Luke 13:1-17
Dear RTB’ers,
Jesus speaking: “No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 12:3,5) It’s a small thing, but I can’t recall any other incidents in the gospels where Jesus message is “repent”. He often speaks of “the Kingdom” and He has various ways where He speaks of “salvation” (or being saved) or forgiveness of sins, but if I think of a message of repentance, I think of John the Baptist. Small item.
Today’s incident of Jesus healing this woman (Luke 13:10-17) appears only in Luke’s gospel. There are other incidents in all four gospels of Jesus healing on the Sabbath, and there are other incidents of Him healing someone while He was in a synagogue, and there are various physical maladies that He healed, but the woman doubled over stands unique. There are a couple of interesting features about this incident. First, the woman did not ask specifically to be healed; Jesus simply called her over. Naturally she may have been in the synagogue on that Sabbath day hoping for healing (see the synagogue official’s comment in v. 14b), but we do not see her seeking Jesus out. Second, Jesus somehow knows this woman, knows that she has been doubled over for eighteen years. Third, the contrast of this incident with that of the woman with the hemorrhage (Mark 5:25-34) is striking. That woman sought Jesus out specifically; He appeared to be surprised at her touch: “Who touched My garments?” (Mark 5:30b); and He responded further to her about her faith (Mark 5:34). The woman doubled-over is simply here and gone. Following Jesus’ words of healing, His attention turns to the synagogue official.
What I take from this incident is that we are (I am!) also unique. God knows each of us in His own special way. He knows our needs before we ask and He provides for us in ways that we do not even recognize. He calls us and it’s our choice to respond or not. I find in my heart a new love for this “here and gone” woman doubled over. I hope each of you does also!
Blessings!
As for Jesus calling us to repentance, consider Matthew 4:17; 11:20-21; 12:41; Mark 1:14-15; 6:12; Luke 5:32; 10:13; 11:32; 15:7,10; 24:45-48. Also consider how Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. (If that is not repentance, I do not know what is!) No, Jesus’ call to repentance here is by no means unique.
Clearly John is correct in his comment on my post. But I wasn’t totally off my rocker! My mistake was in not posting more clearly. What I was thinking about, what I could not remember, was Jesus speaking the verb “repent” as an imperative – not “repentance” or “repents” or “repented” or any other synonyms. But beyond that, my memory was indeed faulty – there are two occasions where Jesus speaks “repent” as an imperative:
In Matthew 4:17 Jesus says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
In Mark 1:15 Jesus says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
I appreciate being called out by any of you when I post something wrong or even misleading. We want to get it right!!
I’m drawn to what Fred said about the woman who was healed. It is a beautiful story of Jesus’ tender compassion. Maybe she knew He would be at the synagogue that day, maybe not. But Jesus notices her need and heals her, and she immediately praises God for her healing! And yet, the leaders complained.
The annoyance of the synagogue rulers is striking, probably because Jesus became the main event on their turf. They want people to follow the rules. And I love how Jesus calls them out about their own hypocrisy when they took care of their animals.
So one lesson here is that compassion trumps rules. Another is that Jesus notices our needs. (But elsewhere He does make the point that God wants to be asked, sometimes persistently!)
And perhaps a third is that we need to be careful not to get caught up in how things “should” be done to give the Holy Spirit space to do new things in new ways.
I think Jesus knows us so well He is always in tune with us and what we need, even when we don’t know ourselves.
Jesus did know what this poor woman needed. And she didn’t even ask Him for healing. Jesus loves us so much He wants us to be happy and healthy while we live in this crazy secular world. In this time of Luke He is on a mission. And it’s interesting He has goals He wants to attain. In spite of leaders and rulers He will not be stopped. He is Jesus the son of God and the Holy Spirit.