Biers and professional mourners

You know how sometimes during your devotional reading you will have these profound feelings of "aha" - like you met God himself - and other times it's just... meh? Well today was neither. It was a simple and practical "I never knew that."

I am reading through N.T. Wright's 'Luke for Everyone' commentary, and today covered Luke 7:11-17. It's the account of Jesus raising the widow's son. It's a bit peculiar in that there was no faith shown by anyone and no one asked Jesus to bring the boy back to life... he just did it. That is certainly interesting, but it's not what I got out of it today.

In Wright's translation of the text he used the word "bier." I had to google it, because I was not familiar. According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, a bier is:

1 : a stand on which a corpse or coffin is placed also : a coffin together with its stand. 2 archaic : a framework for carrying.

Well, who knew? But what I found even more fascinating than that was the reason for 'professional mourners'. As Wright says,

"The professional mourners and wailers are there, making plenty of noise so that friends and relatives, and particularly the poor mother, can cry their hearts out without the embarrassment of making a scene all by themselves."

I don't think I ever knew that! What a splendid idea. So much better than the detached solemnity of most western funerals.

I can only remember one funeral I've attended where these people were present and active. It was an African-American funeral, and while I didn't realize it at the time, I do have to say it probably served its purpose.

Anyway, that's about all I've got. I am tired today. I don't think it's lack of sleep, but more likely all the chaos of life in the trump era and uncertainty not only of the future, but it seems every single day is so much drama. I wish every Monday were a holiday...

***

Luke 7:11-17
Soon afterward, 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 bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers 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.