Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,
“Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,
said to the crowd in reply,
“There are six days when work should be done.
Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.”
The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?”
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.
Lectio (Reading)
Read the passage twice and get a sense of what it is saying. Pay attention to what strikes you.Meditatio (Reflecting)
Slowly read the passage again, pausing on words or phrases that stands out. Take time to consider the meaning. particularly in your life.Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering?
Oratio (Responding)
Read the passage again, slowly. Consider how God has spoken to you and respond back to Him. You may want to consider how this passage is asking you to act differently.The pharisees were obsessed with ritual purity, and with a legalistic obedience of the law. They put their “practice” of the law, as the highest good above all other things. They even would hire gentiles (goyim) to do work for them on the sabbath so that they could stay ritually pure. But only the rich pharisees could afford to do this. But I think it is clear that if you are a rich pharisees and you pay a gentile to work on the sabbath for you, that that does not mean you are pure. Technically by the letter of the law, you may think so, but in the eyes of god, they were far from it.
The pharisees were supposed to be teachers of the law, and to bring the good news of the lord to all people. So paying another to break gods law for you, is not different than breaking it yourself. But what about those that could not afford goyim. They would condemn others for breaking the sabbath while at the same time they would secretly break it themselves. This is no different, than their rich counterparts.
So what is the true message of resting on the sabbath? It simply means that we should be different on the lords day. Whether it is the work that you do for a living, or even physical labor around your house, you should not do those things on the sabbath. Does this mean that your animals go hungry, or your family does not get taken care of, certainly not. And it doesn’t mean that you cant work your hobbies, or tend your garden, but the sabbath should be different than every other day of the week. It should be a time directed toward god and family. Building those things up, and working to make those relationships better.
If you do the same thing every days for months on end, you will get in a rut, and so the sabbath is there to help you reorient your world toward those things that matter, and to give you the energy and strength to carry on for the next week. So make time for god in your life, do it this week, and you will see your life change for the better.
Contemplatio (Contemplating)
Take time to simply remain in the presence of God.Resolutio (Resolving)
Make a resolution that will improve your life, your relationships, or your faith. Make it small and attainable, and do it.Oh lord, help me today to focus on the true meaning of your word, and the message that you have for us, and to put away the legalistic disposition towards your teachings and your law.