Just Do It

"And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day." (Luke 13:14)

Religion is dangerous. Religion would rather debate about healing than see somebody healed. Religion would rather argue about deliverance than see somebody set free.

You can see an example of that in Luke 13. Jesus healed a woman who had been bowed over for 18 years. Think of it, a dear old woman--a daughter of Abraham Jesus called her--set free after being bound by the devil for nearly two decades. You'd think the temple rulers would have been rejoicing at what Jesus had done. But, no! They were angry because He'd done it on the wrong day.

Do you know what's worse? Those very same religious leaders who criticized Jesus for healing on the Sabbath could have ministered healing to that woman themselves on any of the other six days of the week if they'd cared enough to do it.

That's why Jesus was so indignant with them. They had the same covenant of Abraham as Jesus. But their religion had kept that woman bound instead of setting her free. It always does.

Jesus and Women

In the first-century world, the way Jesus treated

women was considered revolutionary.

When she became a teenager, her father made the arrangements. This was the custom of the times. Mary would be married to a carpenter, Joseph, the son of Heli. From birth, Mary’s role in life was set, for she was born female to a Jewish family. Yet her role in history was to be extraordinary. God chose her to be the mother of Jesus.

Woman of courage

When the angel Gabriel came to Mary, she was initially troubled by what the angel’s appearance might mean. The angel reassured her, explaining that she was the one chosen to be the mother of Jesus.

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”

 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:34-38)

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)