The Bent-Over Woman and the Man with Dropsy

The Gospel of Luke contains several unique accounts of Jesus’ miracles. In chapter 13, for example, it is recorded that on the Sabbath, in a synagogue, Jesus healed a woman who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. This is the last time Luke records Jesus entering a synagogue. The story doesn’t say the woman asked Jesus for help or even that she knew Him. Jesus took the initiative to heal her because God’s will is to give people true rest and to set their spirits and bodies free. The woman “glorified God” without a doubt because she knew this was God’s work. The “synagogue ruler,” however, publicly rebuked Jesus for His actions. According to rabbinic Jewish teaching, one could not heal on the Sabbath unless a person was at the point of death, so as to avoid violating the rule against working on the Sabbath.

In chapter 14, another Sabbath day, Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee. They were watching Him closely. In front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy. Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” They remained silent. So He healed the man and sent him away. Then He said to them, “If one of you has a donkey or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?”

Jesus saw through their malicious intentions to spy on Him. God’s original purpose for the Sabbath was not to restrict people but to liberate them, allowing them to enjoy rest. God values people more than anything on Earth. However, the rules of the time stipulated that on the Sabbath, as long as an animal was not carrying a load, it could be led outside on a chain or similar restraint. Water could be drawn from a well for animals to drink from a trough, but letting an animal drink directly from a bucket was considered work and a violation of the Sabbath. The Qumran community, a Jewish sect, strictly forbade rescuing an animal that had fallen into a pit on the Sabbath. Other rabbis debated this, with some suggesting a wooden pole could be thrown into the pit for the animal to climb out on its own, while others proposed leaving food and rescuing the animal after the Sabbath. They eventually decided that, to prevent the animal from suffering, an exception could be made in such cases. Yet, when it came to a human being, the Pharisees strictly adhered to their rules.

Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for focusing only on tradition and rituals, while neglecting the spiritual reality. They missed the true meaning of the Sabbath, turning God’s heart to set people free into a binding set of rules. God’s original purpose for the Sabbath was not to enslave people but to release them, to free their minds and bodies, and to bring them into rest so they could enjoy it.

(Edited and compiled based on the Chinese Union Version Bible and Comprehensive Biblical Interpretation)