[AI translation] Dear Brothers and Sisters! In this story there has been a miracle so great, so breathtakingly great, that I can almost not understand it in any other way than that it is the foreshadowing of the last day when the dead will hear the mighty name of Jesus returning in glory and will rise from the dead. Just as we will never understand this event at Nain, we will never understand what will happen there. I feel that Jesus is already here demonstrating the triumph of eternal life over death, that it is not death that has the last word, but Him, the Prince of Life! It is as if He were already crying out in advance with this Word to all those who mourn, "Do not mourn as those who have no hope, for you have hope" (cf. 1 Thess 4:13). And so it will be, as it is here, that those who have been temporarily separated by death will be able to embrace each other again in joy. But that is not what we are looking for in this Word. I want to talk about Jesus in relation to the other protagonist of this story, the widow who is weeping for her son.What happens when the sad man and Jesus meet? So it is not the dead-suffering Christ, but the dear face of the consoling Jesus who looks at us through this story. It begins in an infinitely sad way. A funeral procession marches out through the gates of Nain towards the cemetery. Behind those carrying the coffin, a little old woman, a widow, staggers sadly, in a state of desolation. She buries her only hope, her only support, the continuation of her life on earth, her son... This weeping old woman behind the coffin almost seems to be the embodiment of human grief. The spiritual bathtub under which she is crumbling is full of sorrow: sorrow for her past, sorrow for her present and immense sorrow for her future. He has no one to fight for, he is all alone. "What meaning and purpose can his life have?" he must be thinking to himself. No wonder, according to the Word, that he is surrounded by so much compassion when so many go with him in this sad procession to the cemetery.
When the image of this widow came to me, I was reminded of another widow who had recently wept her sorrow from a far, far away land in a letter to me. In the letter, she wrote, among other things, "All my spirit is gone with my dear husband. I feel now that I can almost die of grief. Almost a year since he died... I can't come to terms with the fact that he is gone. You can't imagine how much I'm suffering, a sea of self-reproach for why I took him to that hospital... I run the household as before, but my soul is sick. Oh, but there are so many sick souls like that among us, sad people who seem to be marching in a great invisible funeral procession... Bitter memories often lurk behind well-bred, well-disciplined features. Many people carry some secret thorn that once burrowed into their souls. Now they can no longer get rid of it, it makes their present and their future hopeless and hopeless. If a secret psychic microphone could be used to listen into people's souls, but many sighs would become audible! Here they cry, there they welcome someone home... Over there they crumble under the weight of adversity... Here, perhaps, the soul is drowning in a wave of domestic unhappiness. There are many sorrows of many sorts that eat away at men's souls. No human, no worldly consolation is of any use. It seeks relief in vain in carefree amusements, among cheerful people. All this may bring him a change of emotion for a time, a relaxation for a time, but no consolation. As soon as such a soul is left alone, or perhaps when the intoxication of drink or blood has passed, these sad thoughts will assail the soul with even greater force.
I am sure you are very familiar with the old story - I have told it several times - that once a very sad, melancholy man came to see a world-famous psychiatrist. He told him his problem. And the doctor did everything he could to help his patient. He told him what to do, what to take... The patient sighed sadly that he was over it - nothing worked. The psychiatrist had a bright idea, he said, "There's a famous comedian in our town. He performs night after night in a cabaret. He makes everybody laugh, he makes everybody enlightened... Go and have a good laugh for once!" The melancholy man replied, "Yes, I know, that comedian - that's me!" Well, Brothers, such is the consolation of the world. It may be what they say, "Time will tell..." As if time could heal! No, it can't, it only buries us, we get used to the burden we wanted to get rid of, but it doesn't console us because it can't. Nor can we comfort each other.
So how does Jesus solve the problem of human sadness? What happens when the sad man and Jesus meet? The two marches stop. They meet at the gate of Nain. They came face to face. When they met, the two processions stopped. The sad procession stopped in front of Jesus. Surely there must have been some silence - perhaps the weeping stopped and in that silence Jesus began to comfort. I feel that every moment is very important, has something to say. Perhaps the first thing to do on the road of sorrow that we travel day after day is to stop before Jesus, because Jesus always comes face to face with the sorrowful man. He holds every sad person accountable. The only problem is that many people, precisely because they are sad, would not notice him, would pass him by. He wants us to stand face to face with Him. That is the danger of sorrow, that it settles on the soul like a dark shroud, it occupies the soul, it occupies the soul - in vain would Jesus speak, His words would be drowned out by the turmoil and noise of the soul. Before one goes on the path of sorrow, let him truly stand in spirit before Jesus - as truly, as real as this procession! For Jesus confronts every sorrowful person as truly as he confronts this procession. So stop, look at Him, wait for Him to say something, wait for Him to speak to you. Because He most certainly has something to say to you when you stop like this with your own sadness, your own sorrow. You feel that "when the Lord saw him, He had compassion on him" - as it is written here. In today's language we would say, "He was compassionate towards him". He feels compassion for the sorrowful people and that means - I always talk about it - that "we have a God like we see in Jesus". We have a God who is not at all indifferent to our sadness. God is also grieved by what grieves you and therefore God has compassion on you. Human compassion, too, if it is truly heartfelt, if it is sincere, how it is good for a sorrowful soul... It makes you feel that you are not alone in your sorrow, that others share it, help you to bear it. Whoever shares our sorrow with a pure heart, sincerely, participates in bearing it, assumes a part of it, makes it somewhat easier for us. If even human compassion can have such an effect, such a relief, what can it mean to have God's compassion for someone?! The one who can lift the greatest burden from us with his compassion is Jesus!
