But, the Bible says...

 

Luke 13:10-17
 
¹⁰ On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, ¹¹ and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.  ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.”  ¹³ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. ¹⁴ Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”  ¹⁵ The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?  ¹⁶ Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”  ¹⁷ When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
 
I could spend a lot of time reflecting on the modern world’s approach to the quasi-Sabbath.  Christians worship on Sunday, the “first day of the week,” the day in which Jesus rose from the tomb.  The historic church transferred a lot of Sabbath sentiment from the Old Testament to its current practice.  But, in the strictest sense, anyone who treats Saturday (the seventh day) as a regular day or a recreational day and then spends all day Sunday in church is still a Sabbath-breaker.  There is no way around it.  So, as I look at this passage from Luke as it informs our faith practice, the calendar considerations are inconsequential.
 
Some might say that Jesus coincidentally encountered this woman and healed her, and that Sabbath had nothing to do with it.  That is naïve.  The observation that the synagogue leader makes abut six days to work and the Sabbath to rest is spot-on.  If Jesus hadn’t come across this unfortunate woman, he would have found some other deed of mercy to perform.  He is obviously intentional in this work.  Luke prepares us for that in his opening words.  He begins, “On the Sabath…”  There is not reason to include that if it is not important to the narrative. 
 
And look at what Jesus does.  He addresses a woman, a stranger, in public, which in itself is counter to Jewish direction.  He touches her, which is again a taboo.  Then, he speaks his word of power and heals her.  This is not a tale about calendar.  It is a declaration that love trumps law. 
 
Yes, this healing act is intentional.  Yes, it is premeditated.  Yes, Jesus goes into this act with his eyes wide open, appreciating its consequences.
 
I see Bible-thumping conservatives cherry-picking from a handful of out-of-context verses and using those isolated lines to say, “Look at them (not us); they, THEY are sinners and enemies of God and people who have no place among us!”  At this point you can pick your cause, because haters use these passages like Legos, popping one cause out of the base and snapping another in place.
 
Jesus says, “No.”  This woman may not be a leader of the synagogue, but she is a daughter of Abraham.  That gives her a place in the realm of the redeemed, the community of those made whole by the grace of Jesus Christ.  Jesus held no truck with people who drew lines and erected fences.  He says to the children of Abraham – literal and spiritual – “I have a place for you.”
 
People counter, “Yeah, but… how about people who…?” and Jesus says, “Everybody.”  “But how about folks that…?” “Everybody.”  When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated.
 
Now, there are folks in today’s world who have built up a thick enough skin so that they are pretty difficult to humiliate.  They make an idol of their hate and intolerance.  Jesus caused this woman to stand up straight.  The first thing she did, the FIRST thing she did, was praise God.  I don’t know how anyone can make their hatred more important than that.
 
The peace of the Lord be with you.