Luke 13:10-17

In these verses, Jesus is confronted with a rule that, in this context, seems harsh. The disagreement arises when a woman with a debilitating spinal condition shows up on a Sabbath while Jesus is teaching. Jesus sees her, touches her, and heals her, earning him a reprimand from the leader of the synagogue: “There are six days on which work ought to be done.” He’s referring to the fourth commandment of the Ten Commandments: “Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work – you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.” Presumably the religious leader isn’t against healing; he just wants Jesus to wait until tomorrow. After all, she’s had this condition for eighteen years. What’s one more day?

Jesus responds that the Sabbath is the perfect day to set someone free from an eighteen-year bondage to a crippling condition. With this reference to freedom, Jesus is saying the well-meaning religious leader doesn’t understand what the Sabbath is all about. Jesus is alluding to Deuteronomy’s version of the Ten Commandments, which adds, and I’m paraphrasing, “Remember when you were slaves in Egypt? Remember when you had no day off at all? That’s why you get a day off.” Everyone, not just the upper classes, not just the priests and elites and the king have the right to rest one day a week. One day of freedom for everyone, including your animals.

So there’s a very good reason for keeping the Sabbath. Jesus doesn’t say rules don’t matter. He’s saying that sometimes a reasonable rule or a good law that works well for some people causes suffering for others, or just plain leaves people out. Take eating organic, for example, a rule I try to follow. During seminary I took a course in environmental ethics. A couple of my fellow students did a report on organic food: how much better it is for the planet, how much better it is for farm workers and the people who consume the food. No argument there, right? They gave the class slices of organic and non-organic carrots for a taste test, and the organic carrots actually tasted better. And then another student asked, “How much more do the organic carrots cost than the other carrots?” At the time, it was a considerable difference; still today, organic produce costs about 50% more on average than regular produce. The student pointed out, with some impatience, that eating organic was a luxury not everyone could afford. That whole communities of people were left out of the health benefits of eating organic, not to mention that good feeling of knowing they were doing the right thing for the planet.

The religious leader is sticking up for the principle of law and order, and I think many of us can support that. But it’s easy for him to maintain his principles without suffering. The woman didn’t have that freedom. Jesus isn’t saying get rid of the Sabbath. He’s saying that demanding rigid observance of the law without empathy for how that impacts people doesn’t keep the Sabbath “holy.” Rather, it creates a “systemic barrier,” one the religious leader doesn’t even see. That’s what privilege is. It’s being able to ignore or not even see things that confront other people every day. Jesus is saying the point of the Sabbath, the point of all God’s laws, is to serve God’s people and draw them more deeply into the abundant life God offers not just to some people, not just to the people who don’t have to think twice about the rules, but to all people. God is a God of love, mercy, compassion, and justice. Focusing on those qualities honors God. Focusing on those keeps the Sabbath holy.

The religious leader forgot this. Which is easy to do when following the rules is easy for us.

My favorite part of this story is at the end. “The entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.” They got it. Ordinary people, living their lives, doing the best they could, working hard, caring for their families, and once a week on the Sabbath, being reminded that each life matters to God, our God who wants freedom for everyone. Everyone. “The entire crowd was rejoicing.” You bet they were.

© Joanne Whitt 2025 all rights reserved.

References:
Exodus 20:8-11
Deuteronomy 5:12-15
David Lose, http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=2699.
John M. Buchanan, “Expansive,” http://www.fourthchurch.org/sermons/2007/082607.html.
Dan Shepard and Maggie Davis, “Organic produce now costs as much as 53% more than conventional alternatives, and the price disparity is getting worse,” April 17, 2025, https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2025/04/17/organic-produce-now-costs-as-much-as-53-more-than-conventional-alternatives-and-the-price-disparity-is-getting-worse/