THE CRIPPLED LADY – PART 2 -- Experience this as if you were there.

Here is a quick review of where the key people are located:  Jesus was speaking, on the Sabbath, in the Synagogue.  The important men were close to the speaker and behind them were the everyday, working men.  The crippled woman is off somewhere in the area allotted to the women. 

The stage is set, but remember when the action is live, there is always a chance for the normal to go in an entirely, unexpected direction.  The curtain opens.

LUKE 13:10-17

NKJV

Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.  And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.  13:10-11

18 YEARS!!!  Think about that as you see the spotlight pick up the location of the crippled woman.  Can you even begin to imagine being bent over for a week, a month, or 18 years?  How would you sit in a chair or lay down in bed?  How would you brush your teeth or cook or find clothes that fit a bent over body?  The life this lady led would be no walk in the park. 

But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him … 13:12 first part

Oh my gosh!  JESUS SAW HER!  Do you wonder how Jesus saw her?  She is behind the important men and the not-so-important men.  She is in the Court of the Women.  Yet, Jesus saw her!

AND HE CALLED HER TO HIM! 

How do you see this?  Did Jesus stop speaking and look far to the back?  What tone did you hear in his voice?  Gentle?  Firm?  Loving?  It does not say He went to her or even helped her through the not-so-important men or the important men area.  It says, “He called her to come.” 

Jesus called her and she is coming.  SHE IS NOT ONLY COMING – SHE IS MAKING HER WAY THROUGH THE MEN!!

After reading the rest of this paragraph (not now or you won’t know what the paragraph says), close your eyes and imagine the action proceeding.  She is slowly making her way toward Jesus.one step at a time.  What does she hear as she leaves the women’s area?  What does she hear as she walks through the men?  Do they move for her or try to stop her?  What do the very important men do as she comes forward?  Do they start whispering to each other?  Are they wondering what Jesus is going to do?  Put yourself in her shoes.  Now close your eyes and experience it.

What did you see?  What did you feel?

He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infimity.”  And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.  13:12 second part and 13

HE SPOKE AND SHE WAS FREE.

HE LAID HIS HANDS ON HER AND SHE IMMEDIATELY STOOD TALL.

SHE GLORIFIED GOD.

What a storybook ending.  The woman is healed.  Everyone is happy.

Or were they?

Remember, when the action is live, there is always a chance for the normal to go in an entirely, unexpected direction.

 

 

 

THE CRIPPLED WOMAN – PART 1

Yes, the crippled lady again.  For some reason my heart is drawn to Luke 13:10-17.  This story has so much to say and, no matter how many times I read it, I find something new.  As you can see, this is part one.  How many parts are there going to be?  I have absolutely no idea.  It might end with one or I might be like the people and be delighted with all the things Jesus was doing.

I know one thing:  I should not have looked up ancient synagogue service.  The amount of information is unending.  The synagogue is the Jewish center for religious, civic, and educational activities.  I knew that.  What I didn’t know is that there were no permanent officers.  No Pastor, so to speak.  There were deacon-like individuals who oversaw the day to day activities and the Sabbath morning service was under the direction of the Rosh-ha-Keneseth or chief ruler.  His job was to appoint people to lead the service.  For a typical Sabbath morning, 10-11 persons were required.  The positions filled were Reading Prayers, Reading the Law, Reading the Prophets, the Interpreter, and the Teacher.  I wonder if people hid when they saw the chief ruler headed their way.  I bet they checked caller ID before answering the phone.

I am sure this will be way more information than you want to know, but a bit of background might help all of us as we picture a service during Jesus time.  On that ancient Sabbath morning, the order of service consisted of: (grouped and not in order of service)

• 4 Benedictions,
• Shema (the Creed)
• 2 Prayers
• 6 Eulogies
• Response
• Readings of the law – by 7 readers
• Reading of the Prophets
• Sermon

The person giving the sermon was from the congregation and not given by an ordained or permanent officer!  This means for Jesus to be teaching, on the Sabbath and in one of the synagogues, the Rosh-ha-Keneseth would have asked him to fill that position. 

