THE CRIPPLED LADY – PART 3 -- Experience this as if you were there.

Part two ended with a storybook ending:

HE SPOKE AND SHE WAS FREE.

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

SHE GLORIFIED GOD.

The woman was healed.  Everyone was 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 action continues:

LUKE 13:10-17

NKJV

But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”  Luke 13:14

What do you imagine?  Do the men around Jesus look happy?  Do they surround him?  Do they have their hands out as they try to make their point?  Can you hear the indignation in their voice?

 

If this were a play, this would be the time to settle back into your seat.  The play, which had the storybook ending going for it, has taken an unexpected direction.  I mean, after all, how could anyone be upset because a woman was healed?  Where is their compassion?  How could they see this woman stand tall, give God the glory, and then cause a stink?  There is tension in the air.

The ruler of the synagogue is not upset that Jesus healed.  I guess he has a bit of a heart in there somewhere.  He is only upset because Jesus healed on the Sabbath day. 

Can you see him turning to the other men and speaking?  Can you see the healed woman taking a step back?

What would happen now?  And why was the ruler of the synagogue so upset?

Background on the Sabbath:  One of the biggest sins of Israel was not keeping the Sabbath.  God had told them over and over to keep the Sabbath holy.  Jeremiah (17:21-22) was instructed by the LORD to warn them that they are to “hallow the Sabbath day” as their fathers had been commanded.  Ezekiel (20: parts of 13 and 12) states that Israel “greatly defiled My Sabbaths … My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.”  Well you know how the pendulum swings one way and then way up the other way?  That is what was going on here.

Israel had gone from ignoring the Sabbath to going to the other extreme.  They added so many regulations, that instead of being a blessing, the Sabbath became a burden.  Some things that cannot be done on the Sabbath, then and now:

• Sowing, Plowing, Reaping, Gathering, Threshing, Winnowing, Sorting, etc – no farm work
• Sifting, Kneading, Baking/cooking, Spinning, Weaving, Sewing
• Writing two or more letters
• Building, Demolishing, Extinguishing
• Transferring/Transporting, Driving, Riding
• Do not use the telephone or electrical appliance

Back to the action.  Picture the ruler of the synagogue standing tall.  Shoulders back.  Facing Jesus.  Eye to eye.  Waiting.  Pointing a finger and maybe even tapping his toe.  He is very confident because he knew all the rules for the Sabbath. 

 

Do not leave your seats!  Do not go to get popcorn.  People -- this is high drama!  Talk about normal going in an entirely, unexpected direction.  The ruler of the synagogue is waiting.  He is waiting for Jesus to explain himself.  He is in the right.  There is to be NO healing on the Sabbath. 

And he waits …..