Luke 13:10 – 17 The Sabbath Cure

Luke 13:10 – 17 The Sabbath Cure

He was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath. And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, "Woman, you are set free of your infirmity." He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, said to the crowd in reply, "There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the Sabbath day." The Lord said to him in reply, "Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering? This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the Sabbath day from this bondage?" When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.

In this passage, Jesus cures a woman – on the Sabbath! The chief of the synagogue is highly offended. The Sabbath is supposed to be a day of rest and worship. In my mind this is a case of knee jerk religion. The laws, the rituals, the structure that upholds the religion or at least it’s hierarchy have somehow become more important, at least to this individual, than the people the religion is supposed to minister to. Jesus cuts right through that nonsense. True religion, he seems to be saying, is acting out our faith by loving God and by loving and serving others. Don’t get me wrong – I am a big believer in setting aside the Sabbath or Sunday for worship, rest, family and friends, sharing a meal with loved ones. This world will take everything you’ve got, have you working around the clock, seven days a week, if you will let it. How wise our Father was to ask us to set aside the Sabbath/Sunday one day a week for something different, for something better. We desperately need that day to rest and recoup, and be present to Him and to those we love.