Luke 13:10-17 (NRSV)
Read Luke 13:10-17 on biblegateway.com
Verse 10Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. Verse 11And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. Verse 12When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." Verse 13When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. Verse 14But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." Verse 15But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? Verse 16And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" Verse 17When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.
Devotion
The young Methodist parents requested a baptism for the baby boy being rushed into emergency heart surgery. We were in the Pediatric ICU, it was mid-week and I was the on-call chaplain, a non-ordained Lutheran seminary student. The water came from a bag of saline, the font was a small metal bowl set on a metal table in the corner of the room. The congregation was two distracted nurses trying to prep for surgery.
Yet, despite appearances and location, that baby boy received the blessings of baptism that night. Those anxious parents helped me see that it is not about doing everything right. God’s law of love is intended to deepen the relationship we have with God and with one another – not isolate us from one another. That is what Jesus taught and it is what Jesus did – no matter what it looked like or when it happened.
Prayer
Dear God, our relationship with you and with our neighbors is most essential in life. Help us remember this and give us the grace and strength to live in this gift of relationship. Amen.