Rest, Liberation, Compassion

Luke 13:10-17, The 11th Sunday after Pentecost , August 25, 2019

Luke 13:10-17 New International Version (NIV)

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.

In the content of today's sermon, Nuke 13:10-17, there's an event that happened when Jesus preached in the synagogue on the Sabbath. The synagogue is a building where Jews gather and perform religious ceremonies. In our way, it's a church. It seems that Jesus was able to enter the synagogue at that time. Access to the synagogues has been blocked since the relationship with the synagogues deteriorated. One of the reasons for the relationship's deterioration is the incident in the content today. 

There was a woman who had been haunted for eighteen years and could not straighten her back. She must have been sitting in one corner of the synagogue, not in front or in the middle. It's hard to be welcomed because she was a woman and disabled person. This woman came into the eyes of Jesus who was preaching. He could have gone by, but Jesus had to call her up. She might move to the front seat. We can imagine the situation. How ashamed she must have been. 

Being disabled at the time was a sinner. She hasn't straightened her back for 18 years. No one knows what caused this disorder. We don't know if that's actually a problem with her waist disk or if it's a psychological problem. We don't know what's happening in the human body and what's causing it now, in the high-tech medical age. These days, I'm reading a book called 'The Betray of Health' by Barbara Ernlich. Excess health care  and successful aging are key topics. In the category "Health-addicted People," 70-80 percent of all thyroid cancer surgeries European and North American women received were found to have been unnecessary. In particular, there are examples of Korea. In Korea, it goes up to 90%. Too much concern about cancer can actually reduce the quality of life. The "cellular rebellion" also explains that the cells in our bodies do not necessarily follow the immune system, but move freely as if they are willing. The human body is so mysterious that it cannot be controlled by science. Jesus said to this woman, "you are set free from your infirmity," and he laid his hands on her. Then this woman has straightened her back and praised God.

The text does not focus on the fact that this woman's disability has been healed. These were common events in ancient society. It's similar to the story of a spinal patient today who is undergoing surgery or who has been completely cured in a non-surgical way. The main point of the content is that the views of this event clash with each other. The synagogue leader's reaction to the scene is described in detail in verse 14. I'll read it myself.

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.”

It is said that the synagogue ruler was angry at Jesus' behavior and told the people That's because something unacceptable happened at the church service where he was in charge. Interestingly, however, he could not directly question Jesus, but instead advised the lay believers. He must have thought it was rude to give direct advice to the guest preacher. Otherwise, he may raise a question with Jesus in an indirect way, in which a pastor in charge teaches believers the rules of religious life.

The problem raised by the synagogue ruler is the regulation on sabbaticals. He said it was better not to be healed on the Sabbath because there are other days. It's not too strange what he says. It's not wrong for a woman with a disability of eighteen years to endure a day and receive treatment the day after the Sabbath. This woman's life is not at the moment. The ruler's argument is reasonable. If these things are repeated in the future, the sabbatical concept will become increasingly powerless. If Jesus chooses the right day after the Sabbath and treats it, it is good to observe the Sabbath, and it is good for this woman to be treated. It's not easy to argue against such claims. If I were there, I would agree with his argument.

In order to understand the president's argument, we must first understand the Jewish sabbatical concept more accurately. For Jews, Sabbaths are absolute norms that cannot be replaced by anything. Today's Sabbath, which falls on Saturday, is a day of rest. For them, there are two historical origins of the Sabbath. One is the creation event that was recorded in the Genesis. God created the world for six days and rested on the seventh day, so people should rest. The other is the escape from Egypt in the Exodus. Jews have to observe the Sabbath in memory of God's liberation of them. The Jews persisted in keeping the Sabbath tradition. There were also many enforcement regulations regarding this. There is also a regulation on how to deal with cows or sheep when they give birth on a Sabbath or when they are in danger. All human labor had to stop unless it was a matter of life. Today's 52-hour workweek debate is also linked to the sabbatical concept.

Jesus directed the Jews, who were represented by the synagogue, and criticized them as "the hypocrites" These criticisms are often found in other gospels. Matthew 23:13 is like this. " “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to." This expression repeats. They were the ones who strain out a gnat but swallow a camel (Matt. 23:24). It is hypocritical of you to ignore the word of God under the pretext of the law.

Jesus then explains why the synagogue ruler's arguments are hypocritical. On Sabbaths, they drag cows and donkeys out for a drink. This is actually labor. You shouldn't do this if you have to strictly observe the Sabbath. They did not make a fire, so they did not eat warm food on the Sabbath. There was an exception that allowed the animals to drink water even though it seemed to be strictly observed on the Sabbath. You can endure it without eating warm food, but if you don't take it out to water your livestock, you could be severely disadvantaged by property. I'm not saying that watering livestock is wrong. That's a good thing. Criticism against the use of Sabbath rules to heal disabled people who are more precious than livestock. Let's read verse 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?

The two sides are in conflict right now. On one side, it's the synagogur ruler's. He insists on not treating the disease on the Sabbath because there are six other days. The other side is the position of Jesus Christ. Jesus says sabbatical rules apply differently depending on the situation, so even on sabbaticals, it is right to treat women's illnesses. One is to abide by the law as possible, and the other is that human salvation takes precedence over the law. Which side do you support? It's ambiguous, because we're Christians, of course we support Jesus' position, but in reality, it's hard to live with him in the world. For example, street vendors in big cities are illegal. The ward chief should stop street vendors. That's the law. If the street vendors feel sorry for them and leave them alone, there will be a lot of confusion. The ward chief will be down in the next local elections.

