Pastor Tom Johnson, August 25, 2013
The woman who is bent over and unable to stand up straight
comes across Jesus’ path at a time of religious debate over the Sabbath, the
day of rest. The Third Commandment says, “Remember the Sabbath Day, by keeping
it holy. You shall work six days—Sunday through Friday—but on the seventh day—Saturday—you
shall do no work.” For people who spent hundreds of years in slavery under
Pharaoh, the Sabbath was a gift—a welcome day off. Even beasts of
burden—working farm animals like oxen and donkeys got a day off. And so, when
Jesus heals the woman who is bent over, the leader of the synagogue starts to
condemn Jesus. Jesus is working on the Sabbath because Jesus is healing on the
Sabbath. Healing is working. Apparently.
But the fact remains that the woman is bent over on the
Sabbath. She is putting undue strain on her lower back. She is carrying the
weight her upper torso on muscles not designed to bear the heavy burden. Her
body is overworked. There is no Sabbath day for her bent over body—no rest for
her wearied body and soul. It is worth noting that the cause for condition is a
mysterious one. Our text says that a spirit crippled her for 18 years. Jesus
calls it both an “ailment” and a “bondage.” It is both a spiritual as well as a
physical burden that she bears. The woman is bent over and “quite unable to
stand up straight.” There is no mind over matter for this woman. You cannot
just tell her to get over it, think positive, and stand tall. Telling to her
just snap out of it will not work. She cannot do it. She is most certainly in
bondage as Jesus describes her condition.
Jesus provides an open door or window for us to view this
woman with empathy. She did not choose her condition. She is a victim of an
ailment that cannot be easily explained or remedied. And we all can think of
someone we know—or perhaps it is we ourselves—who have been sabotaged by
injury, illness, or psychological ailment. And like the poor woman in our text,
we are bent over, unable to hold our heads high. What has bent you and me over in
the past? What has us bent over now? There is something dehumanizing about this
condition. Humans are supposed to stand vertically. We are not supposed to move
about almost on all fours with our arms hanging down like our ape cousins. Luke,
our Gospel writer, is a physician. By telling us she is quite unable to stand
up straight, he is giving us his professional, medical assessment. She has a
chronic back condition—that is to say, with no end in sight. It does not take a
lot of imagination to understand how frustrating it is to not be able to pull
ourselves up by our own boot straps—to be powerless to break free from whatever
bonds that bind us—doubled over with the wind knocked out of us.
The leader of the synagogue would rather have the woman
suffer than violate his narrow interpretation of Mosaic Law. That is why Jesus’
response to the leader of the synagogue—what we would call the chair of the
local congregation—is both deeply compassionate and simply hilarious. Jesus
says, “You hypocrites! You religious faker and belly acher. Let me tell you
phony this spirituality is. You are more humane to oxen and donkeys than you
are to your own species! On the day of rest, you will grant respite to your
beasts of burden—you will untie them from their bonds for a day, feed, and
water them—but you will leave this poor woman bent over and quite unable to
stand up straight.
Jesus invites us to leave heartless, inhumane religion
behind us—to view ourselves and those around us with compassion. He invites us
to not judge but pray and labor for people to be delivered from their
debilitating conditions and to experience the respect and love of the human
family. Jesus does not call this woman a cripple. He calls her “a daughter of
Abraham.” How incredibly beautiful and progressive for a man to address a
common Israelite woman with a royal name! Jesus not only causes her to stand up
straight but also gives her the dignity to hold her head high. He elevates her
not only back to her stature as a human being but views her with God’s promise
to Abraham to make for him a nation of kings and queens and to bless all the
families of the earth.
This is Jesus we are talking about. Jesus is the one who
takes on our humanity, bends over to bear our crosses, and is the only one able
to stand up straight bearing the weight of sinful humanity. In his death and
resurrection, we stand tall and guiltless forever.
“The entire crowd was
rejoicing at all the wonderful things that [Jesus] was doing,” our text says.
Jesus led them to worship. They witnessed and heard the stories of what God was
doing in the lives of those around them. They listened and they learned. And
together they straightened up. They raised their chins and voices high. And
together, they gave God all the praise, honor, and thanks. That was a true
Sabbath Day. That is true worship. That it true spiritual rest. And it is ours
today.
Thanks, Pastor Johnson. I am printing this and taking it to Annabelle. She enjoys hearing your sermons as much as I do. Thanks for reminding us, as Jesus reminded the religious leaders of his day, about the dangers of getting stuck in man-made traditions while ignoring the word of God.
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