A Timely Work - Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 14C
Luke 13:10-17 New
Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
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.
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I doubt
many Christians concern themselves with Sabbath-keeping, at least not Christians
in the United States. Like everyone else we hurry along, keeping ourselves busy,
even on the day of worship. I know that this is true because I rarely take a
true sabbath rest. We might do well to devote some time to sabbath-keeping, but
in this reading from Luke, the issue is a bit different. Folks at this synagogue
where Jesus is teaching seem rather strict in their observance of the Sabbath.
Sabbath is, of course, a day of rest and that means not working. But what is
the definition of work in play here?
The
reading begins with Jesus teaching in a synagogue, though the address of the
synagogue is not given. As he’s teaching the congregation, a woman plagued by a
physical disability enters the room. For eighteen years this woman has been
afflicted with a disability that prevents her from standing upright. We’re told how old she is, but clearly, she has been experiencing acute suffering for many years. There is, of course, no relief.
She just has to deal with it.
Luke
doesn’t say why she entered the synagogue, only that when Jesus saw her, he
stopped teaching and invited her to come to him. Luke notes that this
disability was caused by a spirit, and when Jesus spoke to her he told her that
she was set free. Then he laid hands on her and immediately she straightened up.
She had been healed and the only possible response on her part was to give
praise to God. Eighteen years of pain and suffering had been lifted. How can
this not be good news?
Of
course, not everyone was pleased. You see there are rules about such things.
Apparently teaching isn’t work (I beg to differ), but healing is. So, the
leader of this synagogue condemned this action, because Jesus had engaged in
prohibited work. There are times and places for such things, and this was not
one of them. There are six days to do work, and one day to rest. One more day
wouldn’t really matter, would it? The
leader of the synagogue didn’t think so. But Jesus didn’t seem inclined to agree,
and I expect the woman who was healed wouldn’t agree either. One more day of
suffering was one more day of suffering. If she could be free from suffering
today, why would she want to wait one more day?
Jesus
points out the hypocrisy of the situation. If the leader had a donkey, surely
he would make sure that the donkey could get access to water to drink on the
Sabbath. Wasn’t that work? Wasn’t it the humane thing to do? So, why is a
donkey more valuable than this daughter of Abraham and Sarah? With that, he put
an end to the discussion.
We need
to be careful how we read texts like this. It’s easy to make the Pharisees out
to be uncaring legalists. But too often this leads to a form of anti-Judaism.
Christianity is portrayed as a religion of grace and Judaism as a religion of
rules and regulations. It’s important to remember that Jesus was a Jew and he
operated within Judaism, even if he interpreted things a bit differently. Now, in
this story, Jesus is not portrayed arguing with a Pharisee, but the attitude of the
synagogue leader mirrors that seen in other portrayals of the Pharisees in
Luke. It’s important to remember that the
Pharisees were concerned about the spiritual life of the people. They believed
that Torah was the proper guide. Jesus agreed, only he seems to have
interpreted it a bit differently.
As we
read this story in our own setting, what is it telling us? What are our
responsibilities to each other? Is there a proper time for everything, or do we
address the situations as they come our way? Rules are important. They give a
framework for life. It might just be me, but I’m not a libertarian. I believe
in freedom, but I also recognize that humanity is prone to take actions that
are detrimental to ourselves and to others. I may not embrace the doctrine of total
depravity, but neither am I a believer in human perfectibility. There need to
be rules, but sometimes we need to bend them so we can achieve a more just
outcome. We probably need some rules about work. The government of the United
States assumes that a forty-hour work week is about right. There are safety
rules in place as well. But sometimes life requires us to bend the rule. That
was the case here.
As I
read the story, Jesus saw the woman suffering from this disability. He felt
compassion for her. He released her from her condition. It seems rather simple.
From the way that Luke tells the story, it doesn’t appear that she came to
Jesus seeking healing. She was just coming to worship, and Jesus happened to be
there, and he was willing to change her life. So, she praised God. That should
be our marker. Acts of love lead to acts of praise to God. And, because the next story in Luke is the parable of the mustard seed, a parable that
answers the question about the nature of God’s realm, is this act of healing
not one of those mustard seeds that reveals the presence of this realm of God?
(Luke 13:18-19).
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