01/11/2010 cmf.org.

uk Raising the widow's son

Nucleus - summer (pp26-29)

Raising the widow's son

This article continues a series loking through the eyes of Dr Luke at Jesus, the Great
Physician.

Luke 7:11-16
Soon afterwards, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him.
As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out - the only son of his mother, and she
was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to
her and he said, 'Don't cry' . Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He
said, 'Young man, I say to you, get up!' The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to
his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. 'A great prophet has appeared among us,' they
said. 'God has come to help his people.' This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding
country.

It w as the kind of chance encounter that Dr Luke w as fascinated by. In fact, this incident is only
recorded in his Gospel, and not in the parallel accounts of Matthew and Mark. Jesus w as in the full flow
of his teaching ministry, surrounded by his disciples and a large crowd of onlookers. The masses had
been follow ing him for some time. In chapter 6:18 Luke tells us that the crowd had come 'to hear him
and to be healed of their diseases'. They were fascinated by the authority and pow er of his words, but
even more so by the stories of his healing miracles, w hich had been circulating like wild-fire in the
villages of Galilee. And they were obviously prepared to hang around, jostling this new and exciting
rabbi w herever he happened to go, even if it meant a long w alk to the village of Nain, in the foothills
south of the Galilee Sea.

As the crow d approached the tow n gate, they were confronted by a sad little procession, one that w as
all too common in an era of high infant and child mortality. A young man, an adolescent, had been struck
dow n at the very outset of adult life. Yet this little cameo was even more poignant than usual, as Luke,
fascinated by the human element, points out. The dead child had been 'the only son of his mother, and
she was a w idow '. Luke manages to convey the human tragedy w ith a minimum of w ords. This w as the
only son, the inexpressible treasure of his mother's heart. She had already lost her husband; now her
child had been cruelly snatched away. Not only that, but in an society without any pensions or social
welfare, the w idow's son was her only hope of future financial security. Without him she might w ell face
a destitute future. The widow and the orphan were uniquely vulnerable in ancient society, wide open to
abuse by the unscrupulous, as the Old Testament Law recognised (Ex 22:22).

Tragic as the circumstances were, this human story w as hardly unusual. Mortality w as high, w idow s
were common, life w as hard. But Luke records a remarkable observation. Jesus w as strangely moved by
this chance meeting; 'his heart went out to her', and this pow erful emotion lead to action. Jesus speaks
tenderly to the widow, halts the funeral procession and approaches the open coffin. A moment of high
drama ensues which Luke paints in a few words. To the incredulity of the crowd he actually touches the
coffin, making himself ritually unclean according to the Old Testament Law (Nu 19:11). A word of
command. The young man sits up, restored instantaneously. Fear mingled w ith amazement grips the
crow d w ho recognise the source of Jesus' power.

Gut-level emotion!
As a clinician, Luke w as frequently fascinated by the human interactions of the Gospel narrative. He
emphasises the humanity of Christ, expressed through human relationships. And in describing this
chance encounter, Luke chose a remarkable w ord to express Jesus' reaction (v13) to the grieving
widow. The English translation doesn't reflect the force of the original Greek w ord 'splanchnisthe'. It is
frequently translated 'deeply moved', but its literal meaning is much more visceral. It has the same
derivation as our anatomical term 'splanchnic', meaning 'of the bow els, guts'. In modern slang it's an
emotion that gets you by the guts. It's not the sort of w ord w hich a clinician-author would use lightly,
especially w hen referring to the Son of God! It sounds inappropriate, almost blasphemous to modern
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ears. Yet Luke chose this pow erful, earthy w ord to describe the way that Jesus w as moved by a chance
encounter w ith suffering. It w as this strong visceral reaction that moved him to action, to respond w ith
tenderness and compassion.

Time and again, Luke and the other gospel w riters emphasise that Jesus w as not a cool disinterested
observer of suffering and pain. He was deeply and emotionally involved. He w as gutted, even about the
tragedy of an anonymous stranger. According to the Greek concept, God w as unable to suffer. Suffering
was part of an inferior human existence, but God w as beyond this, remote and passionless. The Gospel
writers, how ever, stress the reality of the Incarnation. God, through Jesus, has entered fully into the
human experience, and is totally and emotionally involved in the joys and the agony of his Creation. The
key emotion of the Incarnation, the visceral emotion that Jesus displayed was empathy (literally
'entering into the feeling of the other').

