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?” Luke 13: 14-16
Do you struggle with jealousy? Envy? Secretly? I know, right? Who wants to openly admit to such things? I most certainly NOT! I like thinking of myself if not as a woman full of virtue, at least as a woman who knows how to rejoice in the joy of others. If I'm honest, however...I cannot honestly say that I do that all the time.
Something as simple as a sixth-grade, boys basketball game: I should feel good that the players are doing well and getting better and better every day...yet...I feel the sting of envy when other boys do better than my own...sigh...ridiculous, right?! Yes...but, I believe, envy and jealousy are part of the fallen nature of humanity, and as such, they constitute some of the struggles we face as Our Heavenly Father, carefully and expertly crafts the new person in us.
The synagogue leaders in the passage above showed some of that sinful nature as they complained about Jesus healing the poor, disabled woman on the Sabbath. They used the excuse of the Sabbath to justify their poisonous words. In reality, however, I believe their hearts were green with envy: "Who does this guy think he is, coming into OUR Synagogue and showing off like that? And on the Sabbath?! Nonetheless! The day when we have the biggest crowd here...so everyone can see it! How dare he?! What about us!?"
It was all about them, I think. They didn't really care about the suffering people of Israel who clamoured for a Savior. Instead of rejoicing in the joy of this woman who had FINALLY been set free...they just wanted to save face so the people would not forget who was in charge there. Eighteen years had she been there, among their midst, and nobody had been able to help her...but now, in comes Jesus, and, as soon as He sees her...He called her forward out of the crowd and into His presence, close enough so He could touch her...and speak to her...and heal her, to the astonished eyes of the crowd around them. How magnificent!
Of course the synagogue leaders were jealous, Jesus had taken up all the attention...and they were rendered irrelevant. How humiliating! They had to say something, even if their words would do nothing but sink them even deeper into oblivion.
"You hypocrites!"
Jesus harsh words to these men contrast with the compassion He offered the woman in her affliction. But the words were necessary because, as He healed the woman, He was also healing the community mindset, freeing it from the oppressive rules that put law above love.
A daughter of Abraham is worth more than an ox! The revolutionary words of Jesus not only straightened the woman's back, but made the path straight...the path that leads to equality of dignity among all of God's children regardless of their sex.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus! May His Words guide us as we navigate through our struggles on the road to sanctification. Amen!
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