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Gospel: Luke 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.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Why must Jesus break the Law?
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It was forbidden to do any work on the Sabbath. Even healing a woman bound by Satan for 18 years was considered “work.”
If she’d been hunched over for that long, then why couldn’t Jesus just wait a day and keep the peace?
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His heart burned with compassion. There was an urgency in him; when the Lord saw how much this woman suffered, he simply had to act.
But Jesus also wanted to stand in contrast to the religious authorities, whose hearts were chilled by legalism. They cared more about following man-made rules than caring for a neighbor in need. So, Jesus teaches them a foundational lesson in faith.
Faith without works is dead.
We cannot please God while ignoring those who suffer.
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I’m sure we all know someone who’s hunched over like this woman.
Their backs are nearly breaking because of loneliness; stress; isolation; fear; or some other burden.
Do our hearts burn with compassion for them like the Lord’s does?
Even a simple phone call; a kind word of encouragement; or a generous tip at dinner can lighten another person’s burden.
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Today’s Gospel reminds us: love for God frequently expresses itself through love of neighbor.
So, how might I put my faith into action today?
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Image credits: (1) Faith Magazine (2) Pinterest (3) Pixels