From Luke 13: 10 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.
The Sabbath for most Christians, in our understanding, is Sunday. That is, the day we have set aside to observe and celebrate all that needs to be done to worship and praise God. It is our day set aside for the special things of God. And it is a day that God has set apart for great things for us. In this story, Jesus is teaching on the sabbath. What great things He was sharing we do not know, but we can be sure it was love affirming and life strengthening. And into the teaching comes a woman bent over with an ailment she had had for eighteen years. Without missing a beat, Jesus sees her and tells her, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." (v. 12). Jesus saw beyond just an ailment, it was, as we see later in the passage, a bondage or a prison cell of sorts. When Jesus lays his hands on her, she is healed immediately and she stands up straight and begins to praise God. What a joyous occasion in which to celebrate and return thanks to God. But not all present rejoiced in this miracle. The leader of the synagogue began to address the crowd with great anger. "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day."
We have two interpretations of the significance of the sabbath. For Jesus it was a day for God. For the leader of the synagogue it was a day of dos and don'ts. The chief don't was to not work. Anything involving any kind of physical exertion meant working and thus a violation of the purpose behind the sabbath, for on the seventh day, the sabbath, God rested. The Jews went to great lengths to define work and in that list of don'ts, to heal someone was definitely work. So, the healing of this crippled woman was work. Listen to Jesus' comeback; "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? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on this sabbath day?" Jesus hit home. He hit a personal spot. Jesus knew the practice of these religious men. They winked at the "work" of untying livestock to lead them to water. But when it came to seeing a sister in the faith delivered from this prison cell after eighteen years, they could not tolerate it? As the kids would ask, "What's wrong with this picture?"
Jesus' vision of a great sabbath is when God's wholeness would be shared with all. The sick would be healed. The hungry fed. The thirsty would quench their thirst. The naked would be clothed. The stranger would be welcomed. The sick and the prisoners visited. And this was a sharing with all. No one excluded. And Jesus would later teach, when we do this for the least of these, we are doing it for Him.
The blessings of the great sabbath provide a glimpse of God's kingdom. Jesus held that this kingdom was at hand and our hand should be at work in making it so right here, right now. As we share with love the things that heal and restore from God, we are also sharing a preview of that Kingdom that will never end. Jesus' sabbath is not a list of don'ts, it is a list of do; do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.
PRAYER: Loving God, may I be a part of the present and coming kingdom. May my all be involved in doing that which brings the fullness of your life and love to all people. This I pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
