Lifted

Lifted – Today’s scripture is a story about Jesus healing a crippled woman, a story that is found only in the Gospel of Luke. There is little detail about the scene in the text, so Carol asks us to imagine what it must have involved. According to the writer of the gospel, Jesus frequently taught in the synagogue, and this crippled woman came in late on this day. Some probably knew her and were used to this. In that time, many believed that someone crippled was suffering that condition because of some sin. Jesus, however, had compassion, reached out and touched her, thus healing her. For the first time in eighteen years, the woman rose up to look into the eyes of Jesus. She was now free, rejoicing, and praising God. A lesson in this is that God wants to liberate us from anything that is binding us. But in the story the leader of the synagogue then rose up to hijack the whole scene because this was done on the Sabbath, blaming the woman for coming to be healed on the Sabbath, which represents the condemnation that some religious leaders offer. Jesus confronted that leader with a harsh response, a message that God offers freedom and love to those who find themselves bound, bound by physical limits, depression, whatever. We, as individuals and as a church, are invited by this to be a people of grace such that anyone feels welcomed and knows they are accepted and loved.