Isaiah 58:9-11 (NIV)
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Luke 13:10-17 (Good News Translation)
10 One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in a synagogue.
11 A woman there had an evil spirit that had kept her sick for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called out to her, “Woman, you are free from your sickness!” 13 He placed his hands on her, and at once she straightened herself up and praised God.
14 The official of the synagogue was angry that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, so he spoke up and said to the people, “There are six days in which we should work; so come during those days and be healed, but not on the Sabbath!”15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Any one of you would untie your ox or your donkey from the stall and take it out to give it water on the Sabbath.
16 Now here is this descendant of Abraham whom Satan has kept in bonds for eighteen years; should she not be released on the Sabbath?”
17 His answer made his enemies ashamed of themselves, while the people rejoiced over all the wonderful things that he did.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Luke 13:10-17 (Good News Translation)
10 One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in a synagogue.
11 A woman there had an evil spirit that had kept her sick for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called out to her, “Woman, you are free from your sickness!” 13 He placed his hands on her, and at once she straightened herself up and praised God.
14 The official of the synagogue was angry that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, so he spoke up and said to the people, “There are six days in which we should work; so come during those days and be healed, but not on the Sabbath!”15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Any one of you would untie your ox or your donkey from the stall and take it out to give it water on the Sabbath.
16 Now here is this descendant of Abraham whom Satan has kept in bonds for eighteen years; should she not be released on the Sabbath?”
17 His answer made his enemies ashamed of themselves, while the people rejoiced over all the wonderful things that he did.
So Jesus; Friend – that’s kind of nice
Jesus; Teacher – also kind of nice, he’s kind of interesting that’s for sure!
Jesus; Saviour – not for the faint-hearted
Jesus; Lord- also not for the faint-hearted
Jesus; Way – this is getting serious folks!
After all, the way is the journey, a pilgrimage, it’s a commitment – one step after the other, one turn and then, another,
and all the time looking for sign posts,
all the way questioning.
Is this the road Jesus wants me to be on?
Did Jesus leave this signpost for me or was it for someone else?
Is this what Jesus meant when he said…whatever passage you happen to be looking at?
What did Jesus even mean when he said in John 14:6: I am the Way and the Truth and the Life”?
And that is the Question because the rest of the couplet is
“And no one comes to the Father except by me”
I think to really understand this little piece of scripture we have to understand a whole bunch of other stuff first otherwise we will be quick to say that we Christians; we have The Answer and all that goes with thinking that you somehow have the whole thing figured out and the rest of the world well, too bad.
So, who does Jesus say he is?, who does Jesus portray himself as? In the Gospel of Matthew, the most Jewish of the gospels, Jesus is the new Moses, the better and improved Moses.
Like the story of the baby Moses, Jesus as a newborn has an attempt made on his life, by a ruler bent on preserving his own kingdom. Herod, the Roman appointed King, upon hearing from the wise men that a King of the Jews was to be born, and fearing for his own position tells the magi to report to him after they find this future King of the Jews. And as further insurance (and having no report back) he orders a slaughter of the male babies in and around Bethlehem which parallels the Pharaoh’s attempt in Egypt to kill all the male Hebrew babies in Exodus 1. (Exodus 1:22)
Both Moses and Jesus find safety in Egypt where Moses, laid in a basket among the reeds in the Nile, is found by the Pharaoh’s daughter (Exod. 2:1-8), Jesus and his family are forced to flee into Egypt for safety from the wrath of Herod and emerged from there to deliver his people.
Moses fasted forty days and nights (Exodus 34:28) while up on the mountain recording God’s law, Jesus fasted forty days and nights while in the desert being tempted by Satan.
(Matt. 4)
Moses goes up on the mountain to receive the law; the Ten Commandments from God (Exodus19), and Jesus goes on the mountain to deliver the Beatitudes, the new Law from God . (Matt. 5).
Moses used signs and miracles to show the Israelites that their God was with them and Jesus uses miraculous signs: healing, miracles, and casting out demons as a witness to God’s presence.
In Exodus 24:4-8 we are told that:
Moses got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”
8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
It is significant that in Jesus’ words at the Last Supper in Matthew 26:27 we hear the echo of Moses: “27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many…”
Moses is credited as the greatest teacher, prophet and lawgiver in the Hebrew Bible, Jesus is portrayed as a great teacher, prophet and lawgiver – greater than Moses because as Jesus states in Matthew 5:17: “17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
When Jesus is described and portrays himself to be the New Moses, the liberator they have been waiting for, the Messiah, we have to understand that this Jesus is for the Jews. This is Yahweh, the God of the Jews, this is Jesus, a prophet, teacher, law-giver, interpreter of God’s wishes, leading the Jews to a new way of life.
