Good Shepherd sermon. August 23/24, 2025 Luke 13. 10-17
“Our Liberating Lord”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God, the Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, thru the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
There is a book of Jewish tradition from the late second century, called the Mishnah, where there is a list of thirty-nine activities prohibited for the Sabbath. Sabbath rules are specific, although it is not clear precisely which rule Jesus has violated. All he has done is to address the woman and touch her with compassion, amid an accusation of defying Sabbath law by the synagogue leaders.
And, Jesus responds rather sternly, doesn’t he? He mentions an example of their own practice by raising a question that anticipates a positive reply. Do they not “untie ox or donkey from the manger and lead it to water?” Of course they did, and here’s the irony – the only limit was the length of travel a person was permitted on the Sabbath – about 3000 feet, yet leading cattle to water of whatever distance was permitted.
Now, wait a minute! Are you thinking the same thing I think of when reading this passage?
If people show so much compassion
to animals on the Sabbath, how much more
compassion should a human receive!
Jesus drives the point home. Should not this woman, bound by Satan for eighteen years, be set free on the Sabbath? What more appropriate day for this to happen to a daughter of Abraham, a daughter of promise? What more appropriate day to defeat Satan and release people from his bondage than the day of rest when God is to be contemplated? When God is to be felt, honored; yes, on a day to remember God, the promise-keeper, and celebrate the goodness of God’s liberating grace! Jesus is exercising his ministry of deliverance, and, lest we forget, Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath.
And, that is what got to the leaders. If Jesus has the authority to heal and set this woman free of such a painful problem, and God endorses that authority on the Sabbath by giving him such power, what does that say about Jesus? (Gulp!)
In the Jewish view, God would hardly endorse such a violation of God’s Sabbath law, so where does this power come from to reverse the condition of the woman that Satan is responsible for? Well, obviously, it’s not Satan, since he is responsible for the woman’s condition; thus, the healing must be divine. But, unfortunately, for the strict-to-follow the law, that just cannot be!
Newsflash – it is. God is at work thru Jesus, so the entire event reinforces the authority of Christ, which was recognized by the throng around this happening, while pretty much humiliating the leaders of the synagogue. They called Jesus’ act a “cure,” whereas Jesus says he “set her free from her bondage.”
Their hardheartedness and unwillingness to acknowledge such divine deliverance from oppression will keep them in their own chains to the law, not seeing the power of God.
So…what does this passage mean for you and me? Are we reminded of the power of God thru Jesus, who has liberated us from the myriad of maladies we have experienced throughout our lives? My question to you is: from what have you been set free? What chains were so tightly binding you before Jesus touched you with virtually the same compassion he had upon the woman in our story, freeing you? Freeing from physical pain? Perhaps the liberation from an addiction that you had succumbed to years ago? Addictions take many forms from food to booze, to drugs, to pornography, even to your job, which could heighten problems with a marriage or a relationship with children.
Jesus gives us fresh courage, a new vision, widening pathways of confidence and hope for the future toward whatever issues may remain unsolved.
Ponder the words of the Apostle Paul, in 2nd Corinthians 5, where he writes, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being!” Everything old has passed away, dear friends! Everything! There may still be work to be done, but the promise is there and a new life is imminent.
So, on this Sabbath, this day of rest from so many things that keep us busy during the week, I would ask that as you approach the altar to do so slowly. Look at the Cross many may walk right by without giving thanks for the precious forgiveness of our sinfulness.
As we approach the baptismal font, remember the water that was poured over us at our baptism, along with the oil cross made on our foreheads – ho we were sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the Cross of Christ forever.
And, finally, feel the bread pressed into your hand; the Bread of Life, who painstakingly made that long, arduous journey of love for us to Jerusalem. And when you lift the Cup of Salvation to your lips, we remember the very blood that has liberated us from what oppressed us for so many years.
May each of us remember each Sabbath day and keep it holy. May we keep deep gratitude in our hearts and minds for Jesus exonerating us, pardoning us from those things we have done which could have, at one time, created great separation from God. And…may we live lives exemplifying the grace of God thru our loving, liberating Lord, Jesus Christ.
Amen.