2004-08-22 Free at Last.doc - Page 2 of 3
But once she appears, Jesus sees her, and when Jesus sees her, he makes a choice. He stops
teaching, stops this most important segment of the Sabbath worship service—and then does a most
shocking thing: he calls her over to him.
Now she must make a choice. What do you think that was that like? To have to decide whether
to make a slow and painful trip to the front of the room in front of this community—her community—
that won’t see her, but now must see her. Will they watch and whisper and judge? And what might this
preacher say to her if she does go? Will he chastise her? Condemn her for being how she was? Do you
think she might have wanted to just slink back into the shadows? Do you think she might have wanted
to go back to “the devil she knew?”
But if she hesitates, it’s not for long. And all Jesus does is speak say this: “Woman, you are set
free from your ailment,” and then he touches her (again, shocking to touch a woman, a sinner no one
wanted to touch).The rest is history—although we don’t really know exactly what happened. Does
Jesus cure her of a physical ailment? Does he cast out an evil spirit? The text doesn’t say so, only that
he touches her and she immediately stands up and begins to praise God.
Oh, and there was a range of reactions from those present. The leader of the synagogue was
really “bent out of shape” because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath. A somewhat predictable reaction—
and he did have the law and a concern for the congregation on his side. But Jesus answered him gently
and with a little humor reminded him that setting someone free from Satan’s bondage was very much
in line with the whole purpose of the Sabbath. And that she, too, was part of this Jewish community.
Jesus’ opponents are embarrassed. (Too bad they couldn’t respond otherwise—Jesus did give that
option.) And the people are happy.
Sometimes it’s interesting to think about who we are in a story. I’ve often thought about the
woman, but I’d like to think about what it was like to be Jesus in this story. Here he had been teaching
about the Kingdom and the God who cared much more about this wonderful world than about being
worshiped and obeyed—and God had given him the opportunity to demonstrate what that really meant.
We also talk about the good news of God’s love. But there is a lot we don’t see—I know I
don’t. Our new moderator, Rick Ufford-Chase spoke to us at the Hope for a Global Future conference
I recently attended. He told a story about being on a mission trip somewhere in the mountains of South
America and using local transportation, which in that case meant a small minivan packed with at least
double the number of passengers it was designed to hold. As they went down the road, a man with a
hundred pound sack of corn flagged them down. Somehow they got the bag of corn tied to the roof
and the man into the van, but then the bag of corn broke.
Rick described his initial reaction as being sorry that such an unfortunate thing had happened
and thinking they would just go on. But they didn’t—everyone got out of the vehicle and picked up
every last piece of corn—and then they continued the journey. I think it was one of those “Oh, God”
moments for him. Reflecting on the event, he observed that for so many people in this world such a
loss would be catastrophic. But here, the entire community on the van saw it and responded to the
need. But it’s not something we in our privileged society can understand because those people and
their way of life are invisible to us, just as invisible as that bent over woman was to her community.
And we and our lifestyle are part of the problem because we’re caught up in the system—and
it’s not a comfortable thing to see.
Somehow, I think Jesus would like us to see—not to feel guilty, not to feel powerless—but just
to see—because when we see, we can know freedom and healing and then show God’s love in this
world where so many are bent over.
 |
 |
 |