He was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath. 11 And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, “Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.” 13 He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God. 14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath, said to the crowd in reply, “There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.” 15 The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering? 16 This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?” 17 When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.
The Sabbath rest was important in the OT (Lv. 23:24). No servile work should be done by man, slave, or beast (Deut. 5:12-15) and man should rest as God rested (Gen 2:2-3; Ex. 20:11). Jesus cured a woman in a Synagogue on the Sabbath who was crippled by an unclean spirit for 18 years. Jesus broke the bonds that had held her captive (Lk. 4:18; Is. 61:1). The leader of the Synagogue and the crowd took exception because Jesus was violating the Mosaic Law by working on the Sabbath (Ex. 23:12).
The woman stood up straight (Lk. 21:28) and glorified God when she was healed which was a reference to the arrival of the Kingdom of God inaugurated through Jesus. The Synagogue leader saw the healing as an offense against God. He was so sure that he knew how and when God should act that he could not see the presence of the Kingdom in their midst which would lead to the long-awaited restoration of Israel. God continued to call the Israelites to repentance, but the official had no need for the repentance Jesus was warning them about. An ox and an ass were both of lesser value than the woman so if the Law made provision for the ox and ass to be released from bondage on the Sabbath, the Synagogue leader should want the woman to be released from her burden of 18 years on the Sabbath.
Salvation is not for the healthy or for males only. Women, the sick, and all who heed Jesus’ call belong to the Kingdom of God. Works of compassion are expected from the religious and their leaders every day, but even more so on the Sabbath (Mk. 2:27). The Jewish leaders made sure they complied with the letter of the Law but disregarded the intent of the Law (Mt. 15:8-9).
Almighty God, grant us the wisdom not to judge the worthiness or holiness of each other, but to help those who count as nothing in the eyes of others, and help those separated from God to break free from the bonds that enslave them. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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