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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 13:14-17 (NIV)
‘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.” 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? 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?” When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.’
I normally start each devotion with some sort of story or analogy. Today, I’m just going to give some more thoughts on these verses. By way of change, I will be presenting things slightly differently and have some bullet points for each point.
- Yesterday we looked at the response of the ruler. He was unhappy with what he was seeing in the synagogue and ‘reacted’ badly. A very brief thought on this is that it is never good to ‘react’ to something. There’s a big difference between responding and reacting. Jesus said “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”. I suggest that time is taken to think carefully about any given situation and only after this time of reflection should any response be given. Allow God’s Spirit to speak to our own spirit before responding.
- The ruler was a hypocrite. Note that even though he was clearly upset at Jesus, ‘The synagogue ruler said to the people.’ I don’t know if he lacked the courage to speak to Jesus directly, but the fact is that he voiced his criticism to the people and not Jesus. In church life, there is always going to be something that some people don’t like or are unhappy with. The old saying is that ‘You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.’ If you are upset at something, please don’t voice your disapproval to the congregation. This is a dangerous thing and can lead to unnecessary discouragement and disappointment. ‘A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough’.
- This man was actually misinterpreting the commandment regarding the Sabbath. Of course, he was correct in saying that there are six days for work. However, he seems to be missing other verses that bring a more meaningful interpretation. Genesis 2:1-3, Isaiah 58 and Micah 6:8 demonstrate the reason for the Sabbath and illustrate the right attitude toward everything that God is requiring of us. There is always a balance to be found in our response to God’s Word. I read this week about some ‘White supremacist’ rallies in the USA and was appalled to see banners quoting scripture. The statement ‘Jews are Satan’s Children’ was supported by the words of Jesus “You belong to your father, the devil”. How easy it is to completely misinterpret the Bible when you want to bolster your own ideological position.
- The people were not swayed by the words of anger uttered by the ruler but responded properly to the words of reason spoken by the Saviour. They saw the work of the Holy Spirit clearly manifested through Jesus and were delighted with all that He was doing. Let us look beyond our prejudices and our personal motives to see God at work. Look around and observe the changed lives. May we see the miracles of grace and Praise Him for all that He’s doing.
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