Homily One for the Third Sunday of Luke (St. Luke of Simferopol)

On the Resurrection of the Son of the Widow of Nain

Luke 7:11-16

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered on October 22, 1944)

You heard today in the Gospel reading about how our Lord Jesus Christ miraculously resurrected the dead son of a widow from the Palestinian city of Nain. You know that the Lord also resurrected Jairus' daughter, and Lazarus, who had been in the grave for four days. Unbelievers laugh at our belief in the resurrection of the dead, considering it a fable, a legend. But it is strange that at the same time they naively believe that it is possible to resurrect the dead by scientific means.

In Tashkent, they once seriously believed that it was possible to resurrect a boy who had died two years ago, whose corpse was soaked in nitric acid... We, Christians, do not believe in such miracles of science, but we believe that everything is possible for God. And so we hear with fear and delight the story of how the corpse of the only son of an unfortunate widow was carried out of the gates of the small town of Nain, how the Lord Jesus Christ, taking pity on her, stopped those carrying the coffin and said: "Young man! I say to you, get up." And the dead man got up and sat up, looking around in amazement.

With fear and reverence we read about the resurrection of Jairus' daughter, with fear and trembling we listen to how Lazarus was resurrected, we read in the Acts of the Apostles about how Saint Peter resurrected the Christian Tabitha. He sent everyone out of the room, prayed and said: "Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes and, seeing Peter, sat up. He gave her his hand, raised her up, and called the saints and widows, and presented her alive before them" (Acts 9:36-41).

We believe with all our hearts that in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ everything can be done, that everything is subject to Him, everything is within His power, everything is possible. So, let none of us ever doubt the authenticity of these miraculous resurrections.

But let us think about why the Lord Jesus Christ raised the dead? What prompted Him to do this? Love and compassion for fallen humanity, doomed to death, prompted Him to do this. We read in the Gospel that before the resurrection of Lazarus He was moved, and tears flowed from His holy eyes... He could not watch how Martha and Mary, Lazarus' sisters, were tormented by grief. Pity and love guided Him then. But was it only pity? Was it only love? There was another reason: it was necessary to show the human race that the Lord Jesus Christ has power over death. This was also necessary so that people, seeing Him crucified on the cross, would not be confused.

It was necessary to show that He could not have died, but voluntarily gave Himself up to death to save us all from eternal death. There was a third reason. The resurrection of Lazarus was to serve as a prototype of our spiritual resurrection, salvation from death in sins for eternal life.

The Holy Apostle Paul testifies that this resurrection of us from death in sins into eternal life was the main goal of the Lord Jesus Christ. For this He came to earth, for this He sacrificed Himself.

Consider the words of the Apostle Paul about Christ: “In Him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily, and you are complete in Him, who is the head of every principality and power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ” (Col. 2:9–11).

In the Old Testament, Moses commanded circumcision. In the New Testament, this is abandoned: we do not need fleshly circumcision, for from Christ we receive spiritual circumcision, which has as its goal the removal of the sinful body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.

“Having been buried with Him in baptism,” says the Apostle Paul, “in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Col. 2:12–14). You, who were dead in sins, the Lord called to a spiritual resurrection.

Well, is it clear to you what it means to be dead in sins? Oh, yes! Sin and death are inseparable. Is not life in sins, in the lusts of the flesh, a slow dying? Is not fornication and adultery, often punished by a bad disease, leading to decomposition? Does not drunkenness destroy the body and reduce the soul to a bestial state? Does not lying corrupt a person, as a wormhole saws a tree? Do not pride and arrogance, slander and calumny repel with their moral stench? And the stench is the smell of death. Life in sins, in base service to passions and lusts is not life, but decay. And decay leads to death. Thousands and millions of unfortunate people die from this spiritual decay, die a spiritual death, who have not found Christ, who do not seek salvation from Him from spiritual decay.

And to us who understand this, to us who have accepted Christ into our hearts and received from Him the power to be children of God, the Lord calls us to be reborn, “But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:21–24). Like dirty, old clothes, soaked in impurity, we must cast off our sins, we must cleanse ourselves of these foul clothes, with all our hearts desire white and clean clothes, put off the old man, corrupt according to lust and sins, and put on the new man, created according to God, to put on Christ.

This is what Christ calls us to, this is what the resurrection of the dead was needed for, this prototype of spiritual rebirth, the stripping off of the old man and putting on the new one, created according to God in purity and truth.

For this reason the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world and suffered a terrible, martyr's death, to free us from the power of the devil, who entangles us in sins and leads us to eternal death. Christ gave us the power to be children of God and in His name to trample the devil, to kill the head of the serpent. We only need to want it, we need to accept this power from the hands of Christ, we need to be ashamed of our stench and impurity and desire holiness in God and truth. And if the grace of God touches our hearts, if we are renewed in our minds, then we must lead a completely different life - a life full of purity and holiness. We must then, "putting away every lie, speak the truth each with his neighbor, for we are members of one another" (Eph. 4:25). We must hate lies, for the father of lies is the devil. When we are angry, we must not sin - "let not the sun go down on your wrath" (Eph. 4:26). We must be quiet and meek, not angry, harsh and cruel.

“Let him who stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, doing what is useful with his hands, that he may have something to give to those in need. Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may impart grace to those who hear. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. But be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:28–29, 31–32). And then we will live a completely new life, as truly reborn in the font of Baptism, as dead to sin. Then we will be true and genuine disciples of Christ.

Let us all desire this wonderful spiritual revival, this new, pure, holy life.

Let us ask God to remove from us, by His grace and mercy, the foul image of man, decaying in sins and lusts, and to clothe us in the bright and pure garments of eternal life. Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.