Luke 13:10-17 begins at the end of the service and Jesus is teaching. 

This would be the layout of a typical synagogue.  Can you locate the Court of Women, Court of the Priests, and the Court of the Men of Israel? 

Background:  Women did play a central role in Jewish life, especially in the home, but that was not the case in the synagogue.  Men were in charge of the ceremonies taking place in houses of worship.  Women were segregated to areas away from the men.  From that area, they might be able to see, but not hear the service.  Other sections might be located where the women could hear the service, but not see it.  Wherever the area was located, they were not on the main area of the synagogue. 

In the main area of the synagogue, you would find the synagogue rulers, the priests, and other important officials.  Those sitting in the Court of the Priests considered themselves very learned and powerful.  They were so much holier than the everyday men sitting in the Court of the Men of Israel.

You now have an idea of where each person was in relation to the crippled lady.

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How is your imagination?  I do not want you to whip right through these eight verses.  I want you to use your imagination and run this through your mind as if you were watching a play.  Picture the synagogue and the people in it.  Experience this as if you were there.

When actors follow a script, they know what to expect.  When the action is live, there is always a chance for the normal to go in an entirely, unexpected direction.  The stage is set and we will wait for the action to begin. 

 BIRDS

Birds fly.  Birds build nests.  Birds drop poop on our deck.  I have never been a bird watcher.  I love to see hawks, but that about does it.  Often, I don’t even notice them.  Until …

The bird, an ordinary black bird, … landed on the highest point in an evergreen tree.  It was flying and then, just like that, it was sitting on the tip of a twig.  And, in that instant, I realized I had witnessed a miracle.  A miracle called creation.

How can a bird land on such a tiny twig?  How can it sit there?  How come it doesn’t fall off when it sleeps?  How does it know to come back to this area and when to fly south?  I might have to start paying more attention to birds.

Even though I know the answer, I like to look things up so I googled where birds came from.  The answer?  Birds are shrunken dinosaurs.  No really!

Stephen Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland:  “A bird didn’t just evolve from a T. rex overnight, but rather the classic features of birds evolved one by one; first bipedal locomotion, then feathers, then a wishbone, then more complex feathers that look like quill-pen feathers, then wings,” Brusatte said.  “The end result is a relatively seamless transition between dinosaurs and birds, so much so that you can’t just draw an easy line between these two groups.”

Birds produced a burst of evolution.  “It seems like birds had happened upon a very successful new body plan and new type of ecology—flying at small size—and this led to an evolutionary explosion,” Brusatte said.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-dinosaurs-shrank-and-became-birds/

Okay, I guess.  I mean, if a paleontologist has the facts, then birds must be shrunken dinosaurs.  But where did the dinosaur come from?  I started going backwards and ended up searching where a cell came from.  Again, I wanted an honest answer.  Facts. 

I found a scientific site: How Stuff Works.

“Perhaps the first living cells were completely different from what we see today, and no one has yet imagined what they might have been like.  Speaking in general terms, life can only have come from one of two possible places:

• Spontaneous creation - Random chemical processes created the first living cell.
• Supernatural creation - God or some other supernatural power created the first living cell.

And it doesn't really matter if aliens or meteorites brought the first living cell to earth, because the aliens would have come into existence through either spontaneous creation or supernatural creation at some point -- something had to create the first alien cells.”

https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/evolution/evolution11.htm?srch_tag=7d4rfrjekbtdcs2xushxhg3jwrjbinwd

Ladies and gentlemen we have our scientific answer: AND IT DOESN’T REALLY MATTER ….  SOMETHING HAD TO CREATE THE FIRST ALIEN CELLS.

The one thing I love about science is that we are told to use facts.  Facts do not lie.  Facts!  Facts!  Until the facts do not support the answer we want and then, wham, it doesn’t really matter.  Besides, there is still much to learn.

The How Stuff Works site also pointed out:  “Look at yourself in a mirror -- what you see is about 10 trillion cells divided into about 200 different types.  Our muscles are made of muscle cells, our livers of liver cells, and there are even very specialized types of cells that make the enamel for our teeth or the clear lenses in our eyes!”

