Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity

Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity." And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, "There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day." The Lord then answered him and said, "Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound -- think of it -- for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?" And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.

- Luke 13:10-17

In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught about the nature of judgment. Judge is surely to come, and how we respond to the Holy Spirit - the "fire" He will bring - has to do with that judgment; it is a spiritual sense of "how we are" that counts. We can't judge by the earthly disasters that befall people, nor can we judge by our good fortune, what the inner state of spiritual awareness or standing is. God's mercy gives us time, time to learn, to repent, to change, to come to terms with the things we need to learn. See If it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.

My study bible has a note which applies to today's entire passage: "Acts of help toward others on the Sabbath were considered work and were forbidden, except in life-threatening situations. Jesus notes that if animals needing water were cared for on the Sabbath, certainly a woman of Israel could be delivered from Satan's bondage on the Sabbath."

I think there are a few things to glean from the passage taken piece by piece: Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity." And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. First of all, to understand Jesus' compassion for women is something important, significant. We should understand this person as someone without great social standing in the synagogue: not only is she a woman, but we presume an affliction like this renders one powerless, helpless and perhaps penniless from seeking treatments for many years. She cannot even raise herself up: her affliction is indeed a burden. It is a good picture of how we characterize evil: a burden, an "affliction" and full of pain. (The Greek for "evil," poneros, reflects various meanings, including that of "pain.") It is an infirmity; it weakens her so that she cannot take her right place in the world, upright. Evil also creates excessive toil and hardship, and it is parasitical - it lives off our our lives, and has no life of its own. Jesus has also recently spoken (in Luke's Gospel) of the hardships and burdens imposed by a hypocritical leadership in His criticisms of the Pharisees, scribes and lawyers, and her posture reflects such "burdens." Her affliction is also bondage: the notion of spiritual freedom is as much a part of the evil that afflicts her as it is a part of Jesus' criticism of the leadership that will come. And for her part, she gives glory to God for her healing. She is in the "right place" in terms of her own understanding and relationship to God.

But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, "There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day." Here we have the voice of the law, but with a twist that is important for this story and for Jesus. The law is upheld not as a good thing, in the spirit of mercy, but in a spirit of hypocrisy. We may venture to guess also that at its root is envy - envy at the great things this Teacher does that dazzle the crowds, when He is not a part of their leadership, with no formal rabbinical training or title.

The Lord then answered him and said, "Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound -- think of it -- for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?" And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him. What is the right of this woman? Has she a right to the spiritual freedom from bondage that Jesus brings? The law, in this case, is used as a burden, to increase bondage - to keep the woman away from God's love and mercy. But even animals (possessions necessary for work and production), as Jesus points out, are treated better. It is a question of understanding evil as a bondage, an affliction, and Christ's mission to us as one of removing those bonds to set us in right-relatedness to God. Recently, He has spoken about the baptism He will go through so that He may send His fire to the earth - and this fire is also part of our liberation from the bonds of evil. It is the Holy Spirit which will bring us to a deeper degree in relationship to God and God's mercy, and freed from the bonds that keep us away. So, of course, this is an occasion for rejoicing, for all of us, as do the multitude in the synagogue.

While we speak frequently - because it is easiest to understand - of the personal aspect of this ministry and its liberating actions for each one of us, I think the context here and in recent readings also indicates a liberation for entire communities. We are freed not just on the personal level, but also on the communal level. Yesterday's parable of the fig tree teaches us this as the fig tree is a symbol for Israel - the community of the people of God. Today, it is the "multitudes" that rejoice. The Good News is not just for me or for you, but it is for the whole community of the people of God, for multitudes. It is a teaching of liberation for everyone, not only for each of us as individuals who come to understand personal liberation in this spiritual sense of relatedness to God and God's love and mercy. So, this is an important thing to consider. How does "right-relatedness" work in community? What does it teach us about "the least among us?" How do we understand love and care and mercy in community, and how does that create relationship? I have heard it said that real freedom -- true spiritual freedom -- does not exist for one, but for all. That is, it is not complete unless it is universal. In yesterday's parable of the fig tree, Jesus described actions of God's mercy as tending and care for the tree so that it bears fruit. Jesus' ministry is that loving care, so that we may all - as community - experience the spiritual freedom from bondage He brings. So may we all contribute to this goal of a community that lives in spiritual freedom, in God's love. As He "loosed" this woman from her burden, so may we also share in God's mercy by practicing love and care and tending our tree with our time in the world. In this way, we too can bring the whole community closer to Christ's freedom. He speaks of her as one who has the "right" to the loosing of her bonds, as a daughter of Abraham. Let us also understand the depth of our inheritance, and where it leads us, and how He teaches us to nurture and bear fruit in God's mercy. It is hypocrisy that uses burdens of false guilt to cover up injustice; God's mercy brings righteousness and asks it of us as part of His discipleship.