Jesus heals a woman of eighteen years of painful sickness. She could not stand straight but was continually doubled over by her affliction. Even as Christ blesses her and she stands looking the crowd in the eye, the synagogue official finds fault. He defines the miracle as work, and therefore improper on the Sabbath. Christ does not repudiate the Sabbath, He only notes that even on the Sabbath donkeys are untied and led to water. God intends that the Sabbath be a day of rest not cruelty. We are to do no regular work. The common sense notion of that statement would be that folks do not go to work that day, do only what is necessary, and spend the time relaxing and focusing upon God. The Jews of the time had turned the Sabbath into a day constrained by rules as they sought an exhaustive definition of work. Their rules caused them to look upon a miracle of god as blasphemy. May we be sure our rules obey the Spirit of God’s word as well as its letter.
Without Wax,
Dr. Dwight
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