Daily Bread Luke 2010 - Luke 13
Daily Bread 2010 – Luke 13
A Crippled Woman Healed on the Sabbath
10On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." 13Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
14Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath."
15The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"
17When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
The Pharisees and teachers in the synagogue had gotten things so messed up that they reasoned, “There are six days for work, so come and be healed on one of those days not the Sabbath.” I guess they confused “work” with the “work of the kingdom”. Whenever Church becomes like “work” (the former), we know something has gone wrong.
We sometimes get so used to our human forms and put God into our little boxes, so that when God steps out of the box and we can’t explain it, we reason that this isn’t from God. This results from when we are too much in control, and God’s isn’t. When we are in control, things are predictable. When God is in control, we don’t know what is going to happen all the time.
In this case, a woman had been around the synagogue (a place where Kingdom activity was supposed to happen) for 18 years, but apparently nobody thought that what they were to do on Saturday at worship would heal her. The Pharisees and teachers of the Law were so bound by their rules, that they didn’t see that this woman was bound by the evil one. They were blinded by their own “religiosity”, that they missed God’s kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven.
How do we do the same? Do we expect God to heal people, or assume that that is just the way it has to be? Are our Sunday morning worship services filled with the anticipation and expectancy that God is going to show up powerfully, or do we get into ruts and then get upset when someone wants to do something different? Is there room for God to show up when we meet, or have we put God into our neat little boxes that make us feel comfortable and in control?
Prayer: God help us to be open to the fresh wind of Your Spirit. Guard us from controlling what you can do on any day of the week, especially the Sabbath. Forgive us for trying to control you and put you into our boxes of comfort. Help us to see those us around us who are bound by Satan, and have the faith deliver them from their bondage in Your name. Deliver us from our own bondage to fear and control. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
A Crippled Woman Healed on the Sabbath
10On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." 13Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
14Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath."
15The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"
17When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
The Pharisees and teachers in the synagogue had gotten things so messed up that they reasoned, “There are six days for work, so come and be healed on one of those days not the Sabbath.” I guess they confused “work” with the “work of the kingdom”. Whenever Church becomes like “work” (the former), we know something has gone wrong.
We sometimes get so used to our human forms and put God into our little boxes, so that when God steps out of the box and we can’t explain it, we reason that this isn’t from God. This results from when we are too much in control, and God’s isn’t. When we are in control, things are predictable. When God is in control, we don’t know what is going to happen all the time.
In this case, a woman had been around the synagogue (a place where Kingdom activity was supposed to happen) for 18 years, but apparently nobody thought that what they were to do on Saturday at worship would heal her. The Pharisees and teachers of the Law were so bound by their rules, that they didn’t see that this woman was bound by the evil one. They were blinded by their own “religiosity”, that they missed God’s kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven.
How do we do the same? Do we expect God to heal people, or assume that that is just the way it has to be? Are our Sunday morning worship services filled with the anticipation and expectancy that God is going to show up powerfully, or do we get into ruts and then get upset when someone wants to do something different? Is there room for God to show up when we meet, or have we put God into our neat little boxes that make us feel comfortable and in control?
Prayer: God help us to be open to the fresh wind of Your Spirit. Guard us from controlling what you can do on any day of the week, especially the Sabbath. Forgive us for trying to control you and put you into our boxes of comfort. Help us to see those us around us who are bound by Satan, and have the faith deliver them from their bondage in Your name. Deliver us from our own bondage to fear and control. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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