
10th SUNDAY OF LUKE - Healing on the Sabbath
Link to Gospel Reading: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
LUKE 13:10-17
At that time, Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your infirmity." And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praised God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the sabbath, said to the people, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be healed, and not on the sabbath day." Then the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?" As he said this, all his adversaries were put to shame; and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
both now and ever and unto ages of ages, Amen.
God saw her, and her resilience worked, against nature, against common sense, and he healed her. The burden on her back was lifted, and as soon as she was raised, she glorified God! Her diligent prayer and praise made the walls of her bodily infirmity shatter to the ground.
This reminds us of the story in Joshua 6, when the people of Israel went around the great walls of Jericho for a week. These walls were so high that no other nation were able to conquer them. These walls were undestroyable. But the people of Israel circled around these walls while giving praises to God that he gave them the city. This didn’t make any sense to the people from outside. But to the believer, there is a much higher perspective than the earthly perspective. There is the hand of the Divine that conquers all the enemies.
We read in Joshua 6
Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. 2 And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. 3 You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. 4 And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat.”
And this is exactly what happened. Now if we return to ourselves and see how many spirits of infirmities that we have, how many sins and weaknesses that we keep returning into even after much diligent prayer, sometimes for years, I am here to tell you brothers and sisters. Keep praying, because God is using these infirmities to strengthen you. You think that you are week, and you are indeed, but as you keep getting closer to God with prayer, you are getting much strength from above. As Saint Paul said in his second epistle to the Corinthians chapter 12 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Now you might ask, why did God allow this woman to suffer for eighteen years: The answer is clear from the Gospel: When the leader of the synagogue was indignant for her healing, anyone in her place would’ve reproached him saying: Have you no heart? Have you no mercy? Can’t you feel what I am feeling? But she did not. She kept silent. She had the fruits of the Holy Spirit: Patience, peace and meekness. It was the Lord who answered him, as he promised in Exodus 14:14: The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” It was the Lord Christ who rebuked him. She was in the peace of the Lord. She had Christ all by her side. She experienced her story of the Resurrection after her cross literally bent her back for so long. What a beautiful turn of events for her. As God showed her that He her prayers have been answered in a way that no one saw coming.
May the Lord our God give us this woman’s patience and resilience to overcome all the struggles in our lives while being faithful to Him. Amen
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