One day when the Lord Jesus was teaching the people in a synagogue, a woman came in all bent over, and she could not straighten up. That might not be so dreadful for a little while, but this woman had been that way for a very long time.
As soon as Jesus saw her, He called her to Him, and said to her, “Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.” Then He put His hands on her, and she became straight.
The woman was very thankful and spoke in honor to God, and all the people were thankful that such a great cure was done. But the leader of the synagogue was not pleased; he called it work that should not be done because it was the Sabbath day.
God had given the law for the people of Israel to do no work on the Sabbath, so that they should remember that He had freed them from being slaves, and they were to honor Him (Deuteronomy 5:1515And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:15)). But they did not honor God, and had their own rules for what they called work, and cared more for their rules than for God.
The man should have known that One who had such power to cure and knew the right time to do it. Jesus asked him if he did not unfasten his animals from the stalls and lead them to water on the Sabbath. So should not the poor woman be made free of her trouble? He called her “a daughter of Abraham” which meant she believed God, as Abraham had; she was also of the same race.
Fearless and Loving
Then some of the men seemed to want to frighten Jesus so that He would go away from the city and told Him that Herod, the ruler, would try to kill Him.
Jesus did not fear Herod and said He must keep on doing His work, and called Herod deceitful as a fox, which slips up on other animals in the dark. But He asked the men of Jerusalem if it could be that a prophet would perish there. They should protect a prophet, because it was the city God had chosen for His Temple, and where they knew His words.
A prophet is one who tells God’s words, and Jesus was the Great Prophet whom Moses said would come (See Deuteronomy 18:1515The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; (Deuteronomy 18:15)). But the leaders in that city did not believe He was from God. Jesus was very sad that they would not believe Him. Another place speaks of His weeping over it. He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ... how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings.”
You know when it begins to be night, or a storm is coming, a hen clucks to her little chicks, and they come close and she covers them with her wings to protect them.
Jesus meant He would so carefully have sheltered the people of Jerusalem, if they would have let Him, But He said the sad words, “Ye would not.” He is just as willing now to save all who will believe Him from the punishment of their sins, and it must just as deeply grieve Him, if any will not believe or come.
Further Meditation
1. Why did some people become angry that the Lord Jesus had healed the crippled woman?
2. Some people delight in getting vengeance on their enemies but we know that the Lord doesn’t. How does He show us and tell us that He finds no personal delight in vengeance?
3. The Jewish historian Josephus gives a detailed account of the destruction of Jerusalem. The sad history of some of the judgment that has already fallen on that rebellious and beloved city can be found in Josephus: The Essential Writings translated by P. L. Maier.