Nhà Thờ Bình An Trong Chúa Jêsus Peace In Jesus Lutheran Church

Dear faith family,

Praying you are well and in good spirits today.

Maybe you are not. Tough day? Perhaps your thoughts drift to troubling topics or serious concerns you have. Maybe something is bothering you.

I am thankful for the numerous examples of individuals experiencing difficulties of one sort or another with whom Jesus interacts. For example, I think of the woman in Luke 13 who was there when Jesus was teaching. This woman had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. I have such respect for individuals who overcome so much each day, dealing with disabilities.

When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity."

Then he put his hands on her,

and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

I’ve probably cruised past that verse a hundred times without appreciating the beauty this verse. First of all, Jesus displayed incredible mercy, reaching out to someone of this woman’s social status. It would be Luke, the doctor, who takes special note of this woman’s disability and medical history. For Jesus to interact and heal this woman is a wonderful display of Christ’s powerful mercy.

Secondly, it is amazing how radical and personal Jesus was in his ministry: “he put his hands on her.” This action involving personal touch of the opposite sex in public was culturally not done, especially by a rabbi. Jesus left no doubt to the source of the healing nor the loving and caring heart of said source.

Lastly, I simply love the power and the simplicity of her response. Immediately she straightened up and praised God. I think about her response and I am humbled by it. Would that be my response? Would it be yours? We would hope so, yet in our experience too often we straighten up, skip the important step, and immediately go back to what we were doing that we thought was so important.

Think about it for a moment: When you have prayed about something, God answers your prayer and you take that in stride without straightening up and praising God. We easily turn our expectations of our mighty God into areas when we take his care and answers to prayer for granted. We are purposed to change direction, like the Samaritan leper, to say thank you to God. Too often there is too much home-town leper in us.

Such a realization makes me all the more thankful for Jesus’ entrance into our world. Jesus lived a perfect life of thanksgiving, dedication, and connection to God the Father. You and I get credit for that life through faith in Jesus. Jesus endured all the suffering and separation from God we had deserved because of our sins. You are forgiven completely through faith in Jesus. Today, you have an opportunity to straighten up and praise God.

And this good news is causing more and more people to straighten up and praise God throughout the world in exciting places throughout North America, Africa, ASIA . . . and you and I can have the same reaction of the crowds following this woman’s miraculous healing. The religious leaders of the day were getting all bent out of shape because Jesus healed on the Sabbath, which broke their man-made add-on laws. Jesus scolded them for their legalistic finger-pointing since they would help an animal on the Sabbath but leave a human being in suffering. Jesus emphasized mercy. Jesus didn’t teach about the New Commandment (love each other); he displayed it . . . he showed it . . . he lived it.

Then comes the cool finish in verse 17:

“When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated,

but the people were delighted

with all the wonderful things he was doing."