his hands upon her and immediately she was made straight and praised God. But the ruler of the synagogue was indignant because Jesus
had performed this healing on the Sabbath day and he said to the people, “There are six days in which to work; come on those days to be healed and not on
the Sabbath.” But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Everyone of you unties his ox or his donkey on the Sabbath and leads it out of the barn to give it water. And here
you have a daughter of Abraham whom Satan had bound for eighteen years. Should she not be freed from her bonds on the Sabbath?” When Jesus said this,
all his opponents felt ashamed. But the people rejoiced at the many wonders that happened because of him.
Reflection
The gospel describes the old woman as bent-over.
Other translations tell us she is bent-over double, crippled and
unable to stand up straight or look people in the eye. She
is confined to her home and when she does leave it, she
can but only with great effort. Being bent-over hinders every
aspect of her life. She is limited because everything in her life
is affected by her condition. On top of that, Jewish society
considers her as unclean. People would be hesitant to touch her
or speak with her. Amazingly, she makes the huge effort to
come to the temple to worship. She must have been doing that
all her life. That particular day she did not come to the temple
to be healed. She isn’t looking for Jesus or for any particular
blessing. More than likely she is convinced she is unworthy of
any such attention or blessing. Yet Jesus sees her and decides
to free her from her affliction. On the day she least expects,
God visits her and heals her. No Sabbath could stop the
goodness of God pouring on His people. The old woman
is healed while the ruler of the synagogue remains bent
spiritually because they failed to recognize the day that God
manifests Himself to His people.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2021