A bird is a shrunken dinosaur?  Our body is made up of 10 trillion cells with 200 different types?  Random chemical process?  Something had to create the first cell?  And it doesn’t really matter?

I graduated high school.  I do not have a degree.  BUT I think it does matter.  I kept going back to the statement: Spontaneous creation - Random chemical processes created the first living cell.  I want facts.  I want it to matter.  So my final question is: Where did the chemical process come from?

This reminds me of the old joke:

The devil challenged God to a contest.  He said, “Creating man was no big deal.  I can do that.”

God answered, “Really.  You can create man?  You can take a handful of dirt, form it into a human, and blow life into his lungs?”

The devil, with a wicked grin, replied, “Of course.  I have the ability to do that.  And I can do it quicker than you.”

God figured this would give the angels a chuckle and agreed to the challenge.

The devil reached down to get a handful of dirt and God stopped him.  The devil looked at God and wondered what was going on.

God told the devil, “Make your own dirt.”

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Where did the bird come from?  Supernatural creation of course.  God created them.

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”  So God created …. And every winged bird according to its kind.  … and let the birds increase on the earth.”       Genesis 1:20-22

 AND THE BUFFALO WALKED ON THE BEACH

            Written April 21, 2022

A mother nursed her child

A father read a story

A grandmother looked at a picture album

A grandfather watched the weather

And a buffalo walked on the beach

All this passed through my mind as I laid there with needles stuck in me from my head to my toes.

My imagination took two of my favorite things — beaches and buffalo — and put them together. 

What a sight that would be!!!  Children would stop in their tracks and yell, “Mom.  Dad.  There is a buffalo walking on the beach!”  Mom and dad would look at each other, roll their eyes, and look back at their phones. 

What a sight that would be!!!  Lifeguards would be on their emergency phones shouting, “I said BUFFALO! Yes.  Buffalo.”  The emergency operator would think, “The kids they hire now days.  Do they understand their job is no joke?  A buffalo.  Right.”

What a sight that would be!!!  The lady on the fourth floor, standing on her balcony, would smile and say, “Wow God.  You did this for me didn’t you?  Thank you.”

What about the other pictures floating in my mind?  Were they just images or were they images from my life?  Or were they caused by those needles stuck in me from my head to my toes.

Have you been wondering about the needles? As I write this, I am trying physical therapy and acupuncture to get rid of the pain from sciatica.  When the needles were in, the lights were dimmed, and I was told to not think of anything I had to do.  I was to only think good thoughts.  Places where I feel relaxed.  Places I love to visit.  Peaceful thoughts.

What?  Do not think of anything you have to do?  Well, duh.  The moment I heard “do not think of things you have to do,” what popped into my mind?  Everything I have to do.

Even with the lights out.  Even with the spa music playing.  It was hard to relax.  It was hard not to think about all the things I had to do.  Plus, the first time I was afraid to move for fear those needles would fly out of my body.

Today was my third time and I did relax.  I knew I could move a bit and the needles would stay in place.  The spa music was only a bit irritating.  And then, with a vision of a buffalo walking down the beach, I actually went to sleep.

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Why is it so hard to relax?  Why do our minds keep working when our body wants to stop?  Why can we barely keep our eyes open during our favorite show, but go to bed and they will not shut.  Why can we be thinking happy thoughts, ready to drift off into never-never land, and WHAM – a worry knocks out all the good, happy thoughts and we lay there, wide awake, with absolutely no chance of falling asleep. 

Maybe we are holding onto the wrong things as we try to drift off.  Maybe we are not allowing God to hold our worries and our fears. 

Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again:  Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:4-7

We can find peace when we pray and petition God.  He will guard our hearts and minds.  BUT, we have to let Him.  We have to pray and petition and then we have to leave it with God. 

And don’t forget to do it with thanksgiving!

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Now, back to that buffalo walking on the beach.  He had escaped from Yellowstone and headed east for an adventure.  When he arrived in Orange Beach, Alabama, he put on his sunglasses, placed a hat decorated with funky palm trees between his horns, nodded to the lady on the fourth floor balcony, and headed toward the waves.

His name is Elmer.