Jesus valued and treated the fragile and unprotected social sectors, such as women, in a special way.  The way in which he valued and treated them is even more poignant, if you take into account that in the cultural world of Palestine of the first century, women formed part of the world of the excluded and the less fortunate (Marshall 1992:887; Bock 1994:200).  Within a society that considered them as insignificant, or less important than the men, Jesus saw and valued them as human beings created in the image of God and as beneficiaries of the Reign of God which he announced (Senior 1985:354).  The third gospel gives testimony of the particular concern, or special interest, that he had for defenseless and destitute social classes such as women (Lk. 7:11-17, 36-50; 8:2-3, 40-56; 10:38-42; 13:10-17; 21:1-4; 23:27-28, 49, 55: 24:1-12).  In this document of the New Testament, it is insistently underscored that Jesus of Nazareth, when he began to proclaim the good news of the Reign of God from the despised province of Galilee, was not insensitive or indifferent to the diverse human needs of the marginalized.  The teacher of Galilee always had time to see, hear, attend to and help the marginalized that he dealt with and related to on a daily basis.  One day in the village of Nain, he had compassion on a widow who was weeping over the death of her only son.  In the narrative of this event, recorded only in the gospel of Luke, the concrete gestures of love that Jesus showed for this uncomforted and hopeless women, due to the death of the only one (her son) who could guarantee her a life of dignity in the future, outlines the missionary route that the disciples of the Carpenter of Nazareth must travel in all missionary contexts.  This is a route that is connected to the way in which they daily value, treat and relate to the vulnerable and unprotected social groups, such as uncomforted and abandoned women.

THE CONCRETE PROBLEM

The pastoral challenges that Christian communities of different historical backgrounds and theological perspectives must confront daily, in their respective contexts of mission, are multiple and have diverse characteristics.  There are no given prescriptions, nor a menu of anticipated outcomes with which to meet each of these challenges.  In every situation, the form of approaching the social problems, as well as the actions that must be undertaken to resolve them, can be absolutely distinct.  In this regard, the gospels give testimony that the way in which Jesus of Nazareth examined and resolved the problems that affected human beings of flesh and blood, with whom he dealt and associated during his missionary journeys, did not necessarily follow the same route, nor were they resolved of the same form.  An examination of the Lukan narratives connected with the liberating mission of Jesus gives an account of that.  For example, this is the case in the narrative of the resurrection of the only son of the widow of Nain.[1]  Luke in his gospel, describes the encounter that Jesus had with this widow during one of his missionary journeys through the region of Galilee (Lk. 7:11).  The scene that Luke records occurred in the village of Nain, a place that was located probably ten kilometers south of Nazareth (Hendriksen 1996:372; Morris 1997:153).  A widowed woman (it does not explain how long she was a widow) had lost her only son (Lk. 7:12).  In the Jewish culture of the first century, to be a woman and a widow meant having an enormous disadvantage in comparison to the rest of the people who had the protection and care of their family circle.  It should also not be forgotten that, according to the cultural patterns of the first century, women were considered as less important than the men and they were placed at the lowest strata of society, along with the publicans, lepers and Samaritans.   Furthermore, this widowed woman, whose age we do not know, had been totally forsaken as a result of the death of her only son.  Her problem was very tragic for, on one hand, because of the death of her only son all hope of perpetuating her family lineage, or to have descendants, had vanished (Hendriksen 1996:374).  On the other hand, she had been left alone in a hostile world without anyone to protect her or care for her material needs (Morris 1997:153).  The condition of material abandonment in which she was left was extremely serious, particularly because in the first century there were very little possibilities that a woman could work to gain her own support (Morris 1997:153).  The future presented itself as dark and uncertain for her.

