Luke 13:10–17 (ESV)
A Woman with a Disabling Spirit
10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 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. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13 And
he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. 14 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.” 15 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? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”
17 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.
Though
Jesus’ critics saw His miracle as a clear violation of the Sabbath, Jesus’ work, in fact, fulfilled the Sabbath Day’s purpose: to provide blessing for God’s people. He still calls us to keep the Sabbath by gladly receiving God’s
Word, which delivers to us the blessings of Jesus’ victory over sin and death. How great a privilege to enter His presence in worship.
I pray: “Open now thy
gates of beauty; Zion, let me enter there, Where my soul in joyful duty Waits for Him who answers prayer. Oh, how blessed is this place, Filled with solace, light, and grace!” Amen. (LSB 901:1)
Edward
A. Engelbrecht, The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing
House, 2009), 1744.