and grieve, to all of those who cause us to be moved to compassion. We can pray:
O Lord, be merciful to each person who is suffering pain or loss. Bless those who mourn. Comfort those who grieve. Give us the gift of compassion so that we too might care for those who are sick or grieving or suffering. Give us courage not to look away from them or their need, but to approach them and offer them our hand in fellowship, to help us care for them with co-suffering love, so they may know that they are not alone in their sorrow. Grant us to be your servants, caring for your people.
Jesus who wept at the tomb of His friend Lazarus, tells this sorrowful widow not to weep. He knows the pain of loss and separation. He is not telling her it is wrong to weep for He Himself wept. He comes to take on Himself our pains and sorrows and to heal our broken hearts. He wants her to hear His words of hope. As Jesus proclaimed:
Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. . . . So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. (John 16:20, 22)
Jesus says to all His disciples including us that we will weep and lament in life. He says we will experience sorrow – He does not promise constant prosperity. He does not promise that we will be spared the trials of life or the sorrows of this world. However, He says He has overcome the world, and Christ promises that we will have a joy which will not be taken away from us. His promise is echoed in the words of St. John:
and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)
Every year at Pascha we go with the Myrrhbearing women to the tomb of Christ. And we hear the same words that Mary Magdalene was told by Jesus: Go tell my brothers what you’ve seen and heard. That is our task. To look into the face of death and see the Risen Christ, and then to find the way to share that vision with friend and neighbor, family or enemy so that they in turn might believe that Jesus is Lord.
We cannot lock ourselves up in the safety of our private worlds. We cannot protect our faith by running away from life’s trials and tribulations. For if we know Christ, we know that suffering and the trials of life are part of His existence. We are able to stand with all those who suffer in the world if we are in Christ. We can offer the hope of Christ to all those who suffer. We have been with Mary at Christ’s tomb, and realize that tomb is empty because Christ is risen. The grave is not the end of life.
“… the Lord took the boy out of the coffin and delivered him to his mother. When his mother knew him, and took him and embraced him, then all fear and doubt left the onlookers. The Lord also took him by the hand and delivered him to his mother in order to show her that He was giving him to her as a gift, now as when she had given him birth. Life is God’s gift. God gives life to every man from His own hand; He does not hesitate to take any single created man by the hand and send him into this earthly, temporal life. The Lord, moreover, took the boy He had raised and gave him to his mother to show her that He had not said ‘Weep not!’ to her in vain. When He said this to her, He already had in mind to offer her comfort; not only with these words, that the grieving mother could have heard that day from many of her acquaintances, but also by an act that produced an unforeseen and perfect comfort.” (
Soon afterwards Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As 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. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has looked favorably on his people!”
“Were men to have half the fear of the ever-present God that they have of death, they would not be afraid of death; indeed, more than that, they would not know death in this world. The Lord was especially compassionate in this case with the poor mother, saying to her: ‘Weep not!’ He looked into her soul and read all that was in it. Her husband was dead, and she was lonely; now her only son had died, and she felt herself completely alone. Where was the living God? Can anyone be lonely in God’s company? Can a true man have any company more intimate than that of God? Is not God closer than our father and mother, our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters? He gives us kinsfolk, and takes them from us, but He does not leave us; His eye does not grow weary in watching over us, nor is there any change in His love for us. All death’s stings help us to cleave more closely to our God, the living God.” (
Soon afterwards Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As 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. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has looked favorably on his people!”
1) While miracles are ever popular and people want miracles in their lives, the real purpose of the miracles in the Gospels are revealed in the last sentence: the revelation of who Jesus is, and an encounter with the presence of God. A miracle is not nearly important as is God’s presence. God’s presence may also be found in His promises which may not find fulfillment in the now. The world wants miracles now, but biblical miracles actually point to the reality of that not-yet Kingdom which is to come.
5) In the Gospel Lesson, Christ walked up to the funeral procession and touches the open coffin carrying the dead man. And the bearers of the coffin stand still. Here in the Liturgy, we too who are dead in sin have opportunity for Christ to touch us and stop us in our tracks. Christ will then call us out of our sin, out of our passions, out of those things which are burning our hearts and destroying our love for one another. And he calls us then to rise to life. So do not leave the Liturgy unhealed, do no remain dead in your sins and passions, but let Christ heal you, let him take away that heavy burden of sin and passion which is killing you and destroying your heart. Let Christ confront you in the way you normally think and act and bring you to repentance so like the young man in the Gospel lesson, you can arise to the new life in Christ, one which is empowered by God’s love.
“And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And He delivered him to his mother. The creature heard its Creator’s voice, and obeyed His command. This same divine power, that first breathed life-giving breath into the dust, and from the dust made man, was now active to bring life to dead dust: to make the blood circulate and the eyes see, the ears hear and the tongue speak, and the bones and flesh find movement. Wherever the soul of the dead boy was, it heard the voice of its Master, and instantly returned to its body, with it to fulfill His command. The subject knew its King’s voice, and responded. The boy sat up in his coffin, and began to speak. Why did he begin at once to speak? That the people might not that this was some magical vision, or think that some spectre had entered into the boy’s body and sat him up in the coffin. All had to hear the voice and the words of the boy restored to life, that there might be not the least doubt that it was he himself, and not some other in him.” (Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, 
And it came to pass that Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.”
“…we feel ourselves incapable of offering anything else to those who are mourning. The power of death has so outstripped our strength that we crawl around like insects in its shadow; and as we heap earth over a dead body, we feel that we are heaping earth over a part of ourselves in the deathly darkness of the grave. The Lord does not say ‘Weep not!’ to the woman in order to show that we should not weep for the dead. He Himself wept for Lazarus (John 11:35); He wept in advance for many who would later suffer in the fall of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44); and lastly, He praised and blessed those who weep, ‘for they shall be comforted’
Apart from this and our sympathy, we feel ourselves incapable of offering anything else to those who are mourning. The power of death has so outstripped our strength that we crawl around like insects in its shadow; and as we heap earth over a dead body, we feel that we are heaping earth over a part of ourselves in the deathly darkness of the grave. The Lord does not say “Weep not!” to the woman in order to show that we should not weep for the dead. He Himself wept for Lazarus (John 11:35); He wept in advance of many who would later suffer in the fall of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44); and lastly, He praised and blessed those who weep, “for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). Nothing so calms and cleanses a man as tear. In the Orthodox methodology of salvation, tears are among the first means of cleansing the soul, heart and mind. Not only should we weep over the dead, but also over the living, and especially over ourselves, as the Lord recommended to the women of Jerusalem: “Weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children” (Luke 23:28). There is, though, a difference between tears and tears. The Apostle Paul commands the Thessalonians “that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope” (1 Thes. 4:13), like the pagans and the godless, for they mourn their dead as utterly lost. Christians must mourn the dead – not as lost but as sinners, and their mourning must therefore be conjoined with prayer to God that He will forgive the sins of the departed and lead them, by His mercy, to the heavenly Kingdom. Because of his sins, a Christian must mourn and weep also for himself—and the more often the better; not as those who have no faith and hope, but, on the contrary, specifically because he has faith in the living God and hope in God’s mercy and in eternal life. 
Fraternized 