Today's story doesn't require us to live the same way as Jesus. From the content, we can learn about religious traditions and Jesus' unique ideas about human life. This is a fundamental question of the nature of the Sabbath. At the heart of the Sabbath regulation is literally a sabbatical.  A Sabbatical is a rest. People who need rest are people who have no rest in their daily lives. At that time, landlords and nobles did not need to rest because they did not usually work. Ordinary farmers, small business people, especially peasants and servants, could not rest all year. Only by force of the Sabbath rules could they take a day off a week. Do not work the same on Sabbaths as landlords or peasants, free men or servants. Even the beast had to rest. It's a world of total equality, even one day a week. Sabbath traditions are also important at sociological and scientific levels.

On the Sabbath, the Jews gathered in the synagogue. It's kind of like we're gathering at church on a weekly basis. In the synagogue they sang poems, prayed, read the Bible and listened to sermons. They shouted out loud that God was the Creator and that God had freed them from Egypt. What does this mean? Sabbath is the day to confirm who I or we are. The other day, you have to cling to the repressive structure that's made. You have to go to a job that you don't want to go to, and you have to make money. In a world of ordinary days, we feel the discrimination between the boss and the staff. We can't avoid competition. I can't confirm who I am from there. They check themselves with teachers, students, doctors, patients, workers, presidents, husbands and wives. That's not the real self. Before the Sabbath, we are all God's creatures. That's the real self. Isn't that right?

Some people find it uncomfortable to say that they are God's creatures. The more important they are to their identity and free will, the more so. Are modern intelligent people actually living on their own? They consider a life of self-reliance as a life of buying a house and a car and traveling with their own money. I'm sorry, but no one has an independent life. The content of our own self-determination is already influenced by other forces.

The political situation is noisy these days over the nominee for justice minister. The main point seems to be that his daughter made an unfair advantage in the admission process to a general university and a medical school. There is a lot of criticism about what we call unfair specifications. I think the mother of the student might be deeply involved. There is a saying that to get into a good university, you need an education-minded mother, an indifferent father and a rich grandparents.

I'm not going to tell you the wrong thing about things that I don't know very well and that I don't have a more specific fact What I want to say is that the judgment of building up a child's specifications within legal boundaries, or in ambiguous situations, seems to be self-reliant, but it's actually the most non-subjective. Is this the only time you've? Modern people who say they live on their own are slaves to ideology who value capital at its highest value.

The Bible says to believe in God, not to tell you to live on your own. Believing in God means accepting that you are God's creatures. More precisely, we accept the fact that we are creatures made in the image of God

God's creation must be freed from the wrong repressive structure of the world. I told you earlier that the sabbatical concept originated from two events in the Old Testament. It's creation and liberation from Egypt. Two things are deeply involved. The word "the creation of God" means "liberated beings." We still have to go the road of liberation.

So today Jesus said to a woman who hasn't straightened her back for eighteen years, "Woman, you are set free from your infinity." This woman has recovered her health. This declaration fits exactly in with the nature of the Sabbath.

Now the final question is, couldn't we delay her treatment by one day? She's been in trouble for eighteen years, and there's nothing else she can't stand. That makes sense. Why didn't Jesus wait for the day? And I think that's where the most fundamental nature of religion lies. It's 'pity' for humans to be freed soon. Jesus has already seen a woman crouched in one corner while preaching in the synagogue. She also visited the synagogue today on the Sabbath. Whether there was self-consciousness about the fact that she was God's daughter, or desperate to die, or expecting something from the news of Jesus preaching, the text has nothing to say. It is clear that she is desperate now. Other people may have passed because they were familiar with the scenery, but Jesus felt a very special compassion for her. Jesus couldn't afford to wait another day. Those who are deep in their hearts are impatient. A cynic who is thorough in calculation cannot understand the mind of Jesus' name.

Compassion is God's attribute. Bible reporters often say that God feels sorry for us. Prayer to pity us is the most fundamental prayer in Christianity's 2,000-year history. Kirie Elison! Pity isn't just the sadness that comes after watching a sad movie or reading a novel. It's a bigger and deeper spirituality. It's a spiritual phenomenon that comes from seeing the world and people as God's heart. I feel sorry for everyone. The poor and the proud are the poor. When we see anti-social and shameless people, we get angry, but when we think about it, we feel sorry. Because this is an aberration that happens because no matter how much you fill, your soul can't fill. In this regard, neither Abe nor Trump nor Kim Jong-un are pitiful. I don't mean that everyone is pitiful and that if you do evil, you must forgive What is to be held accountable is to be held accountable. But underneath it lies compassion. That's what parents feel about having an iron-fisted son or daughter.

The world we live in today is no different from the synagogue, where a 18-year-old disabled person is squatting in one corner. The division of North and South is like a disabled person. Youths and their families, who hang themselves on the CSAT scores, are also 18-year-old disabled. Maybe I or you are the one who's. There were several people in the synagogue. The general public gave only a normal sabbatical that day. The synagogue ruler insisted that the Sabbath rules be followed. Jesus did what was due on the Sabbath. It was the release of a woman who had been tied to Satan for eighteen years. One day you would have met him, and if not yet, you would meet him someday. According to the last section of the text today, those who opposed Jesus were ashamed, and everyone else was pleased with his glorious work. Have you ever been shy in front of Jesus' words? Have you ever truly rejoiced at the glorious work of Jesus? Or have you been driven out of the world and kept busy?