LK 13:10-17

Jesus 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.

Reflection

Jesus 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.

In his travels, Jesus healed many people with life-long infirmities: the blind, the deaf, the crippled, and those with leprosy. But there was one thing each person had to have before Jesus could cure them: A willingness to be cured, to let go of those things that held them captive.

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.

Just as He healed the woman, Jesus has a deep desire to lay his hands on our heart, so that we too can stand erect and be “set free” from our infirmities.

Am I ready to let go of those things which hold me captive?

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 synagogue leader was misguided. He valued obedience to the law of God above the loving compassion of God.

“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?”

Jesus made clear there is no day when it is wrong to bring the love and comfort of God to those who suffer. As Christians, it is through our words and actions that the love of God is made known.

When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.

May the hearts of all who witness an act of kindness rejoice in the knowledge that the world is alive with God’s love….every day.

“The love and kindness we have given to others are the gifts we will carry to God as we enter through the gates of Heaven.” Unknown