Luke 13:10-17
When It’s OK to Break the Rules
Jesus was always getting into trouble over the “blue laws” of his day. Remember blue laws? Stores can’t open before a certain hour on Sunday, or at all? Or stores can’t serve alcohol before a certain time? I grew up in a church-attending household. On Sunday after church we had a big meal. We called it “Sunday dinner” even though it happened at lunch time. (I’ve tried to train my northern wife in this cultural nuance, but no success thus far.) I’m sure there was a lot of work involved in this meal, and a lot of clean-up after it, mostly done by my mom. And then everyone collapsed, especially her. We read the funnies, and my dad read the rest of the paper. We watched Paul Bear Bryant talk about yesterday’s football game, as we ate Lay’s potato chips and drank Coca-Cola along with the Bear. We generally goofed off. It was a day of rest, our Sabbath.
Jesus was raised in a Jewish culture that practiced a strict Sabbath. By his time there were clear rabbinical teachings about what was work and what was not work. From Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, the Jewish family rested. Any meals were prepared before Sabbath began. Families attended Synagogue, which was kind of like our Sunday school, a place to learn the scriptures. They worshiped as a family. And they relaxed in their homes.
In today’s reading, Jesus once again violated the strict traditional rabbi interpretation of the Sabbath by “working” [making air quotes]. I put “working” in quotes, because I’m not sure how much work it took our Lord to do a miracle. He seemed to do it without breaking a sweat. And he didn’t try to do it on the sly. He did this miracle, like others on the Sabbath, very publicly. And he turned it into a public lesson. Let’s see what we can learn along with the people gathered there that day. First,
1. Consider the compassion of God (vv. 11-13)
Remember, when you see Jesus at work, you see the very activity of God. He told his disciples, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Earlier he had told them that he only did what he saw the Father doing (John 5:19). Here, Jesus reveals the compassion of God for his people.
Look at the description of this woman in verse 11: “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.” She was “crippled by a spirit.” The Greek literally says she was “having a spirit of weakness.” Doctor Luke correctly attributed her ailment to the evil one, Satan himself, who reigns over all evil spirits. Sickness is not of God. It is not a part of his good creation. Our sin in general has allowed it to enter the world. And God took pity on this poor woman who had been ruled by it for 18 long years!
Commentators believe she suffered from spondylitis ankylopoietica, a form of chronic inflammatory arthritis that primarily affects the spine. Her backbone was probably fused in such a way that she could not walk upright. Note that Jesus was so moved by her condition that he didn’t wait for her to ask; he just told her she would be healed. And she was. Verse 12: “When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.’” Verse 13, “Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.”
Jesus took time for a sick woman, when society didn’t have much to do with women. And the woman’s life was forever changed by the touch of the Savior. Unfortunately, one person’s life was not changed. And that brings us to #2,
2. Count on the challenge of a critic (v. 14)
Don’t you know that, even if you have the best of intentions, you’re still going to receive criticism. I bet, with all the interior design work around this place of late, even with all the improvements and updates we will see and enjoy, I’ve just got a sneaking suspicion that there might be some criticism afloat as well. Change is hard, after all, even when it’s change for the better.
In today’s story, the Synagogue administrator was not a happy camper. Instead of speaking directly to Jesus, a popular rabbi, he turned his remarks to the crowd. Verse 14: “Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people [and I’m going to use my best bureaucratic voice here; (flat-toned, nasally, lacking in compassion or empathy)], ‘There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.’”
What hard-heartedness! He had a front row seat to a miracle, and his heart was unmoved! He saw 18 years of hardship reversed in a second. And in response, he quotes a policy???
The rule comes from #3 of the Ten Commandments, which says, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.” (Exodus 20:9-10)
The rabbis debated what it meant to work, and generally gave a loophole to offer medical help in a bonafide emergency. Since the woman in today’s story was not in emergency need, the synagogue administrator considered her healing a Sabbath violation.
The Believer’s Bible Commentary calls this guy a “professional religionist,” and notes, “If he had had curvature of the spine for eighteen years, he would not have minded on which day he was straightened out!” He was supposed to be in charge of the Synagogue and the people’s spiritual growth, yet he really had no compassion for the very people he served.
I know you’ve never met anyone like that in the military, right? Of course not. I’ve worked in the military and in government agencies, and I can spot a bureaucrat a mile away. I’ve even been accused of being one a couple of times. And if I’m totally honest, maybe I have had my moments.
It’s easy to lean on rules. Rules are safe, predictable, black and white, no gray areas. Yet, when we lean on rules, we miss out on relationship. We might be like this guy and be standing so close to Jesus and yet miss what he does. Instead, #3, we need to...
3. Cast out the constraints of legalism (vv. 15-17)
Jesus spoke of freedom, not the chains of legalism. He used typical rabbinical “lesser-to-greater” argument. Basically, he said: “If you allow people to help animals in need on the Sabbath” (that’s the lesser), “then why would you not allow people to help people in need on the Sabbath” (that’s the greater).
The rabbis had really worked hard at perfecting their rules. They figured you could walk about 2,000 cubits, or 6/10 of a mile without “working.” But animals had to be watered, and wells were not always close by. And so, to allow people to walk their animals to a watering hole, they would build a simple structure next to the well and declare it to be a private residence. If you walked your animal to it, you could put the animal inside briefly, then give it water since it was at “home,” and then walk it back to its other true home, without breaking the mileage rule.
Jesus actually used a word play in the Greek to make his point: He used the same word “for untie” with both oxen and the woman. So if you read verses 15 and 16 literally, it sounds like this: “The Lord answered him, ‘You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath UNTIE your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be UNTIED on the Sabbath day from what bound her?’”
And the crowd went crazy with delight. Folks, we have a God who wants to untie us from what binds us, who wants to set us free! Don’t let anyone bind up your faith in excessive rules and regulations, “thou shalt’s” and “thou shall not’s.” God’s commands are for our own good; they’re not meant to be burdensome (1 John 5:3). We make them burdensome when we add to them, as the rabbis were back in Jesus’ day.
Let me close with this poem, from Pastor Dan’s Grace Notes. It’s entitled, “Child of God you are free.”
Stand up
To the powers that be
Holding up the law
Intended for life
Freedom
Healing
And used all too often only as control
Stand up
Celebrate the Sabbath with a smile and a shout
Celebrate the Sabbath and keep it holy with joy
Celebrate the Sabbath and send the devil packing
Out of your life
Forget the cry of the controlling
Holding up the law
While running from it
The law was made for do’s
And we have turned it into a book of don’ts
From life
To death
Stand up and celebrate
Sing with joy and thanksgiving
And on the seventh day God rested
And it was good.
[http://coslcgrace.blogspot.com/2013/08/poem-based-on-luke-1310-17-healing-on.html]
God wants a relationship with us. God wants to heal us. God wants to set us free. Let’s pray about it together:
Father, what an amazing God you are. You buck our human tradition. You shame us with our rules and regulations built on our own self-centeredness. Help us to instead turn to you, in all the freedom of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who refused to be put in a box. Sometimes it’s ok to break the rules, when the rules are contrary to what you have for us. Help us to live freely in you, through your son our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.
Luke 13:10-17
10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and 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. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then 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?”
17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
