Controversy moved with Jesus as he traveled and taught, particularly with his insistence on performing miraculous healings on the Sabbath. The sparring sides held their ground—healing on the Sabbath comprised work, and no work allowed according to the law, versus Jesus the Lord and Creator of the law and the Sabbath. Seems a bit one-sided from my perch, but old rules die hard.

Jesus saw a woman who had been crippled and bent over for eighteen years. He called her forward and said, Woman, you are set free from your infirmity. Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

An unbelievable miracle—but on the Sabbath. The indignant synagogue leader announced to those present, There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.

A classic bureaucratic answer. Follow the rules no matter what. All sorts of healing can happen here every other day of the week, just not this day. The problem with his solution? Healings never took place before, healings only took place around Jesus, and Jesus stood here right now. Get out of the way, little man.

Jesus tore into the religious leaders, reminding them of their hypocrisy and lack of love for the people they allegedly served. They stood long-faced and humiliated, while everyone else delighted in all the wonderful things Jesus did.

Few of us are fans of bureaucracy. Nothing like a trip to the DMV to make you want to give up driving. But I lean the same way with Jesus. I hope to contain him, keep his words safely folded in their book. I’m afraid to yield control.

This story reminds me to let Jesus loose. The woman bound for eighteen years reminds me to let Jesus loose. Even the fears of the religious teachers reminds me to let Jesus loose.

Both the way of Jesus and the way of the bureaucrat tug at me. It’s my choice which one I let loose.

Luke 13 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Mark Duffel