Don't postpone for tomorrow the good you can do today!

Luke 13:10-17

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, 11 and a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said, "Woman, you are freed from your infirmity." 13 Then he placed his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, "There are six days on which work should be done! So come and be healed on those days, 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 its stall, and lead it to water? 16 Then shouldnʼt this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be released from this imprisonment on the Sabbath day?" 17 When he said this all his adversaries were humiliated, but the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.

Food for thought!

Before anything, let's note that this is the last time we ever hear of Jesus being in a synagogue. It is clear that by this time the religious authorities were watching his every action and waiting to pounce upon him whenever they got the chance. And they got one: Jesus healed on a Sabbath a woman who for eighteen years had not been able to straighten her bent body; and then the president of the synagogue intervened. He had not even the courage to speak directly to Jesus. He addressed his protest to the waiting people, although it was meant for Jesus. He criticized Jesus thru the people! Sometimes people can criticize JESUS by criticizing us; and criticize us by criticizing Jesus. What they don't know is that there are certain things we do by Jesus' mandate.

Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; technically healing was work; and, therefore he had broken the Sabbath. But he answered his opponents out of their own law. The Rabbis abhorred cruelty to dumb animals and, even on the Sabbath, it was perfectly legal to loose beasts from their stalls and water them. Jesus demanded, "If you can loose a beast from a stall and water him on the Sabbath day, surely it is right in the sight of God to loose this poor woman from her infirmity."

What Jesus is saying is what many people do, even today. Sometimes we are more benign to animals than to fellow humans. Some people spend lots of money on their pets while some where some humans are starving. Sometimes we give more attention to beasts than to humans!

The president of the synagogue and those like him were people who loved systems more than people. They were more concerned that their own petty little laws should be observed than that a woman should be helped. For Jesus, the individual comes before the system; humans come before animals. In the world and in the church we are constantly in peril of loving systems more than we love God and more than we love humans.

Jesus' action in this matter makes it clear that it is not God's will that any human being should suffer one moment longer than is absolutely necessary. If Jesus had postponed the healing of this woman until the next day, no one could have criticized him; but he performed the healing to teach us that suffering must not be allowed to continue until tomorrow if it could be eased today. Over and over again in life some good and kindly deed is held up until this or that regulation is satisfied, or this or that technical detail worked out. He gives twice who gives quickly, as the Latin proverb has it: bis dat qui cito dat. No good that we can do today should be postponed until tomorrow.