Jesus is leading Jews, and he is not abolishing the law but he is doing what every teacher of the law does – he is interpreting it. So when he challenges the Pharisees, when he challenges the scribes and the priests and ordinary people he is doing what every good teacher does: Question the prevailing interpretation.
I know it’s hard to believe but what are you going to do when you have a law like the Sabbath law and it says in Exodus 20:8-11
8-11 Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Work six days and do everything you need to do.
But the seventh day is a Sabbath to GOD, your God. Don’t do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days GOD made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore GOD blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day.
But there was lots of wiggle room in that commandment: what exactly is work when you don’t have a 9-5 job and actually go to work, what if you have to finish an item so that you can feed your family tomorrow? Is moving a pot to dish out the soup work? what if the pot falls and breaks, is it work to clean it up?, what if a child vomits – can you clean that up?, what if there is a fire- can we put it out (only if it threatens life) otherwise no? There are 39 categories or Melakot (Mel – a kot) that come under work that exist and are observed by many Jews to this day.
The point is people had questions about the Sabbath all the time because there was this law and there is life. Now besides the 10 commandments there 613 laws and while most of the laws have to do with temples sacrifice and priests, some address everyday dress and food and there are some that people had to try and figure out and still do. Because as much as we want to say these are simple and everyone understands them, there is a lot of ambiguity.
Take the first commandment “Don’t worship other Gods before Yahweh” – clear as mud – does it mean that there are Gods along side of Yahweh but God is like top God, are there lesser gods that are allowed? Who gets to say which gods and how many?
Now, we can easily understand why the Sabbath and all the other commandments were and are controversial, they have this ambiguity about them, they need to be analyzed and wrestled with. They need to be discussed and fine tuned and, we can understand why Jesus would be questioned by the leader in the synagogue where Jesus was teaching.
By the way, I couldn’t find healing on the list of Sabbath prohibitions but who knows what heading someone might have thought it came under, and we when I look at our scripture passage today I can’t help but think that Jesus not only proclaims himself as “the way” but shows us.
Jesus heals, not to show off, not to prove a point or score points, he’s not out to get into a conflict with the local spiritual leader, he’s reacting to seeing a woman in pain. Her entire life is lived bent over, staring at the ground.
Jesus sees her and reacts to her, regardless of the congregation and students and disciples around him, mid-discussion he looks up and sees this woman across the room and has compassion.
He doesn’t know her, she hasn’t asked him for anything but she is there and he is there and he can help; so he does even though it is the Sabbath. And, alleluia, in doing so, he gives us a glimpse into this Kin-dom of God, this is God, Yahweh, Abba at work in the world. This is a life giving way of being in the world.
Jesus not only shares the law of the new covenant with us: “to love God with all our hearts and souls and mind and to love our neighbour as ourselves” he shows us how the new covenant is lived out. Jesus shows us how the law is fulfilled. His words and actions give us guidance on our way, they are our signposts, but it isn’t easy. Whoever we are, we aren’t a 30 year old Jewish man living in a first century Roman occupied territory, we are Christians, living on Texada Island with families and friends in the 21st century. And still, Jesus is the way and the truth and the life..
May it be so Amen
Jesus; Teacher – also kind of nice, he’s kind of interesting that’s for sure!
Jesus; Saviour – not for the faint-hearted
Jesus; Lord- also not for the faint-hearted
Jesus; Way – this is getting serious folks!
After all, the way is the journey, a pilgrimage, it’s a commitment – one step after the other, one turn and then, another,
and all the time looking for sign posts,
all the way questioning.
Is this the road Jesus wants me to be on?
Did Jesus leave this signpost for me or was it for someone else?
Is this what Jesus meant when he said…whatever passage you happen to be looking at?
What did Jesus even mean when he said in John 14:6: I am the Way and the Truth and the Life”?
And that is the Question because the rest of the couplet is
“And no one comes to the Father except by me”
I think to really understand this little piece of scripture we have to understand a whole bunch of other stuff first otherwise we will be quick to say that we Christians; we have The Answer and all that goes with thinking that you somehow have the whole thing figured out and the rest of the world well, too bad.
So, who does Jesus say he is?, who does Jesus portray himself as? In the Gospel of Matthew, the most Jewish of the gospels, Jesus is the new Moses, the better and improved Moses.
Like the story of the baby Moses, Jesus as a newborn has an attempt made on his life, by a ruler bent on preserving his own kingdom. Herod, the Roman appointed King, upon hearing from the wise men that a King of the Jews was to be born, and fearing for his own position tells the magi to report to him after they find this future King of the Jews. And as further insurance (and having no report back) he orders a slaughter of the male babies in and around Bethlehem which parallels the Pharaoh’s attempt in Egypt to kill all the male Hebrew babies in Exodus 1. (Exodus 1:22)
Both Moses and Jesus find safety in Egypt where Moses, laid in a basket among the reeds in the Nile, is found by the Pharaoh’s daughter (Exod. 2:1-8), Jesus and his family are forced to flee into Egypt for safety from the wrath of Herod and emerged from there to deliver his people.
