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As we continue our studies in Luke’s gospel, this week our attention is focused on verses 10-21. Please read them every day this week and, if possible, use a different translation each day, asking God to open your eyes to fresh revelation from His Word.
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Luke 13:10-11 (Youngs Literal Translation)
‘And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, and lo, there was a woman having a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bowed together, and not able to bend back at all,’
As is normal for a Monday, we have a short devotion to ease us into the week!
Preaching God’s Word is an amazing honour and an immense privilege. It should never be taken lightly. Even the best communicators on the planet have an obligation to humble themselves before standing in front of God’s people and sharing something from His Word.
Perhaps you’ve heard the story of an arrogant preacher who strode proudly up to the pulpit with the expectation of ‘preaching a blinder’. He was so confident in his own ability and wanted to demonstrate to the congregation exactly how great he was.
Well, he soon realised that the congregation had distanced themselves somewhat and then he got his notes all mixed up and basically ‘bombed’. He finished the sermon with no small amount of embarrassment and walked down from the pulpit completely humiliated. An elderly man spoke with him afterwards and said something like “Young man, if you’d gone up the way you came down, you would have come down the way you went up!”. There is no place for arrogance when sharing God’s Word.
Even those preachers who have the right attitude and heart occasionally lose their way somewhat. There is nothing worse when, in the middle of preaching something happens to distract the preacher. It’s possible for someone to get distracted by even the smallest of events. I’ve known cases where the preacher has been ‘heckled’ by comments made by someone in the congregation. This can completely throw the preacher off course and it’s very difficult to get back on track.
Our verses today speak of Jesus ‘preaching’ in the synagogue. We know that this was something He did regularly and proves that it is right and proper to share from God’s Word in our services. There is a phrase in verse 11 that says ‘And lo’. Another translation says ‘And look’. This paints a very vivid picture and implies that this woman actually walked into the synagogue while Jesus was preaching. Can you imagine the scene? Jesus is in the middle of teaching when the door creaks open. Perhaps some people turned to look at who was entering. Eyes that were focused on Jesus were now distracted by the presence of someone else. I don’t know who they expected, but I’m quite sure that they were surprised at the sight of this lady. Firstly, women had a secondary role in society so I don’t think this interruption would have been welcomed and secondly, she was bent over double, not able to stand up straight at all. This was certainly a distraction for Jesus. Or was it? Tomorrow we’ll take a look at how Jesus responded with grace and authority. What an amazing Saviour!
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