In this section of Luke, we can t really tell where Jesus was when he healed the

Transcription

1 Luke 13:10-17 A Healing-The Edited Version In this section of Luke, we can t really tell where Jesus was when he healed the woman- simply that he was in one of the synagogues. But that could be in any of the towns of Galilee or Judea. We can t look in Matthew or Mark for a geographical context, because this story is found only in Luke s gospel, which is one of the reasons for the edited version part of the sermon title. We will get to that in just a few minutes because it is very important as we try to understand this scripture. I don t think it is important to Luke that a woman is healed instead of a man or a child- nor is her malady important- but that Jesus heals on the Sabbath day. And the way Jewish leaders had interpreted that for a few hundred years at this point in history was that it was work prohibited by the 4 th commandment. So here is this amazing event- Jesus straightens a bent woman- a daughter of Abraham bound by Satan for 18 years as he says; but only slightly less remarkable is the response of the ruler of the synagogue, or the head elder, if you will, something along the lines of there is a time and a place for everything, and this isn t it; you could do that sort of thing anytime, just not today. The ruler of the synagogue has answered a big question- and one that churches still deal with today, Which is more important, maintaining the rules and forms of religion or

2 loving people? Skeptics and critics notice our actions and the way we answer that question. And the angry retort of Jesus to the synagogue elder and his cohorts, and I think the way Jesus answers any of us whenever we put regulations before people, is to call us out- You hypocrites! he says. How could we not rejoice that God has conquered evil and brokenness, no matter what day it is! I like the way Luke tells this story, especially in verse 14, immediately after the miracle, when the synagogue ruler became indignant. He is angry with Jesus for healing on a Sabbath, but he complains to the people. He refuses to debate Jesus, but would rather berate the woman and any others of the congregation he can boss around. Jesus comes to the man s church that day and heals, and the healing is a threat to the settled way the church leaders practice religion. But he still wants to keep control- and I don t mean to accuse him of an ecclesiastical power-grab, he possibly considered himself the shepherd of the flock and responsible for all the people of the synagogue. It s just that he seems comfortable with the way his religion works, and can t think of any reason that things should change, doesn t want to have his understanding of religion put at risk. Everything would have been fine except for this miracle- which could have been performed just as successfully

3 tomorrow. But Jesus seemingly makes a point of healing on the day of rest: no mention of Jesus being moved by compassion for the woman, as we read of him in other places; the woman doesn t even ask for healing, rather Jesus volunteers. So, we have two parts to the action of Jesus, the miracle itself and the timing of it. Here perhaps is how the ruler of the synagogue, and we, should understand this miracle, as the beginning of God s reign in the world and the end of Satan s destructive power. And here is how the synagogue leaders, and we, should view this Sabbath day challenge, that the peace of the way things have always been is shattered by the word and deed of Jesus. If helping a stooped woman creates a crisis, then crisis it has to be. (These quotes from Fred Craddock s commentary on Luke.) By performing this healing on the Sabbath, Jesus demands more of those who claim to worship God than just the same old practice of religion. And now, we need to talk about the editing of our text. There are a few more verses we need to examine, verses 18-21, two short parables that begin with the word, therefore, which means that these sayings are placed here by the author or by an editor to help us understand the story of the miracle, and Jesus challenge to the Sabbath faith. He said therefore, What is the kingdom of God like? It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew

4 and became a tree and the birds made nests in its branches. And again he said, To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened. How do these words help, you may ask. The meanings are not simple or obvious. In these two kingdom sayings, Jesus says that the beginning of God s rule is small and hidden and slowly becomes a great thing, a blessing to all those it touches, like a tall shrub where birds can nest and find protection; or it is secret until its influence can be felt among all the people, until it transforms, and builds up entire societies or communities of faith, like yeast that leavens the flour. So Jesus act of healing is like that small mustard seed or the small cube of yeast. An act of mercy that is more powerful than all the rules and commandments. Remember Jesus words to his disciples, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another (John 13:34). For this is how we love each other, not by clinging to laws or traditions or personal feelings and biases, or memories of a time the world seemed more orderly or comprehensible to us, or a time we may think the world was better, but by going out of our way to do acts of kindness, by offering forgiveness and giving second chances, by speaking words of

5 hope to the lost and the lonely, by repeating God s words of judgment to the mighty and standing with the poor against those who would oppress them. Couldn t Jesus have waited just one more day to heal this woman? Of course. But when he healed on the Sabbath, he showed us that persons are more important than laws, that helping people is the very purpose of the Law. In this passage, by the way it is edited and fitted together, Jesus shows that God s Kingdom has come among us and that God still works to make us his. Even on this day of rest Jesus works to share God s perfect and abiding love: to this one bent woman, and to everyone broken and hurting, and to all who gather humbly to worship. We want to emphasize the goodness and compassion of Jesus, so we delight in the healing stories of the gospels. But that may sometimes leave the story incomplete. In our passage Jesus heals, but he also stands over against religion. So we cannot read this miracle on the Sabbath as Jesus condemnation of one religion just to approve a new one in its place, and not as the victory of Christianity over Judaism, but the power and rule of God moving in the world- even if our personal piety stands against him, just as the synagogue ruler would forbid him. It may be that

6 the act of mercy, as Jesus heals the woman, is the small thing that affects and blesses the church and the world, but also it may be that the very act of breaking a religious law is the small thing that brings about God s Kingdom. This is where editing comes in, where the Kingdom sayings help explain our passage: Judaism in the time of Jesus, and Christianity today, and perhaps all religions, are the garden where the mustard seed is planted; and the flour into which the yeast is put. And every act of kindness within and without the church is the sign of the inbreaking of God s reign over the forces of Satan, as Professor Craddock has written. There are more than 2 billion Christians in the world, and over one and a half billion Muslims, and many more millions who practice some religion, or who make up their own. But there is one Kingdom. In Jesus day there was already religion, but they didn t have God s Kingdom. Jesus came to show us how to enter it, and how to participate in it. The Kingdom Jesus brought into existence was not to make more people like us 2 billion, or more like the 1.5 billion, or more like any of the other religions, but to make available God s love, to offer mercy and forgiveness and fellowship so that all God s creatures can experience the peace of Jesus Christ and God s love that never dies.

7 Martin Luther King said, Any religion that is not concerned about the poor and the disadvantaged- the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them- is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial. These acts of kindness are the way we participate in God s Kingdom- reaching out to the needy and the desperate to give them aid and comfort- and the way we transform the church of our Lord into this new Sabbath of hope and peace.