Moses fasted forty days and nights (Exodus 34:28) while up on the mountain recording God’s law, Jesus fasted forty days and nights while in the desert being tempted by Satan.
(Matt. 4)
Moses goes up on the mountain to receive the law; the Ten Commandments from God (Exodus19), and Jesus goes on the mountain to deliver the Beatitudes, the new Law from God . (Matt. 5).
Moses used signs and miracles to show the Israelites that their God was with them and Jesus uses miraculous signs: healing, miracles, and casting out demons as a witness to God’s presence.
In Exodus 24:4-8 we are told that:
Moses got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”
8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
It is significant that in Jesus’ words at the Last Supper in Matthew 26:27 we hear the echo of Moses: “27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many…”
Moses is credited as the greatest teacher, prophet and lawgiver in the Hebrew Bible, Jesus is portrayed as a great teacher, prophet and lawgiver – greater than Moses because as Jesus states in Matthew 5:17: “17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
When Jesus is described and portrays himself to be the New Moses, the liberator they have been waiting for, the Messiah, we have to understand that this Jesus is for the Jews. This is Yahweh, the God of the Jews, this is Jesus, a prophet, teacher, law-giver, interpreter of God’s wishes, leading the Jews to a new way of life.
Jesus is leading Jews, and he is not abolishing the law but he is doing what every teacher of the law does – he is interpreting it. So when he challenges the Pharisees, when he challenges the scribes and the priests and ordinary people he is doing what every good teacher does: Question the prevailing interpretation.
I know it’s hard to believe but what are you going to do when you have a law like the Sabbath law and it says in Exodus 20:8-11
8-11 Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Work six days and do everything you need to do.
But the seventh day is a Sabbath to GOD, your God. Don’t do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days GOD made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore GOD blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day.
But there was lots of wiggle room in that commandment: what exactly is work when you don’t have a 9-5 job and actually go to work, what if you have to finish an item so that you can feed your family tomorrow? Is moving a pot to dish out the soup work? what if the pot falls and breaks, is it work to clean it up?, what if a child vomits – can you clean that up?, what if there is a fire- can we put it out (only if it threatens life) otherwise no? There are 39 categories or Melakot (Mel – a kot) that come under work that exist and are observed by many Jews to this day.
The point is people had questions about the Sabbath all the time because there was this law and there is life. Now besides the 10 commandments there 613 laws and while most of the laws have to do with temples sacrifice and priests, some address everyday dress and food and there are some that people had to try and figure out and still do. Because as much as we want to say these are simple and everyone understands them, there is a lot of ambiguity.
Take the first commandment “Don’t worship other Gods before Yahweh” – clear as mud – does it mean that there are Gods along side of Yahweh but God is like top God, are there lesser gods that are allowed? Who gets to say which gods and how many?
Now, we can easily understand why the Sabbath and all the other commandments were and are controversial, they have this ambiguity about them, they need to be analyzed and wrestled with. They need to be discussed and fine tuned and, we can understand why Jesus would be questioned by the leader in the synagogue where Jesus was teaching.
By the way, I couldn’t find healing on the list of Sabbath prohibitions but who knows what heading someone might have thought it came under, and we when I look at our scripture passage today I can’t help but think that Jesus not only proclaims himself as “the way” but shows us.
Jesus heals, not to show off, not to prove a point or score points, he’s not out to get into a conflict with the local spiritual leader, he’s reacting to seeing a woman in pain. Her entire life is lived bent over, staring at the ground.
Jesus sees her and reacts to her, regardless of the congregation and students and disciples around him, mid-discussion he looks up and sees this woman across the room and has compassion.
He doesn’t know her, she hasn’t asked him for anything but she is there and he is there and he can help; so he does even though it is the Sabbath. And, alleluia, in doing so, he gives us a glimpse into this Kin-dom of God, this is God, Yahweh, Abba at work in the world. This is a life giving way of being in the world.
Jesus not only shares the law of the new covenant with us: “to love God with all our hearts and souls and mind and to love our neighbour as ourselves” he shows us how the new covenant is lived out. Jesus shows us how the law is fulfilled. His words and actions give us guidance on our way, they are our signposts, but it isn’t easy. Whoever we are, we aren’t a 30 year old Jewish man living in a first century Roman occupied territory, we are Christians, living on Texada Island with families and friends in the 21st century. And still, Jesus is the way and the truth and the life..
May it be so Amen
