James the Younger feels the relief as a woman is healed in the sabbath.

For as long as I can remember, part of me has always hated the sabbath.   It’s so boring!  You can’t do anything!   It’s such a bind!

How it got to be like this, I am not quite sure.  As I see it, it’s meant to be a day of rest, yes, but also a day of celebration.  It’s great to have a special day, when we do different things and remember God a little bit more than we might on a normal, busy day.  But when did it all become tied up in massive restrictions?  When did the ‘Thou shallt nots’ get to trump everything else?  When did legalism grab the day by its throat and strangle the life out of it?  I just don’t know!  But I’m sorry that it did, that’s for sure.

This is one reason I have been drawn to Jesus.  Here was one rabbi who didn’t care much for all the rules and regulations, but cared deeply and passionately for the ones who were weighed down and oppressed by them.  The lawyers hate him for it, but he will not be bound by their excessive legalism.  He focuses on a God who sets us free.

And he doesn’t just talk about this, he acts on it too.  Like when we walked in to the synagogue the other day and he saw a woman bent over double and struggling to walk.  I don’t know how she got to be like that (Arthritis maybe?  A nasty injury? Or maybe something terrible happened to her in the past that left her afraid and cowering and, somehow, she got stuck like that?)  In any case, it looked as though someone had tied her neck to her feet with far too short a rope, and Jesus decided instantly to cut those chords that bound her.  He touched her gently on the back and said “stand up straight and tall. Be free!”  And she did just that.  Amazing!

Now you or I would have wanted to party at this – the woman certainly didn’t hesitate in singing her praise and thanks to God.  But before any celebration could really begin, the leader of the synagogue put a stop to it.  With a loud and angry presence, he boomed out his judgement.  Apparently, the healing shop has to close like all the others on the sabbath.  Come any other day but this one; not even doctors are allowed to work on the sabbath!

Here we go again! All that stuff and nonsense, and the ‘thou shallt nots’ once again!   The leader’s the ruling came like a lasso thrown around our neck to catch us and draw us back in before we could run too far and break free.

But Jesus gave him short shrift.

I knew he’d be unimpressed with all this ‘come back tomorrow’ malarky.  Yes, I suppose, he could have waited till after the sabbath.  But why would he?  There’s been such an urgency about Jesus recently that means he just won’t put off till tomorrow what can be done today.  It’s as though he senses there is not much time left … not just for himself, but for all of us.  We have to get our house in order and sort out our priorities now, before it is too late.

But it wasn’t just a question of timing – it was the hypocrisy of it all that grated with Jesus.

“Listen to yourself!” he scoffed, “You hypocrite! If your donkey was left standing in the heat and needed a drink, even though it was the sabbath, you’d untie it, wouldn’t you?   Then you’d take it to the river to get it a drink, wouldn’t you?  Goodness me – that’s walking and working on a sabbath!  Tut, tut!  But you’d do that without hesitation for a donkey, wouldn’t you?  Why not, then, for this poor woman? It’s a day of rest, why can’t she be allowed to rest from the burden that has bowed and bent her for so long? She’s been bound up for – what? – eighteen years!  Why can’t she be released and on the sabbath too?”

With that, the bubble burst.  We all let out a collective “Yes!” and punched the air with approval.  Even the leaders of the synagogue, to their credit, saw how ridiculous they had been and were ashamed of themselves. Somehow, we were all cut loose from the weight that has bent us and bound us for too long. His words were a great relief to us too.

But don’t get carried away and think that’s the end of the matter.  This sabbath stuff is so ingrained in us; it is one of the things that defines us a God’s people.  Our leaders will not let it go this easily. Like stubborn donkeys, they’ll kick back!  They don’t like being messed with, even if that messing is meant only to set them free!   They prefer their rules and regulations… they feel safer tied up and restricted.  Can you believe it?!  What a bind! 

And, Jesus, I’m sorry to say it, but I think you’re headed for more and more kicking and biting from these asses yet!