Common Sense

 

Note: There should be two slices of Bread today...I forgot to hit the publish button yesterday!

 Luke 13: 10-17

Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath

¹⁰ On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, ¹¹ and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” ¹³ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

¹⁴ Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

¹⁵ The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? ¹⁶ 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?”

¹⁷ When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

We continue to read of the wrangles between Jesus and the "authorities" over the precepts of the Law.  Yes, law and order are necessary for the smooth functioning of any group, particularly a religious group.  Without boundaries, the purpose of the group melts into the world around it and loses its distinctive purpose,  But there is a higher law, that of charity. Would one withhold feeding the hungry because of a Sabbath Law?  Obviously not, intimating that  common sense reveals what makes most sense. Scrupulous observance of the law, or as often said, "the letter of the law kills, but the spirit of the law gives life" is the answer.  In this story, Jesus is following this dictate and sets the example for us...The Law of Common Sense,  the Law of Charity over the letter of the Law.

Bro. Rene