Set Free on the Sabbath
from Between Bread and Stone Hosted by Stephen R. Brewer, PsyD
This week’s gospel tells the story of a woman bent over for eighteen years, restored by Jesus on the sabbath. Instead of celebrating her healing, the leaders object — mercy had broken the rules. In the first century, the sabbath was sacred law. Healing on that day was forbidden. Yet Jesus declares that liberation cannot wait. His love is not bound by calendars or permissions. We see the same truth in our own time. The U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort just returned from a 79-day mission across Latin America, where sailors and medical volunteers treated more than twelve thousand patients, performed surgeries, and restored dignity where systems had failed. Healing that did not wait for bureaucracy. And along the U.S.–Mexico border, volunteers with Border Angels leave water for migrants walking through deadly desert heat. They act under surveillance and threat, while the Department of Homeland Security uses thirst as a weapon of deterrence. Their mercy, like Jesus’s, defies empire to keep life sacred. The sabbath is not about delay, but liberation. Whenever mercy is shown, that day has already arrived. Between Bread and Stone © 2025 Stephen Brewer. All rights reserved. Podcast audio and full text may be quoted for noncommercial purposes with attribution. Referenced Text: Luke 13:10-17, NRSV © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Written and Produced by Stephen Brewer Artwork by Cicero Get full access to Drawing the Line at percival84.substack.com/subscribe
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