Hypocrisy and the Law – Luke 13:10-17

I couldn’t stand up for any length of time without severe nerve pain going down my back and leg.  I substitute-preached for a friend of mine for three Sundays and had to sit down to do it.  Thankfully, my orthopedic doctor sent me to physical therapy and they had me do one stretch in particular that totally relieved my pain, a hyper-stretch of my back backwards (you can read about it here).  The woman Jesus healed may have had pain from her being unable to straighten up, but her situation was caused by a demon, and no “stretch” was going to solve it.

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.  (Luke 13:10-17 ESV)

It is obvious from this incident that Israeli leadership is prejudicially antagonistic toward Jesus.  How could you not be happy about a poor woman being freed from her disability?  Why would you use the Sabbath as a restriction on that?  And Jesus calls them on their hyprocisy and they are put to shame in front of all the people, who rightly rejoice at what has happened.

But this is further evidence of what Jesus said, that he is come to bring a division among people.  Not that this is his goal but it is the result of his claim as king of the kingdom and humanity’s unwillingness to submit.  We should expect this.

We might also learn from this that there is great harm in understanding God’s laws as other than intended to help us live well.  God’s law is human centered.  The Sabbath law, as Jesus said, is made for people, not people made for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).  When you interpret the law contrary to human thriving, you have missed its point.