The Widow of Nain

Two large processions meet in Nain: a procession of death with weeping and wailing and sorrow and grief; and a procession with Jesus and gladness and joy, for he healed their every disease. Both these processions began much earlier. The procession of death began in Eden, when the devil enticed the woman and her husband to sin, and so they died. This procession's beginning marked the winning of a battle by the devil. But he lost the war, for the procession of life also began in Eden, when God walked in the garden in the cool of the day and announced victory over the serpent. And so this procession continued until the blessed incarnation, and the Son of Man met the procession of death in Nain, stretched for his hand, and stopped it in its tracks, and raised the dead. For this procession of life continued through Palm Sunday, and to the cross, where he paid the penalty for man's sin by his own bloodshed and death, from which, necessarily, he rose on the third day. And so the procession of life continues to the present day, and it has entered this church, and we join it again, singing hosannas, and receiving Christ our Life at the altar. And this eternal procession continues from here. Let us leave off the procession of death and join the procession of life. Sermon for Trinity XVI.