Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 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. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 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."
Thought for the Day: We will often assume something to be true only because it is what we’ve always heard. We're seeing that on social media daily. For a long time, preachers have proclaimed from the pulpit, “The Old Testament said it was illegal to heal on the Sabbath.” We tended to nod in agreement because that is what some of the Jewish leaders seemed to say in this passage. The only problem is that while the Sabbath was to be kept holy, there were a number of exceptions to the rule. And of course, one of the exceptions was in a time when someone was ill or injured. Too often this scripture has been seen as a battle between Jesus and the Old Testament, or Jesus and the Jewish tradition. It was not. Instead, it was a struggle between Jesus and power. There were some who wanted power over others for no other reason than they wanted power. This is no different than today when some Christians want power over others for no other reason than they want power. May these words of scripture not be used to condemn others but to confront our own sinfulness.
Prayer: Forgive us, Lord God, when our hunger for power has us manipulating your Gospel message. May your mercy change our hunger for power to a earning for humility. Amen
Daily Devotional, March 23, 2020
From Pastor Tony
Scripture: Luke 13:10-14
Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 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. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 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."
Thought for the Day: We will often assume something to be true only because it is what we’ve always heard. We're seeing that on social media daily. For a long time, preachers have proclaimed from the pulpit, “The Old Testament said it was illegal to heal on the Sabbath.” We tended to nod in agreement because that is what some of the Jewish leaders seemed to say in this passage. The only problem is that while the Sabbath was to be kept holy, there were a number of exceptions to the rule. And of course, one of the exceptions was in a time when someone was ill or injured. Too often this scripture has been seen as a battle between Jesus and the Old Testament, or Jesus and the Jewish tradition. It was not. Instead, it was a struggle between Jesus and power. There were some who wanted power over others for no other reason than they wanted power. This is no different than today when some Christians want power over others for no other reason than they want power. May these words of scripture not be used to condemn others but to confront our own sinfulness.
Prayer: Forgive us, Lord God, when our hunger for power has us manipulating your Gospel message. May your mercy change our hunger for power to a earning for humility. Amen