BIBLE STUDY #137


TENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

June 9, 2013



READING 1

1 KINGS 17:17-24



Elijah went to Zarephath of Sidon to the house of a widow.

The son of the mistress of the house fell sick,

and his sickness grew more severe until he stopped breathing.

So she said to Elijah,

“Why have you done this to me, O man of God?

Have you come to me to call attention to my guilt

and to kill my son?”

Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.”

Taking him from her lap, he carried the son to the upper room

where he was staying, and put him on his bed.

Elijah called out to the LORD:

“O LORD, my God,

will you afflict even the widow with whom I am staying

by killing her son?”

Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times

and called out to the LORD:

“O LORD, my God,

let the life breath return to the body of this child.”

The LORD heard the prayer of Elijah;

the life breath returned to the child’s body and he revived.

Taking the child, Elijah brought him down into the house

from the upper room and gave him to his mother.

Elijah said to her, “See! Your son is alive.”

The woman replied to Elijah,

“Now indeed I know that you are a man of God.

The word of the LORD comes truly from your mouth.”



The Word of the Lord



READING 2

GALATIANS 1:11-19



I want you to know, brothers and sisters,

that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin.

For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it,

but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.



For you heard of my former way of life in Judaism,

how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure

and tried to destroy it, and progressed in Judaism

beyond many of my contemporaries among my race,

since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions.

But when God, who from my mother’s womb had set me apart

and called me through his grace,

was pleased to reveal his Son to me,

so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles,

I did not immediately consult flesh and blood,

nor did I go up to Jerusalem

to those who were apostles before me;

rather, I went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus.



Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem

to confer with Cephas and remained with him for fifteen days.

But I did not see any other of the apostles,

only James the brother of the Lord.



The Word of the Lord



GOSPEL

LUKE 7:11-17



Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain,

and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.

As he drew near to the gate of the city,

a man who had died was being carried out,

the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.

A large crowd from the city was with her.

When the Lord saw her,

he was moved with pity for her and said to her,

“Do not weep.”

He stepped forward and touched the coffin;

at this the bearers halted,

and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!”

The dead man sat up and began to speak,

and Jesus gave him to his mother.

Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming,

“A great prophet has arisen in our midst, ”

and “God has visited his people.”

This report about him spread through the whole of Judea

and in all the surrounding region.



The Gospel of the Lord



Reflection



From Harper’s Bible Dictionary, p.682, (copyright 1985, The Society of Biblical Literature): The city of Nain is “a village identified with modern Nein six miles southeast of Nazareth at the foot of Givat ha-Moreh in the valley of Jezreel (cf. Judg. 7:11). In later Jewish sources, the town was called Naim (Heb., “pleasant”). Here Jesus resuscitated the widow’s only son (Luke 7:11-17). Ruins of a medieval church remain the village, and to the southeast are ancient rock cut- tombs.”



This story is unique to Luke’s Gospel. It shows Luke’s penchant for women, the poor, the marginalized, and the disenfranchised.



When Jesus nears the city, he sees a man who had died being carried out. He was the only son of a widow. The widow would have been dependent on her son for survival and now would have no means of survival.



Notice that Jesus acted without being asked. Many times in the gospels, Jesus doesn’t do anything unless asked. This time, Jesus initiates the action.

Nor does he require faith from the widow, nor any promise of faith. He feels compassion for a woman in mourning and he takes action. This action is more than just compassion, however. According to Isaiah, this type of action is a time of restoration for the poor and when those who died would rise. It is the time of the Messiah. John subsequently sends people to Jesus to ask him if he is the messiah. Jesus response is to look at his deeds; this will tell you that he is the messiah.



The people are correct in thinking that a great prophet has arisen. God has visited them in Jesus, the Son of God.



The first reading from the first book of Kings is also about a healing. Elijah was a great prophet Who lived in the 9th century BC and who performed many works of great power.



The death of the son was blamed partly on Elijah who, as a prophet, brought God’s judgment on her. And his death was partly blamed on the widow because people thought that the sins of the mother had been visited on the son.



Elijah takes the body of the son and prays over it, asking God to restore life to him. God grants his request, showing us that God is one who heals and restores life, and does not take revenge on a child for the sins of the parents. This story shows us the goodness of God, attests to the importance of the prophet as a spokesperson for God, and affirms the truth that God’s word will always be revealed.



While Elijah is a great prophet, we see that Jesus is a greater prophet, the greatest prophet. Elijah needs to pray to God for healing, he can’t do it on his own. Jesus, on the other hands, heals by his own power because he is God.





Fr. Phil