Homily Notes: St. Luke 7: 11-16 (The Raising of the Nain Widow’s Son)
Warm-up.
The Holy Fathers of the Ecumenical Councils and the revelation of the Harmony of God.
The Context
Scriptural Context: Because the Lord, while not even present, had healed the centurion’s servant, H now performs another even more remarkable miracle. He does this so that no one could say, “What is remarkable about the healing of the centurion’s servant? Perhaps he might not have died in any case.” This is why the Lord no raises up the dead man as he was being carried out for burial. St. Theophlact, Commentary on St. Luke.
Liturgical/Life Context: In the Ukrainian Orthodox tradition, this Gospel is read at the end of the funeral, as the bier is taken from the Church.
The Value of Tears
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 (St. John 11:35). We wept for many who would later suffer in the fall of Jerusalem (St. Luke 19:41-44); and lastly, He praised and blessed those who weep, “for they shall be comforted” (St. Matthew 5:4). Nothing so calms and cleanses a man as tears. 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.”… 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 Thessalonians 4:13) like the pagans and the godless, for they mourn their dead as utterly lost.
St. Nikolai Velimirovich “Homily on the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost.
Tears are a gift. In sorrow, they are part of the healing process. In repentance, they are the “second baptism” that lead to genuine healing, confession, absolution, and reconciliation with God and the community (i.e. the Church).
The Temptations of Parenting: Childolatry
When tears are, in this Christian sense, of such use, why then, does the Lord say to the mother of the dead boy: “Weep not!”? This is a very different case. This woman was weeping as one without hope; and she was, furthermore, not weeping for her child’s sins, nor for her own, but for her physical loss, for her child’s apparent annihilation and for her eternal separation from him. (ibid).
Unlike parenting models based on apathy or even anger, “childolatry” looks like real love, but it isn’t. The widow of Nain’s grief looks like real love, but, despite it’s genuineness and piety, it was flawed. How about us – how flawed is our parenting model (and it is bound to be flawed, because our own hearts and minds are broken!)? Idolatry is a serious sin (First and Second Commandment; Great Commandment(s)), and sin works like a disease, moving from the source to its victims and our into the community (e.g. can any child live up to the expectations that are due to God alone?).
Even so, these tears can be useful. They come when the pagan “who has no hope” comes to the end of himself and realizes he is impotent before the powers of the world and that, despite his best efforts, he can protect neither his own life nor anything he values. It is in this moment that the touch of Christ is so critical. The Lord was there for the widow of Nain, and, even more significantly, he was there for the her son. He does not just offer the comfort of a warm embrace and a loving touch; He offers the lasting comfort of eternal love and resurrection from the dead. In His presence the transformation proclaimed in our funeral service is accomplished; “changing our lamentation into the song – alleluia, alleluia, alleluia”
Everything is Healed in Christ
The flesh of the almighty Word is the body of life and was clothed with his might. Consider that iron when brought into contact with fire produces the effects of fire and fulfills its functions. The flesh of Christ also has the power of giving life and annihilates the influence of death and corruption because it is the flesh of the Word, who gives life to all. May our Lord Jesus Christ also touch us that delivering us from evil works, even from fleshly lusts, he may unite us to the assemblies of the saints.St. Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 36. (Just, A. A. (Ed.). (2005). Luke (p. 118). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
Death cannot survive the encounter with Christ (PASCHA!; Anaphora of St. Basil)). It has no hold on Him and it has no hold on his body. Follow St. Paul (“It is no longer I who live, but He who lives in me.” Galatians 2:16-20 – today’s Epistle). Cry the tears of repentance and accept Christ God into your heart. Allow His Body and Blood to fill you. Then know that when we read this Gospel over your body at those doors, we will be proclaiming a literal truth: the Lord will have raised you from the dead!
