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Gospel: Luke 7: 11-17
Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain,
and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.
As he drew near to the gate of the city,
a man who had died was being carried out,
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.
A large crowd from the city was with her.
When the Lord saw her,
he was moved with pity for her and said to her,
“Do not weep.”
He stepped forward and touched the coffin;
at this the bearers halted,
and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!”
The dead man sat up and began to speak,
and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming,
“A great prophet has arisen in our midst,”
and “God has visited his people.”
This report about him spread through the whole of Judea
and in all the surrounding region.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Saint Luke was not an Apostle, nor did he ever meet Jesus. Luke was a Greek physician who heard about Jesus and investigated his life, two of his greatest sources being Saint Paul and Mary, whom Luke met in Jerusalem a few months after the crucifixion.
In many ways, being Greek and a physician defined Luke’s outlook on life.
The Greeks believed that the gods were ultimately inconvincible or apathetic. If human pleas could sway the emotions of the gods, then, at least momentarily, we’d have power over them, making the gods as vulnerable as men.
Yet Luke was a man of compassion. If the gods were distant and deaf to our cries, then he would do what they would not; he would heal the sick, pushing back the inevitable clock of death.
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Thus, when he heard about Jesus, he was overcome. How could this itinerant preacher also perform miracles, even bring people – like the young man in today’s Gospel – back to life?
Jesus was either a prophet… or something greater. And, unlike the gods of Greece, Jesus was compassionate.
This is why the mercy of God is a signature theme in Luke’s Gospel. God is not only powerful; he also cares about his creation. In Christ, he suffers and dies for us.
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While today’s Gospel scene is truly miraculous, Luke encourages us to keep the bigger picture in mind.
Our hope is not grounded in the fact that a young man was brought back from death to physical life; rather, that Christ – who overcame death permanently – was moved with compassion at the sight of it.
May the same Christ who was raised from the dead have compassion on us, and bring us to life – not only in this world, but especially in the next, “where neither moth nor decay can destroy.”
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Image credits: (1) Learn Religions (2) Jan Verhas, The Raising of the Widow’s Son in Nain (3) Hope Lutheran Chapel