Detached or involved?
As health professionals w e frequently come into contact w ith strangers w ho are facing tragedy. Yet
emotional involvement is something w hich is not encouraged w ithin the health professions. Even in the
face of tragedy, any display of emotion is undesirable. The image that the modern health professional
strives to portray is that of the cool, dispassionate, detached, slightly cynical expert. It's the image of
the professional as opposed to the earnest, emotional, enthusiastic amateur. But I strongly believe that
this cool, clinical attitude is not an option for those w ho are follow ers of Jesus. We are called to be
involved w ith the stranger, as Jesus was involved.

This means opening ourselves to the pain that is around us. Like Jesus w e are surrounded by people
who are hurting. The natural human reaction is to protect ourselves, and I have no doubt that many
professionals adopt the cool, clinical attitude not because they don't care, but because its a w ay of
protecting themselves from too much pain, a defence mechanism. This is an understandable human
reaction, but the cool, clinical image cuts us off or alienates us from those w e are called to help.
Empathy, the way of Christ, emphasises our common humanity - 'I care, I am involved, I am a human
being like you, we are in this together'. Patients w ho have gone through tragedy in hospital sometimes
express the hurt they felt due to the cool attitude of the hospital staff. A mother w ho had gone through
the terrible experience of delivering a stillborn baby in hospital told me, years later, that it still hurt her
that nobody in the hospital had bothered to say that they w ere sorry. Perhaps the staff w ere so busy
being professional that they had no time to show that they cared.

There is a tension here. Because of our human weakness there must be limits to the extent of our
emotional involvement. As a neonatologist w orking on an intensive care unit, I frequently care for dying
babies and their families. I am called to empathise, to be emotionally involved. But since my w ife and I
have had our ow n children, my job has become much more harrow ing. I am able to empathise with
grieving parents in a much more genuine way than previously. I am able in my imagination to enter into
the experience a little. To lose one baby in a lifetime is an awesome tragedy. To lose one baby every
fortnight, is a sure recipe for psychiatric breakdown! I cannot experience the full tragedy of each loss if I
am to remain sane and in a position to help others. In our daily w ork w e must find the balance betw een
clinical detachment and emotional over-involvement.

Finding support
As Christian health professionals, w e all need healthy support mechanisms to provide the emotional
and spiritual resources to carry on caring, day after day, year after year. Let me suggest four areas
where w e can find support:

1. Family and friends. Whether we are single or married, w e all need the support of a small number
of close and intimate friends with whom we can share ourselves and the joys and griefs of our
work. All too often, our friendships are superficial and distant. If w e are going to be effective
carers, w e need to spend time developing deep and intimate friendships w ith a small number of
friends and soul-mates.
2. Professional colleagues. Colleagues can be a major source of emotional support, but w e may
find it hard to be open and honest w ith them. Junior doctors are often w orried that they will be
thought of as w eak or unprofessional, if they are too honest about their ow n feelings in front of
their seniors. By developing a professional culture of honesty and openness with colleagues, we
will be able to support one another more effectively.
3. Christian community. Clinical medical students and junior doctors often find that their links w ith a
local church are w eakened or broken because of weekend duties, and frequent moves from one
short term job to the next. Yet the practical support of our Christian sisters and brothers in a local
church community can make a vital difference. Even if we are infrequent attenders, w e need to
maintain and nourish our links w ith a local church.
4. Personal devotional life. 'Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares for you' (1 Pet 5:7). Jesus
found the emotional resources for his ministry, in the intimacy of his relationship with the Father.
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God longs to care for us, as w e care for our patients. As w e learn to 'practise the presence' of
God, day by day, w e w ill discover new emotional and spiritual resources for our w ork. In this way,
step by step, w e can learn to fulfil our high calling, to care as Jesus cared.

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