Shame and Generosity – Luke 13:10-17

A text – Luke 13:10-17

13:10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.
13:11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.
13:12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.”
13:13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.
13:14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.”
13:15 But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water?
13:16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?”
13:17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

A reflection:

This is a story that shows the leader of this particular synagogue in a pretty bad light. He yells at an old woman who has been suffering for 18 years for coming to find Jesus on the Sabbath as he is teaching. Jesus rebukes him instantly of course. Jesus says that every single person there has done some animal care on the Sabbath, and if they are willing to feed and water their animals on the Sabbath, how much more understandable is it for an old woman to seize her chance to be cured by Jesus on the Sabbath?

What Jesus says is true, of course, and it shames the gathered congregation and its leaders. He also calls them hypocrites, which shames them directly. Jesus draws the line between being observant (so you can say you keep the Law) and being generous with God’s gifts (no matter what day of the week it is). Jesus is telling the truth about God, and his telling the truth shames the people. Shame almost every single time it is felt breeds resentment and a desire for revenge. Being made to feel ashamed is something we do not soon forget and usually do not forgive.

Everyone in that place that day knew it. Jesus was willing to make enemies in order to give out generously God’s love. He surely paid for it later with his own blood. But Jesus, a person of the Triune God, lived to share the generous nature of God and could do no less for the old woman. He had to be who he was. A savior.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for generously saving all of us and loving each one of us. Help us somehow to realize that we have been receiving that generosity every live-long day for our whole lives, and help s to share it today with someone else.  Amen.