Wonderful Things
Luke 13:10-17
“…but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.” vs. 17
Fleas In A Jar
Show YouTube video clip
Open it up to the congregation to comment on what they saw/what interested them
The thing I find fascinating about the video is the way they adapt to their environment and then how from that point on, they limit themselves for the rest of their lives. Their mind set has somehow changed and it even gets passed along to the next generation. It makes you stop and think; what are we allowing from our environment/surroundings/culture to affect our mind set? What are we limited by? And…Are we passing that down to the next generation?
Let’s look at a passage of Scripture where a woman has been hurting for 18 years and is desperately in need of a change. Luke 13:10-17
Read Passage – 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 ruler 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 his 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.
Oppressive Environment
Let me give you a brief overview of what was going on in Palestine about this time.
Talk about the oppressive environment as told by Phillip Yancy The Jesus I Never Knew p. 56
Jesus is in the synagogue and there is a woman there who has suffered for 18 years from a spirit that has caused her to be weak and bent over. The text does not call it a disease. Luke, more than any other gospel writer, loves to show how Jesus was able to heal immediately (cf. 4:39, 5:25, 8:44, 47, 55, 18:43).
Here’s what it may have been like. One Sabbath day she entered the synagogue, and in all likelihood, she was doing nothing whatsoever to attract attention to herself. She probably slipped in through the side door, quietly, unobtrusively. Jesus was teaching the people, and then he looked off to one side, or up in the balcony and saw that woman come in with her peculiar, crippled, bent-over walk. Jesus interrupted his lesson, then and there, and invited the woman to come over to him. This must have come as quite a surprise to the woman; after-all, no one, perhaps, had paid her much attention for a long time. “Could it be?” she may have asked herself. “Is he really speaking to me?” So, she scurries forward in response to Jesus’ command—what else is she to do? Then Jesus’ voice rings out with a note of authority that no one could miss:
“When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” vs. 12
Jesus brings a healing to a place where oppression reigns.
Well Meaning?
Now the Pharisee’s who were the keepers of the Temple and the religious leaders did not like this at all. In some way we could see them as being well meaning. What I mean by that is they were holding on to their religion and not trying to give in to Rome. Their way of doing that is by keeping all these rules and regulations. So what are the synagogue leaders saying about Jesus here? They are calling him a rule-breaker. Not the Roman law, the Jewish rules and regulations. Way back in Exodus 20 when God gave the 10 commandments; he said:
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work…” Ex. 20:8-10a
Their identity was bound up in their God and the covenant (what we now call the Old Testament) that they had with him. And they believed that only by slavishly keeping the rules of that Covenant could they satisfy God. Well, in order to avoid breaking the Commandments, the Pharisees had created more rules to go on top of those rules to make sure that happened. It’s called the Torah. The Pharisees had developed a system of 613 laws, 365 negative commands and 248 positive laws… By the time Christ came it had produced a heartless, cold, and arrogant brand of righteousness.
“There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” vs. 14b
They basically said: This is a place of worship and that does not include healing so if you’re hurting, come back another time.
Ex. You go to the Dr. and they tell you to come back another day. (My positive experience with Dr. Ackerman, DDS)
Jesus: A New Perspective
What Jesus does through this woman, is give us a new perspective. A new perspective of God, a new perspective of church and worship, and a new way to live.
- People Are More Important Than Rules
The first thing that we learn is that People Are More Important Than Rules
“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?” vs. 15
The leaders are acting hypocritically. They say one thing but then they are doing the same type of thing. Jesus is building in a contrast of the old way of doing things and the new way. The old way: adherence to law, complaining, governing, ruling and lording it over people. Unfortunately, we still see that today
Ex. The rules we make to exclude people form our churches
The contrast to that is joy. The notice the woman’s response to Jesus, vs. 13:
“Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.” vs. 13
The new way is joy and joy comes out in our physical being as well as our words and actions. God is about people. He wants us to be about people too. It not about rules but it is about relationship. That comes out in a question the Pharisees asked Jesus about rules. The question is what is the greatest of all the rules. He answers with this: (Matt. 22:37-40)
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Mt. 22:37-40
Notice love is the key and important thing. Love of God and love of people. Relationship building.
Ill. When we affirm others, express our love, treat others well, we are being in good relationship with God.
- He Uses Our Brokenness To Heal Us
Second, Jesus new perspective is that our brokenness is just another chance for God to be glorified. Look at this poor lady. Verse 11:
“She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.” vs. 11
And remember, that this wasn’t something she had done wrong. That’s what the Pharisees thought, sh must have done something wrong to have this, she must have sinned. The passage tells us this is a spirit from Satan that was doing this. But Satan can’t stand up to Jesus. He has the power. He has the touch. Verse 13:
“Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.” vs. 13
The old way of doing things was to cast her out and call it sin. But now Jesus not only tells them and us that this has nothing to do with sin, he shows us he has power over anything, even the demons. Jesus is telling them (as he did in other passages) that we should be about healing not about judging and ostracizing. I love how David sated it in Psalm 147:3:
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3
So if judging and outcasting are the old ways, jesus says the new perspective is one of welcoming and freeing. We as a church are to be welcoming and freeing.
- The Blessing of the Sabbath
And…I think the third new perspective that Jesus brings is that the Sabbath is no longer about rote worship and fulfilling a check list and requirement. He’s conveying to us that it’s a blessing to go to church and worship. Notice verse 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?” vs. 16
Again, the old way for the Jews was to fulfill a checklist.
Sin=make a sacrifice
Pray=three times daily
Sabbath=go to temple –NO WORK!!!!
The other part of that is we put some of those same types of things on ourselves. I can only go to church when I feel good, when I have the time and there is nothing better happening, etc. We make it a checklist too! We make it a burden.
Ex. Someone comes to your house to visit but they only do it because they have to, it’s a burden and they don’t really want to be there. That all comes through in their actions and words.
But get this, Jesus new perspective is that going to church should be joyful, happy, a place of healing and reconciliation. His desire is for us to meet Him, see Him, experience Him, have a relationship with Him so that we walk away from here on Sunday’s blessed and joyful. Listen to how Isaiah put it in 58:13-14:
“If you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable…then you will find your joy in the LORD…” Isaiah 58:13-14
If you come to church and don’t walk out encouraged, joyful, with a new pep in your step, don’t blame me. Don’t blame the praise team. Don’t fall into the blame game. Look inward and look at this as a joy. You may even say; “I’m going to change my outlook on going to church right now!” I’m going to go on time, I’m going to go more often, I’m going to really think about and enjoy the music as I sing and stand, and feel free to raise my hands, to clap, etc.
An Invitation
That leads me to this final thought. We have a choice. Look at what we read in verse 17:
“When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.” vs. 17
Even after all this, the Pharisee’s and the rulers of the temple choose to turn away from Jesus and to look for a way to kill him. On the other hand, the people, the crowd chose to rejoice and relish all the things they had see Jesus do. Their hearts were moved and they delighted in the events of the day.
Think back for just a second about those fleas in that jar. They let their environment and circumstances determine how they acted and control their life. You have a choice. You can let outside forces determine your relationship with God or you can start right now and take a new approach. You can choose to cultivate and enhance and build your relationship with God in a positive, encouraging, and loving way.