The scene described by Luke in his gospel is very dramatic.  When Jesus arrived at the village of Nain, he saw a funeral procession and a poor woman who was crying inconsolably because of the death of her only son.  The fact that Luke underlines in his narrative the social situation of the woman, who was a widow, suggests that for the author of this gospel the condition of material neglect, in which this woman had been left, was very terrible.  Due to the death of her only son (she did not have another son) there was no guarantee of a proper future for her.  Rather, in the following years, her survival would depend upon the mercy of others and, her daily support, upon the charity of her neighbors.  The condition of total abandonment in which she had been left, due to the death of her only son, was not at all pleasing.  Jesus, seeing her situation of abandonment, and knowing that in the future she would have much material lack, was concerned for the present and for the immediate future of this widowed woman.  Jesus’ actions of love did not limit themselves to the expression of compassion separated from concrete gestures of solidarity.  He gave clear expressions of his love and understanding for the situation of the widow of Nain.  The words that Jesus pronounced before the multitude that accompanied the funeral procession, do not cry, or stop crying (Lk. 7:13), were words of hope that were subsequently translated into a miracle which returned to the widow the happiness that she had lost with the death of her only son.  Jesus presented himself as the Lord of life whose liberating mission had as its goal, the transformation of the life conditions of fragile human beings such as this widow.

The lesson that is derived from the first part of this narrative is very clear.  Like Jesus of Nazareth, his disciples today, who confess him as their Lord and saviour, must also be concerned for the distinct concrete needs of human beings of flesh and blood.  Indifference before the myriad human needs of the fragile and unprotected, and insensitivity before the cry of our neighbor, are not evangelistic virtues.  Neither is insensitivity before the pain and grief of so many of the defenseless and destitute of the world.  Active solidarity, which has as its starting point the capacity to see human needs which results in compassion, is in addition to being a clear evangelical principle, also a visible expression of the presence of the Reign of God among us.  Jesus did not solely see a funeral procession (Lk. 7:2).  He saw a widowed woman, disconsolate and forsaken, destitute and unprotected (Lk. 7:12-13).  He saw beyond the present problem.  He saw the immediate future of the widow, which was shaded and uncertain, and resolved the present and the future need of this woman.  We have to do likewise.  We have to see the concrete problems of the fragile of our time and untiringly work to reverse the future.  The disconsolate ones, who are treated as social trash or human waste, need to be comforted not just with palliatives that resolve their immediate needs of one day to the next, but also with the establishment of better conditions of life based upon an active solidarity that has, on its horizon, the justice of the Reign of God.

THE COMPASSION OF JESUS

The problem that affected the widow of Nain, the human point of view, presented itself as insoluble and irremediable.  There was nothing to do, except to bury the deceased.  All human hope had terminated with the death of the boy.  To the widowed woman, if you take into account the cultural regulations of that time, there was no remedy left, except to accept the uncertain future that awaited her.  She had to prepare herself to beg for her daily sustenance and to depend upon public charity.  Nevertheless, as Luke narrates, Jesus was not indifferent to the hopeless situation in which this widowed woman found herself (Lk.7: 13-14).  The first words that Jesus pronounced, before the multitude that accompanied the funeral procession, were not discourteous gestures or gestures lacking kindness or understanding of her concrete problem.  The compassion of Jesus, first of all, expressed in the words, do not cry, were intended to communicate a flash of hope to the distress woman.  According to Luke: When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her, and He said, ‘do not cry’ (Lk. 7:13).  After transmitting these words of hope to the woman (do not cry), the compassion of Jesus reached further, still.  The fact that he touched the coffin and requested that those who were carrying the deceased to be still (Lk. 7:13), gives notice that the intention of Jesus was going far beyond mere words and from sporadic gestures of compassion.[2] In reality, it was already a highly significant gesture that a teacher or Rabbi like Jesus, knowledgeable of the religious regulations of his time, would touch a coffin in which a dead person was found and run the risk that he would be declared ceremonially impure, due to his physical contact with a dead person (Bock 1994:135).  Why did He do it?  There is no doubt that the only way to understand the reason for Jesus’ attitude is found in the comprehension that he had of the value of human persons, as creations of God.  This is so, because for Jesus, human beings in need of the grace of God were much more important than the religious prejudices of his time or the predominant cultural patterns of that historical context.

