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Gospel Reading for October 26, 2026 – Luke 13: 10-17
LEGALISTIC
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.
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How absurd it is to think that healing people is work that is prohibited on the Sabbath! Imagine if, these days, doctors were not allowed to treat patients on Sundays. How many lives would be lost? Surely, God would not want the lives he has given to be lost.
The Sabbath Day, the Day of the Lord, which Christians now celebrate on Sunday, is a day of REJOICING and PRAISING God for all the wonderful things he has done for us during the past week. How can we rejoice and praise God when we know that there are people around us who are in need of his healing grace?
The Laws of God are all based on LOVE, and love can never be LEGALISTIC. Like every other day of the week, the Lord’s Day is not exempt from acts of love and compassion. Just as God is full of mercy and compassion, we, who are made in his image and likeness, are expected to be merciful and compassionate as well.
Lord Jesus, make our hearts like unto thine!