I would like to engrave on the soul of every sorrowful person this Word: "We have no High Priest who cannot be tempted in our infirmities, but is tempted like us, except by sin." (Heb 4:15) So he can be saved. Remember him? At Lazarus' tomb, Jesus was so moved, so shaken, that he himself wept, wept with those who wept. Think of Jesus weeping with you. Yes, Jesus weeps with you! No small thing! I realized it when a very sad man came to me one day, really devastated, on the verge of despair. And I felt it was useless to say anything. I wasn't even able to say anything. I felt that all words were useless because they had no power. But when she told me, she cried her tears, I went over and hugged her, cried with her. And that was the greatest consolation for her. The whole attitude of Jesus, as we can see from the Bible, proves that God has a very special care for the sorrowful man. Think of His warm gaze shining on you, His compassionate sympathy surrounding you. Thus, by His mere compassion, He has already lifted a burden from you.
But afterwards He not only had compassion, compassionate compassion for the widow, but He also addressed her. All he said to her was, "Don't cry." We say the same thing when we want to comfort someone, but we immediately feel that it is nothing. Because it's easy to say, "Don't cry" - but it doesn't work. Not from our lips! But it is quite different when Jesus says, "Don't cry!" For in Jesus' words there is not only the meaning of the word, but also the power of the word - the divine power. That is why Jesus is able to lift and comfort someone out of the most hopeless darkness with His word alone, and that is why you should listen to Him, why you should seek to meet Him in prayer, in Bible reading, because He will say something that will be decisive, that will give you complete consolation. I knew a man in his 50s, a strong, strong man, living a high life, who was once paralysed by a tram accident. He sat in an armchair for days in despair. He too was confronted by Jesus in the person of a very, very faithful, dear friend and his wife. This believing couple began to talk to this paralytic man. They said many good words to him, but somehow they themselves felt that all these good words, even if they were good words, were not healing. Then suddenly they remembered a word of Jesus. Truly filled with the Holy Spirit of Jesus, they said to their paralytic friend, "It is better for you to enter life lame or paralysed than to perish with both feet in eternal fire." This lame man sighed a great sigh, he was relieved, for he felt that he had received more than a good word: he had received a healing Word! A Word from the mouth of Jesus to cling to, to be healed spiritually. And this paralysed man was healed spiritually. I know, because in his last days I was very often at his bedside.
I don't know what Jesus has to say to you - you have to hear for yourself from the Bible, in silence with Him. You have to hear for yourself! He might give you a precious, great promise; He might explain a 'why'; He might set you on a whole new path; He might convince you of some great truth you have never heard before, of some great truth you have never known. Only one thing is not possible: to remain silent, to say nothing, to say nothing - that is not possible. Wait, then, till you hear his voice!
And then the miracle happened: the resurrection of the dead youth. He went to the coffin, touched it, urged him: "And he sat up and began to speak. And then he gave it to his mother... It is almost impossible to imagine how these sad faces were transformed into faces of wonder, joy and gratitude. The divine light emanating from Jesus absorbed the sadness, and the sad funeral procession turned around and marched joyfully into the city of Nain.
Dear Brothers and Sisters! I am sure that this is what is happening today, if not literally so, but Jesus is creating in you today the consoling miracle of turning your sorrow into a new joy and a source of rich experiences, a source of many blessings for you. I know that God has only one powerful consolation for all sorrows: the death of Jesus on Calvary and his resurrection on Easter. Anyone who understands that all this happened for him, is convinced of God's free grace, and comes to the assurance of eternal life, has already received this divine consolation. He used his suffering to make the consolation of the gospel take root in his soul more quickly.
Therefore, whatever sorrow you may have, contemplate all the more devoutly the bloody cross of Jesus and His empty tomb, for now your soul is most receptive to the reception of this divine consolation! And just as Jesus raised the dead young man, so He will raise your discouraged soul to new strength and new life, so that you will then have the strength to carry your cross, if necessary. Your own sorrow may become a source of many blessings to you at the touch of Christ's hand. Just let it touch you!
And one more. If you have strengthened someone in this way, go and comfort others, other sorrowful ones, for the most rewarding ministry is the ministry of comforting. It always reflects back on the person doing this service. So, if you feel bitter again and you feel that there is no one in the world who can comfort you, do something good for someone: try to wipe a tear from the face of an even sadder person and you will see that it will get better.
Two marches met at the gates of Nain: a sad procession of mourning and a triumphal procession led by Jesus... Which one do you belong to? And in which march do you want to continue your life's journey?! Jesus is willing to include you in His grateful, happy army, so that you can show other sad people who come along the way how abundant God's consolation is!
So let us pray:
Lord, for the afflicted,
Do not abandon the weak,
The orphan, the abandoned
Help the abandoned, the abandoned, the abandoned
The poor who hopes
Who looks to the sky only for you:
Lord God, do not forsake him!
(Canto 276, verse 5)
Amen.
Date: 14 January 1968.
Lesson
2Kor 1,3-7