The compassion of Jesus was not limited, therefore, to the simple expression of words of comfort or to certain dubitative and sporadic actions of love to neighbor.  The compassion of Jesus was translated into concrete acts of solidarity which pointed to the resolution of the problems that affected people.  What Jesus did for the widow of Nain expresses clearly the solidarity practice which he demonstrated, and is presented as a model that the disciples of our time, imitating his example, must follow on all the frontiers of mission in which they find themselves, giving testimony with words and deeds, of the good news of the Reign of God.  The excluded and underprivileged, besides words of comfort that transmit hope in a social climate in which hopelessness and distress are common currency, need for those words to be translated in concrete material gestures which give account of the integral salvation that is derived from the announcement of the good news of the Reign of God.  Luke, in his gospel, underlines that Jesus of Nazareth is the hope of the fragile.  When they encounter him, the horizon of their life is totally changed, because Jesus reverses their destiny, transforming pain into gladness and loneliness into fellowship.

THE GLADNESS OF A MOTHER

The presence of Jesus in the life of this woman, as she was going through a critical situation, transformed her pain into gladness.  Jesus’ gestures of love toward the widow of Nain had the intention of showing that, to him, human beings and their concrete needs matter very much.  The Lord Jesus is not indifferent to the reality of discomfort and despair in which many people find themselves.  Just as he attended to and resolved the problem of the widow of Nain, giving back her son which she had lost, in the same way, in this time, he shows his affection and solidarity with all those who come to him seeking help.  This is how Luke records the miracle that Jesus performed on that occasion in his gospel:  He said, ‘young man, I say to you, get up!  Then the dead man sat up and began to talk (Lk.7: 15).  According to the narrative of Luke, the fact that Jesus speaks to a deceased person, seems like nonsense and a curious fact.  Furthermore, for common sense and for scientific opinion, it can seem out of place that miracles occurred like the one Luke describes in his gospel. Luke, however, presents the facts, not as simple episodes or a story for absent-minded children, but as facts that effectively occurred.  The authentic proof of the resurrection of the only son of the widow, was in the fact that, once this person straightened up, or sat up in the coffin where he was, he began to articulate words, which was undoubtedly a sign that he had returned to life (Lk.7: 15).  Another fact, not always taken into account in the analysis of the story, is the way Luke describes the relationship that Jesus established with the widowed woman.  Luke mentions that, after the resurrection of the son of the widow of Nain, Jesus gave him back to his mother (Lk. 7: 15).  In other words, the woman, whose immense grief was understandable, was a privileged to be an eyewitness of the love of God in action.  Furthermore, she could see how Jesus returned life, not only to the son she had lost, but also to her.  For the resurrection of her only son, in light of the situation of complete material abandonment in which she was left, meant the social resurrection of herself.  Because of the resurrection of her only son, the widow woman recovered the only person that could guarantee her a proper life in the future and access to daily sustenance.  This explains why, given the miracle performed by Jesus, the multitude that accompanied the funeral procession reacted in the following way: they were filled with awe and praised God, saying, “a great prophet has appeared among us, and God has come to help his people” (Lk.7: 16).

When Jesus observed the problem of the widow of Nain, he did what she least expected. He resurrected her only son.[3]  Jesus always surprises us.  He acts in the moment when we least expect.  When the fragile, like the widow of the narrative of Luke, encounter the God of life who has a special love for all those who are in situations of disadvantage, are never the same.  The God of life changes her present as much as her future.  This is what occurred with the widow of Nain.  A woman who was going to bury her only son, after her encounter with Jesus in the midst of her pain and agony as a mother, she returned to her house with her heart filled with gladness because her only son was alive again. The expression, God has visited his people (Lk. 7:16), suggests that for the eyewitnesses of this event, the miracle performed on this occasion by Jesus of Nazareth constituted an unequivocal sign of the love of God in action on the scene of history.[4] In Jesus of Nazareth, God was present, and the fragile of that time could feel, within their own reality of exclusion and material misery, that he had come to reverse their destiny.  That is how it is in effect.  When the fragile encounter the God of life, the gladness that this produces transforms all material conditions of existence, and transmits to them a love for Life that no temporal lord can snatch away.  The fragile have in him their go´el, their vindicator, the one who stands up for them, he who defends them.  The fragile ones, like the widow of Nain, are not alone.  God is on their side, and the God of life has power to defeat death and misery.