Trumping tradition

He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath…behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. Luke 13:10-11 (NKJV)

One day, as Jesus was teaching a crowd of people in the synagogue, there was a woman in the audience with a terrible affliction. We’re told that this sickness had her doubled over, and that it had been a part of her every waking moment for eighteen years! Watch how Christ responds:

He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.”And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight... Luke 13:12-13 (NKJV)

The years of misery are miraculously brought to an end! What a happy ending to her story, right? Wrong! You see, a religious leader was also in attendance, and it bothered him that Jesus healed this woman on the Sabbath. Under the leadership of men like him, the Sabbath had become a straightjacket of traditions that kept people from doing just about anything…including the act of healing. Obviously, this was a wrong attitude, and Christ calls him out:

The Lord…said, “Hypocrite!... Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound; think of it; for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” Luke 13:15-16 (NKJV)

To Jesus, the woman’s health mattered more than the Sabbath tradition. He was willing to forsake the tradition in favor of healing a person, because people are more valuable than traditions.

Traditions can be very healthy. They can give us a sense of continuity and identity. Nothing is wrong with that in and of itself. But God forbid that they should ever blind us to the needs of people. Jesus reminds us that traditions, even religious ones, are never more important than people…and if we’re going to be like Him, we need to be willing to forsake the one in favor of the other.

Think About It…
What does this passage reveal to me about God?
What does this passage reveal to me about myself?
Based on this, what changes do I need to make?
What is my prayer for today?

LightSource@crosswalkmail.com