The Two Resurrections of Widow S Sons

Jesus Christ performed various miracles throughout his adult life. Some of which involved resurrecting the dead or healing the sick. In the Gospel of Luke lies the recurring theme of resurrection of sons of widows. Here the reader sees the power of God through Jesus and that He is indeed one with the Lord. Luke's Gospel also is the only one that goes into detail telling the reader of Jesus' teachings offering a glimpse into who Jesus is as well as what people believed him to be.

Most people at the beginning of Jesus' ministry thought of Him as merely a son of a carpenter. Although his teaching and way of preaching touched some, many still did not take him seriously. It was not until He began to perform miracles did people believe Him as having a sincere and direct connection to God. For example, while Jesus taught in the synagogue in Nazareth, the people there took offense due to his background. Rejecting his authority, their reactions are described as such in Mark and Matthew.

However, in Luke's Gospel, the offensive reaction of the townspeople is not as apparent and instead, they are surprised after Jesus reads from the words of Isaiah. Ironically when Jesus resurrected the widow's son in the city of Nain, they compared him to the prophet Elijah remarking Elijah had returned, showing the progression of the people from non-believers to believers in Christ.

Going back to Luke's Gospel, the people that rejected Jesus' words of challenge felt such offense that they wanted to kill Jesus by throwing him from a cliff. This is different from Matthew and Mark's Gospels that suggested the lack of faith of the people led to Jesus being unable to perform miracles. Ultimately, the 'big idea' for Luke in this Gospel is the notion that Jesus is someone that will ultimately sacrifice Himself for the salvation of humanity.

Some of the things that surprised me from this reading is the kindness granted to the widow. The idea of her losing a husband and then a son is tragic. Then what is even more tragic is knowing she would have nothing if she had no man left in her family. To see a woman alone in a patriarchal society is to see a woman with no rights and no security.

By healing the widow's son, He provided a means for the widow to keep living. The second healing of the widow's son was also dramatic. While the initial reaction of the people was to kill Jesus Christ by throwing him off a cliff, now people praise Him and compare Him to Elijah. It just seems odd that people would go from such a terrible and violent reaction to one of praise and joy. These miracles were what Jesus needed to show the world who He was.

It is unfortunate that people need miracles in order to have faith. However, this is the reality of the world. The readings also demonstrated that people can change as seen in Paul. He persecuted Christians and then eventually came to preach for Christianity, growing his own church and passing on the word of Jesus Christ and God.