Which Path Do We Choose?

Luke 13:10-14

“10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” 15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

Rules and regulations are necessary.  Without them there would be chaos.  People would act in the way they saw fit and pay no attention to their neighbors needs. The problems with rules and regulations come when they are misused, used without mercy, or used to oppress people.  

In this case we see where the rules of the synagogue were being enforced by the synagogue leader to the detriment of those who had come to be healed by Jesus.  The rules and regulations were more important to the synagogue leader than the needs of those who were suffering.

We all have to decide whether to follow the path of mercy and compassion or the path of the world; to open our doors to the suffering or to close them; to offer the love of Christ or the strict interpretation of a rule or regulation.

Which do you choose?

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)