Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
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Scripture |
Luke 13:10-1710 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” 13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” 15 But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” 17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing. |
Devotional |
Is there anything that keeps you bound up or oppressed? Infirmity whether physical, emotional, or spiritual can keep us bound up. How do we get caught up in ritual observance and lose sight of God’s mercy and goodness? Moved with compassion, Jesus grants the crippled woman liberation by proclaiming to all in the synagogue, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment” (Luke 13:12). Jesus is usually asked for healing from those who suffer, but this time he initiates the interaction with the woman. She is set free from as many social and religious restrictions as Jesus breaks. The power of God’s kingdom is releasing people from oppression. Why does one need to break the rules to release God’s people from oppression? Jesus liberates the stooped woman from her oppression and restores her dignity. Jesus violates the Mosaic law and also breached religious and social standards by addressing the woman in the synagogue. The scripture says Jesus was moved by compassion and I believe this compassion was motivated by love. The power of God’s kingdom is releasing people who are oppressed. Jesus expresses God’s love. John Wesley in a letter to his friend Elizabeth Ritchie states: “But, blessed be God….we know there is nothing deeper, there is nothing better in heaven or earth than love! There cannot be, unless there were something higher that the God of Love.” 1 1 How easy to forget the God of love when someone does not observe the established rules. As much as some would like us to believe, God’s love does not depend on the established rules. Moved by compassion Jesus does for the stooped woman no more than one would do for their animals. A good goal would be to learn to treat people like we treat our pets. What if everyone in our nation had access to health care equal only to that of the pets in our neighborhood? A thought came to me. What if all politicians and church officials and leaders had to depend totally on prayer for their health care? Two points in this scripture should not be overlooked: This is the last time in the Gospel of Luke that Jesus enters a synagogue. “ought not” is translated to denote an obligation. Is the treatment of the “daughters and sons of Abraham” any better today than on the day Jesus taught in the synagogue? 1 John Telford, The Letters of John Wesley. London: The Epworth Press, 1931. vol. VI p. 136. |