Outside In

Luke 7:1-17

Jesus was fully human and experienced all that human life has to offer: joy, pain, pleasure, heartache, sore feet, hunger, love, anger, compassion, frustration, and everything else we can imagine. It is helpful to remember the humanity of Jesus as we also consider his cosmic significance and all the his death and resurrection mean for the redemption of the world. It is the humanity of Jesus, how he interacted with real people, that touches me deeply.  When we see Jesus moved with compassion for the widow of Nain or deeply impressed with the centurion's faith it is striking. While we can certainly be impressed by the miraculous healings we see in these two episodes, we can learn a lot about our savior by understanding who moved him with compassion. What we see is that Jesus showed love to people without regard to who they were, or who the world said they were. He loved people like God loves.

It is important to remember the context of Jesus life as he interacts with people. The Roman Empire occupied the Jewish people and almost the entire known world in Jesus' day. Roman soldiers kept the people from uprising though intimidation and force in often brutal an inhumane ways. The Romans were the enemies of the people and the deepest hope of the Jewish people was that a messiah would come to vanquish the foreign invaders and restore the kingdom of David. This is why it would have be shocking for the disciples to see Jesus heal the centurion's servant and his declaration of how impressive the soldier's faith was. "Not even in Israel have I found such faith." (Luke 7:9)  Jesus does not refuse to heal the servant, he does not balk at the idea of helping the centurion and in doing so reveals the heart of God.  Those who would be excluded are included.  The ones who are enemies to humanity are children of God.  The love and compassion of Jesus knows no boundaries.

The second story also shows the deep compassion Jesus has for people. Jesus meets the widow of Nain during the funeral procession of her only son. Jesus understood that she was not only emotionally devastated at her loss, but that her economic future was bleak.  She would have to rely upon the charity of others to survive.  "When Jesus saw her he had compassion for her and said to her 'do not weep." (Luke 7:13) He then touched the coffin and told the young man to rise.  Jesus literally brings the son back from the dead and restores the relationship for his mother.  By touching the coffin, Jesus violated the purity laws of the Old Testament (cf. Numbers 19:11) and was making himself unclean.  This too would have been shocking for people to see, but Jesus' deep compassion knows no social bounds.  Jesus, with his boundless love, gives himself away for us.  He lays down his purity, his pride, his body, his life, for us and for all humanity.

For those who wish to be followers of Jesus, we need to understand the love of Jesus for ourselves and for all people. We need to know not only that Jesus loves all people, but how Jesus loves. As we grow in our faith we are to love others like Jesus loves us; without holding back and without boundaries.