Nain. A small town with a gate. A widow. A dead son. A funeral procession. Nain.
In India, a woman's protection centers on the men in her life. First her father gives her a home and then provides a husband and then her husband provides for her needs and finally her son. The bond between mother and son in India is perhaps the most precious. Son's are the apples of their mother's eyes but just as importantly their mother's are the apples of the son's eyes. Their bond is strong. It is culturally acceptable, important, and integral. The son cares for his mother in her old age. A son saves her from destitution, loneliness, contempt and starvation. Sound dramatic? It is not. It can be horrific for some young wives but many men love first and most their mothers.
When I read this story I think of little Mary holding her first son. Simeon of the temple prophesied to the young mother (chapter 3) a sword will pierce your side too. That little Godchild grew and walked towards the cross. We know from His words on the cross that he loved his mother.
We see a small window into Jesus' care for mothers at Nain in the midst of his travels for God's glory. In an act of love, care, cultural understanding, power and might Jesus raised the dead son of the widow of Nain. First he spoke comfort to the mother. Him a stranger, her a woman (that is another cultural taboo we have no grasp of in our world today). Jesus put out his hand as his great crowd of travelers converged with the considerable crowd leaving the gates of Nain and Jesus touched the bier. That cultural faux pas stopped the bearers cold. His speaking the woman, the two crowds colliding and all the chaos did not stop these men but Jesus' touch halted them. And then Jesus told the young man to rise. As their eyes bulged with Jesus' hand on bier with horror imagine the awe when the young man rose to the arms of his mother.
Praise Jesus. This story, in the shadow of India where my widow friends often struggle even with the care of their sons but without a son are left to despair, I am awed by Jesus' care, love, power and understanding.
If you know someone alone this holiday, particularly a widow may we live out James 1:26; Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
In India, a woman's protection centers on the men in her life. First her father gives her a home and then provides a husband and then her husband provides for her needs and finally her son. The bond between mother and son in India is perhaps the most precious. Son's are the apples of their mother's eyes but just as importantly their mother's are the apples of the son's eyes. Their bond is strong. It is culturally acceptable, important, and integral. The son cares for his mother in her old age. A son saves her from destitution, loneliness, contempt and starvation. Sound dramatic? It is not. It can be horrific for some young wives but many men love first and most their mothers.
When I read this story I think of little Mary holding her first son. Simeon of the temple prophesied to the young mother (chapter 3) a sword will pierce your side too. That little Godchild grew and walked towards the cross. We know from His words on the cross that he loved his mother.
We see a small window into Jesus' care for mothers at Nain in the midst of his travels for God's glory. In an act of love, care, cultural understanding, power and might Jesus raised the dead son of the widow of Nain. First he spoke comfort to the mother. Him a stranger, her a woman (that is another cultural taboo we have no grasp of in our world today). Jesus put out his hand as his great crowd of travelers converged with the considerable crowd leaving the gates of Nain and Jesus touched the bier. That cultural faux pas stopped the bearers cold. His speaking the woman, the two crowds colliding and all the chaos did not stop these men but Jesus' touch halted them. And then Jesus told the young man to rise. As their eyes bulged with Jesus' hand on bier with horror imagine the awe when the young man rose to the arms of his mother.
Praise Jesus. This story, in the shadow of India where my widow friends often struggle even with the care of their sons but without a son are left to despair, I am awed by Jesus' care, love, power and understanding.
If you know someone alone this holiday, particularly a widow may we live out James 1:26; Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
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