On the Side of Life--August 29, 2025

On the Side of Life--August 29, 2025

Now [Jesus] was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And 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. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But 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.” But 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 to water? And 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?” When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame, and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things being done by him. (Luke 13:10-17)

Here's an honest question: would we still follow the way of Jesus if it weren't seen as "Respectable Religion"?

For many of us, going to church and being identified as a Christian are seen as unquestionably positive things.  It gives the impression that you are a model citizen, a good and upstanding member of your community.  For a lot of us, our earliest childhood memories reinforced that going to church was "just what you do"--there was no question about it, no option to it, and you did it in part because everybody expected everybody else to go to church, to name the name of Jesus, and even to wear a cross necklace as a visible sign identifying our faith.  And again, for a great many of us, that came with an unspoken assumption that "everybody" (at least everybody in our own churchy circles) belonged to a church. From that perspective, Jesus wasn't a controversial figure--he was more the mascot or corporate logo that identified our brand.  And since that was how we saw the world, we assumed that's how it had always been, and how it always should be.

The Gospels, however, remind us that in his actual lived life and ministry, Jesus was nobody's mascot, and he seemed to be always upsetting people--even (or especially) the people most identified with Respectable Religion.  Even the actions that seem obviously good and certainly miraculous--like healing a woman who had been bound by crippling pain for eighteen years--got him into trouble with the self-deputized Gatekeepers of God.  It is worth remembering just how provocative Jesus' words and actions were--and are--even when those actions are clearly about bringing people more fully to life.

This passage, which many of us heard as our Gospel reading this past Sunday, is a case in point.  Luke, our narrator, certainly sees this healing as something to rejoice over.  The crowds at the end of the story get it right this time: they rightly celebrate "all the wonderful things being done" by Jesus.  But in the lived moment when the woman with the hunched back steps into the worship space, and in the heavy-handed scolding from the religious leaders after Jesus heals her, Luke also shows us just how provocative Jesus' actions really were.  It wasn't that a healing happened that bothered them, but that Jesus worked this healing on the sabbath day--the day, as we saw earlier this week in our devotions, which was set apart for rest and renewal in ancient Israel's faith.  And while the best of Israel and Judah's faith tradition understood that sabbath rest would have allowed for helping to heal someone so they could be spared pain and given rest from their suffering, there were also other sects within Judaism that interpreted things differently.  There were voices who insisted "no work on the sabbath" meant no medical treatments from physicians (as limited as medicine was in those days), no labor to heal, and nothing that could even possibly be considered physical exertion.  They had their own reasons for that particular interpretation (and certainly they were concerned about how often and how easily previous generations of the ancestors had simply blown off resting on the sabbath because it limited profits and had been called out by the prophets as one of the reasons the people ended up in exile).  But to be clear, there were several different sects and partisan groups within the broad umbrella of Judaism in Jesus' day who had different understandings of what it meant--and did not mean--to keep the sabbath.  

And what I think we often fail to acknowledge in this scene is that Jesus does not blush at all about having a particular understanding about the meaning of sabbath, and going ahead and living in to it without apology and without bitterness, even though it made him provocative.  Jesus is never cruel or power-hungry in his choice to be controversial, but when it comes to either helping the woman who has crossed his path or ignoring her, Jesus has a clear answer and draws a clear line.  There is no hemming and hawing from Jesus like, "Some people think it's OK to heal people on the sabbath, but then other people would rather stick to their interpretation of The Rules than to offer compassion and relief to another human being, and I really don't get to weigh on that subject because it might upset somebody."  Jesus is clear about what he is called to do and clear about what sabbath is really all about (restoring and renewing life), so he both heals the woman and calls out the Religious Leaders who started harassing her.  

And surely he knows that by doing this, Jesus is making himself offensive to some, an impious rulebreaker to others, and just downright divisive to another segment of the population.  There will be those who would take an episode like this and vilify Jesus: "See? He doesn't care about the commandments!" [He does.]  "He is disputing and denying the Word of God!" [No--he is correcting one interpretation of the Word with his own interpretation.]  "This Jesus isn't a good upstanding member of society--he is subversively attacking our most-cherished values!" You can see how the Respectable Religious Leaders could easily weaponize this encounter with Jesus and paint him in the public eye as a partisan hack who alienates the people who disagree with him.  And in fairness, Jesus does come down pretty hard on the interpretation of the Sabbath law that would have said it's permissible to untie your animal to lead it to the water trough but it's against the will of God to unbind this woman from her ailment.  Jesus is taking a particular stand here, and he is advocating for a particular position, without apology, without sheepishness, and without shame. Jesus is unabashedly on the side of life: of restoring, renewing, and relieving people so that they are more fully alive in every way they need it. And on that point, Jesus is willing to draw a line, regardless of whether that makes trouble for him with the religious leaders or the political powers of the day.

As we reconsider this story, I want to ask us to think about what it means for us particularly as Jesus' disciples.  After all, we are not simply spectators who watch the stories of Jesus unfold like an audience in a theater, and we are not simply to read the words of Jesus on pages of a book as though Christianity were merely a holy book discussion club.  We are called, precisely because we are disciples, to follow in Jesus' footsteps, to come to see the world through his eyes, and to respond to the world as Jesus does.  So part of this story's meaning is how it calls us to take particular stands the way Jesus does.   Now, as I say, Jesus is never a jerk about things.  He never punches down or picks on the powerless.  He never resorts to cruelty, crude name-calling, or threats.  And he never coerces people to do what he wants under threat of divine lightning bolt or plague of locusts.  But he does know where he stands, and that is always with a predisposition for mercy, for healing, for compassion, and for life.  Where that means parting company with other people's priorities--even if they claim that they are the spokespersons for Respectable Religion--Jesus will let those lines be drawn. Rather than build a meaningless compromise that said, "We don't really have a policy on compassion--it's up to each of us whether or not to be merciful, as you see fit," Jesus takes a clear side and a clear position. Following him will mean interpreting the rules in light of compassion rather than shoehorning compassion into the cracks and crevices left by the rules.  

Jesus intends for us to adopt his interpretation of sabbath.  Jesus intends for us to follow his example of helping others, regardless of the day of the week, because those other people are worthy of love, life, and care.  Jesus intends for us to be courageous like him and to be willing to speak up for the people who are being picked on by the Respectable Religious Leaders at any given time.  And Jesus intends for us to join in his work of bringing people everywhere more fully to life.  He doesn't claim that we're bound for hell if we struggle at it, or fail.  He doesn't say he hates us if we have a hard time shifting from one perspective to another.  But he does call us to a particular way of life--one that is shaped by his life--and Jesus doesn't apologize for that.

Today, then, we should be honest. Following Jesus may not always be popular--at least if we are actually following Jesus and not merely a vacuous mascot with a beard that we label "Jesus."  Living as Jesus' disciples will lead us sometimes to particular positions, particular commitments, and particular practices in the world, and they will sometimes be upsetting or provocative to others.  Forgiveness seems foolish to those who are used to holding a grudge.  Loving your enemies seems controversial if you have been steeped in the old "If they attack you, you've gotta attack them back!" mindset.  Touching the untouchable seems taboo if you are more concerned about the rules of purity than the needs of people.  And speaking up to advocate for those who are being stepped on will seem controversial if you have been taught that "quiet" is the same thing as "peace."  

Jesus intends to shape us in light of his own unique presence in the world, which includes when it is provocative.  But because of who Jesus is, that kind of scandal is worth making, because Jesus is always on the side of life.

Lord Jesus, stir us up to be bravely committed to your work of bringing people more fully to life.