Jesus heals on the Sabbath

Fr Paul reads today’s Gospel from Luke (13:10-17) in which Jesus heals the crippled woman on the Sabbath.

Today, Fr Paul says, we have a typical Lukan story that contains many words frequently used by the writer of Luke.  Terms and words such as ‘at once’ and ‘wonders’ and gentle and the sympathetic way Jesus talks with this woman are all features of Luke and his writing.

The point of the story is that Jesus does not let ritual or ritual law stand in the way of his power to wash away human suffering and pain.  The getting rid of pain and suffering is a sign of the arrival of the kingdom.

Jesus, though, through the healing shows the divine love for the one who is suffering and it shows the peace and comfort that Jesus himself brings.  The writer of Luke contrasts this with the synagogue official who was indignant about what Jesus was doing. Essentially, he wanted to restrict the love and healing of Jesus by using the Law but at the end of the Gospel Jesus uses the Law to confuse the official.

So with this story and gospel in mind Fr Paul invites us to reflect ‘how can I, as Jesus did, ease the suffering of others around me?