Luke 13:10-17
"On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit....Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God."
(Luke 13:10-11, 13)
Are you task-oriented or people-oriented? In any situation, do you first think of getting the job done? Or is your priority the people involved?
As long as Jesus stuck to the teaching agenda, the religious leaders in this passage were fine. But Jesus was more concerned with people than with rules and tasks. He never seemed to mind getting "sidetracked." He saw a woman who had been crippled for 18 years. With a word and a touch, Jesus made her whole.
The leaders were annoyed that their rules had been disrupted. They rebuked the people for wanting to be healed on the Sabbath. But Jesus rebuked them. If their legalism made an exception for watering animals on the Sabbath, surely one of God's chosen people was just as important, if not more so.
Most of us have daily to-do lists that grow and spill into the next day. The result can be a concern for agendas and tasks while neglecting the people in our lives for whom Jesus died. God is more concerned with people than with tasks. We should be, too.
INSIGHT
IS YOUR MINISTRY SCHEDULE SO FULL THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TIME FOR INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE? ALLOW THE LORD TO INTERRUPT YOUR SCHEDULE WITH HIS PRIORITIES.
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Jeremiah 31-32
Psalm 119:1-64
1 Corinthians 11
Luke 13:10-17
New International Version (NIV)
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.
THE COMING FIRE
Does the judgment seat of God fill you with fear? It ought to. Jesus was very clear about that, but you don't have to live in fear either. There is something else you need to know.
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