Luke 13:10-17
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.
Introduction
One day a little girl who’d returned from a Sunday school and exclaimed what she’d learned.
That Sunday, the teacher taught her about “Omni-presence”, part of the nature of God.
To make sure she heard the right thing, the little girl put her findings to her mum.
“Is God everywhere?” she asked.
Her mum said, “Yes! God is everywhere.”
“You mean God is in the sky at the same time here in this room being with us?” asked the girl.
“Yes indeed! God is.” The mum answered.
At the moment, the little girl was holding an empty bottle.
Without second thought she asked again, “You mean God is outside the garden at the same time in this bottle?”
A bit hesitate, the mum answered, “Em… Yes! Why not? God is Omni-presence. He is everywhere. He is in heaven, here on earth, of course He is also presence in the bottle!”
While thinking she has given her daughter a good answer, suddenly she saw her daughter covers the lid of the bottle tightly and exclaimed, “Hey! Now I have God in my bottle!”
This is a typical illustration of how people understand God and at the same time try to limit Him.
I remember many years ago, there was a popular Sunday school song called “I wish I have a little white box.”
Here is the lyrics:
I wish I had a little white box
To put my Jesus in
I'd take him out and kiss, kiss, kiss (put hand to mouth and act like you are giving Jesus a kiss)
And put Him back again. (OR And show him to my friends)
I wish I had a little black box
To put the devil in
I'd take him out and spank, spank, spank (clap hands together)
And put him back again.
You may think the song is funny but in fact it is quite misleading.
Whether God or the devil, they are spiritual beings supersede natural dimension.
We cannot put Jesus in a box and take him out as we wish.
Neither can we put the devil in and out of a box.
More so, we are warned not to slander the devil.
Jude 1:19 -- But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
Today, our focus is not on the devil.
1. Message Today
Today, our focus is not on the devil.
Our focus is on Jesus.
a. First of all, Jesus is the greatest Teacher ever.
He taught not only in synagogues but at opened places and homes.
Most importantly, he taught with authority.
A similar incident took place at Capernaum where Jesus was teaching at a synagogue on a Sabbath day and eventually set a person free from an evil spirit. (cf. Mark 1:21-27).
When the people hear what Jesus taught, they were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.
In Jesus’ time, the teachers of the law used to add their own interpretations and eventually caused confusions and burdens to the hearers.
The Lord Jesus once commented that these so called experts in the law loaded people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and they themselves would not lift one finger to help the people. (cf. Luke 11:46).
b. Jesus performs miracles.
Jesus did not just teach but also perform miraculous healing for those who were possessed or ill.
John acknowledged that Jesus was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1).
Jesus’ spoken word carries the creative power over all aspects of life physically and spiritually.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (John 1:3).
Under His command, winds and storms died down and calmed. (Mark 4:39).
Under His order, evil spirits were casted out and people were set free.
The lame walks, the blind sees.
c. Thirdly, Jesus has compassion on those who are under bondage.
The bible said when Jesus saw the woman who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." (Luke 13:11-12).
Jesus took the initiation to heal this woman shows the passion he has.
Jesus did not want to see her continue to suffer and bound by Satan.
He wants his people free.
d. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath.
Sabbath is set by God for his people to rest and worship God.
Nowhere in the bible mentioned that God forbids people from doing good on Sabbath.
The Lord said, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6).
Most importantly, Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:8).
When a priest serves in the temple on Sabbath, he is not considered breaking the law.
It has therefore nothing wrong with Jesus the Great High Priest of God to perform healing on Sabbath.
The only problem was they did not know Jesus is the Great High Priest of God.
2. What are the lessons?
a. First of all, we must listen to Jesus’ teaching which is authoritative.
Authority does not come from human traditions or philosophies.
Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matt 24:35).
If you are honest, you must admit that many things we learned in the past are not always useful nowadays.
Some became irrelevant and some just untrue.
I remember when I was young, the elderly people used to tell us “Don’t run when a dog comes to you. Be calm. The dog won’t bite you.”
One day when I passed by a place with some other children, few dogs came to us.
All other children ran for their lives except me who naively believed those words of these so called wise elderly people of the village.
Guess what?
I’d got a bite!
b. Secondly, have faith in the Lord Jesus who performs miracles and heals.
Many a times we concentrate too much on our difficulties and lose heart on the Lord.
We become problem orientated and not Christ centred.
Many years ago I was invited to a parish to conduct a healing and evangelistic meeting.
At the altar call, a parishioner came up asking for a healing prayer.
I did not know her exact illness but just commenced her to the Lord’s care.
Months later, her priest called and thanked me on behalf of the lady.
She was having a cancerous lump at the neck.
After the prayer, she went back home and found the lump burst.
Her doctor was amazed to find no trace of cancerous cells there.
I can give you many accounts on how people’s problems being solved by leaning on Jesus and have faith in Him alone.
c. Thirdly, don’t set rules and regulations that stop God’s blessing channelling through us.
What is tradition?
Tradition is doing something on and on and eventually lost trace of why we are doing it?
Don’t be tradition orientated because there are so many varieties.
Be it racial traditions.
Be it cultural differences.
Be it personal or family backgrounds.
All these will eventually make us suspicious to each other.
We love each other because we are one in the body of Christ.
We respect each other because we are all created in the image of God.
Let us talk more about Christ’s embracing love and not our differences.
Conclusion
In closing, I would to read “The prayer of St. Francis” to you.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
