10 Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the day of rest—a holy day. 11 A woman who was possessed by a spirit was there. The spirit had disabled her for 18 years. She was hunched over and couldn’t stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her to come to him and said, “Woman, you are free from your disability.” 13 He placed his hands on her, and she immediately stood up straight and praised God.
14 The synagogue leader was irritated with Jesus for healing on the day of worship. The leader told the crowd, “There are six days when work can be done. So come on one of those days to be healed. Don’t come on the day of rest—a holy day.”
15 The Lord said, “You hypocrites! Don’t each of you free your ox or donkey on the day of rest—a holy day? Don’t you then take it out of its stall to give it some water to drink? 16 Now, here is a descendant of Abraham. Satan has kept her in this condition for 18 years. Isn’t it right to free her on the day of rest—a holy day?”
17 As he said this, everyone who opposed him felt ashamed. But the entire crowd was happy about the miraculous things he was doing.
Read Luke 13:10-17 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
One thing that fascinates me about Jesus is how He carefully crafts out a response for the people who challenge Him. In this journal entry’s passage, some of the details stand out to me, and when we see these little details together, they paint an amazing picture of God.
First, the passage begins in verse 10 and tells us Jesus was teaching in the synagogue – however Jesus was not this synagogue’s leader, so perhaps the synagogue leader had invited Jesus to speak, or perhaps this event happened during a response Jesus was giving to something He or someone else had said.
Next, Jesus simply talks and lays His hands on the woman to heal her. There were fewer calories burned in this action then there were walking to the synagogue that morning. However that doesn’t stop the synagogue leader from being upset at this healing.
However, all this leads into a theme that is present in Jesus’ response. In verses 15-16, Jesus says, “You hypocrites! Don’t each of you free your ox or donkey on the day of rest—a holy day? Don’t you then take it out of its stall to give it some water to drink? Now, here is a descendant of Abraham. Satan has kept her in this condition for 18 years. Isn’t it right to free her on the day of rest—a holy day?”
In His response, Jesus makes a comparison to the value of people vs. the value of animals. Everyone in that synagogue, including the synagogue leader, would have known that it is important and acceptable to give their animals water on the Sabbath day of rest. From the way Jesus responds, we see that He takes the position that people are more important than animals, which then makes those who are opposing His actions sound as if they value their animals over other people.
Rationally speaking, most everyone will say that humans are more valuable than animals, but do our actions and how we treat other members of the human race confirm this?
Not only does Jesus say that humans are more valuable than animals in His response in this passage, but He does so from God’s perspective. In God’s eyes each one of us is more valuable than an animal. Evolution theory says that we are nothing more than a “more evolved” animal, while Jesus says we are more valuable to God than any other animal.
God’s Law, which Jesus was helping those present understand better, was not meant to discriminate between people, but to challenge each person to have a better, more authentic, relationship with God and others.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
Subscribe to this blog and never miss an insight.