Luke 13:10-17

Romans 8:12-17

Psalm 68:2 and 4, 6-7ab, 20-21

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.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, when I am crippled, strengthen me. When I am sick, heal me. When I am proud, humble me. When I am humble, raise me up. Free me from any bondage to sin. Bring me to enjoy the eternal Sabbath rest with you in heaven.

Encountering the Word of God

1. His Adversaries were Humiliated: The Gospel today brings out the theme of the reversal of fortunes. The prideful are humbled, and the lowly are exalted. The leader of the synagogue represents the prideful. He was indignant that Jesus cured on the Sabbath, oblivious to the original meaning and purpose of the Sabbath. The leader was humiliated that day by Jesus’ response. Jesus used the rabbinic technique of the “lower to the greater” (qal va’chomer). The Hebrew expression literally means “the light and heavy.” The technique is used to argue that if a specific rule or law applies in a “less serious” or “less important” case, then it must certainly apply in a “more serious” or “more important” case. In English, we use the Latin phrase “a fortiori” to argue that if a first weaker claim is true, then a second, stronger, and related claim must also be true and with even greater certainty. This is what Jesus does in his teaching today. If the law permits you to untie an animal to lead it out for watering on the Sabbath, then doesn’t it also allow you to free a woman, a daughter of Abraham, from bondage to Satan on the Sabbath? If you can free a brute animal on the Sabbath, then why can’t you free a human being on the Sabbath? And when Jesus said this, all his prideful and arrogant adversaries were humiliated and humbled.

2. The Whole Crowd Rejoiced: The bondage of the evil spirit crippled the woman; the power of the Holy Spirit, by contrast, raised her up. She was crippled, “bent over,” and weighed down by Satan. Through Jesus, however, she was able to stand up straight. Healed by Jesus, she was able to glorify God through Jesus. Her eighteen years of suffering came to an end through the powerful word of Jesus. The woman symbolically represents sinful humanity without Christ. She could have stayed home that day and wallowed in her misery, but she decided to go to the synagogue despite her pain and suffering. She trusted that Jesus could and would cure her. She didn’t even have to call out to Jesus or tell him what was wrong. He saw her! He called out to her. He laid his healing hands on her. He freed her. This teaches us to seek out Jesus and trust that, like the crippled woman, he will heal us and raise us up so that we can glorify the Father. The whole crowd shared in the woman’s glorification of God. They rejoiced in the Spirit and praised the splendid deeds of the Son of God.

3. Living according to the Spirit or the Flesh? In the First Reading, we learn that even though Spirit-filled believers are no longer “in the flesh,” they can still be tempted to live according to the flesh. The grace of the Holy Spirit can be resisted. And so, a believer must make a commitment to follow the Spirit’s leading continually (Hahn and Mitch, Romans, 132). Believers need to choose between life and death, final justification and final condemnation. “The one who yields without repentance to the sinful demands of the flesh will die an eternal death apart from God; but the one who prevails over the urges of the body will live an eternal life in God’s presence” (Hahn and Mitch, Romans, 133).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, pour out your Spirit and renew me. I desire the healing that you offer. I want to be healed physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Help me to think as you do, and have your same sentiments. Move my heart to be merciful and forgiving.

Living the Word of God: How have I lived “according to the flesh” this past week, and how have I lived “according to the Spirit” this past week? How have I been prideful and arrogant, and how have I been truly humble?