«But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day» (Luke 13:14, NLT).
The strongest words uttered by Jesus that are recorded in the Gospels are always directed at leaders of the faith who portrayed a false image of God—never at sinners who sought help. «But the Lord replied, ‘You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?’ » (Luke 13:15, 16, NLT). We generally tend to soften Jesus’s personality and overlook His «outbursts.» Today, I ask you not to do that. Pay attention to every word He said. Drink them in, because they are drops of living water! Jesus is making us think. Do we really believe God will be less compassionate with us than we are with animals?
I often wonder where we get the erroneous notion that God tolerates us instead of dearly loving us. As we continue reading the story of the crippled woman Jesus healed, we can deduce that this mistaken idea may come from our experience with other believers. Sadly, although the woman’s backbone had been ruined by sickness and she had been bent over with pain, not everyone cheered when Jesus healed her. «The leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day» (Luke 13:14, NLT).
The woman had suffered for eighteen years, but when he saw that she had been healed, the leader of the synagogue was indignant. How could that be? I think it has to do with the mental image we have of God. If we think He is a cold and inaccessible God, a killjoy who forbids us from enjoying anything, a severe Father who demands that His children do precisely the things they are most afraid of doing, then we will expect everyone else to live as obsessed with rules as we are.
One of the enemy’s tactics is to project his defects on God, Imagine you have a terminal illness and there is a doctor who can cure you. However, someone makes you believe that the doctor hates you and that if you ask for his help, he will try to kill you. Wouldn’t you be afraid and run away? That’s why Jesus got so mad! He was telling the church leaders: «No! That’s not how God is!» Jesus came to unmask the enemy and reveal the Father’s redeeming love.
Dear Lord, thank You for Your great love!
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Take From: Devotional Thoughts for Women 2022
«NO FEARS»
BY: VANEZA PISSUTO
Collaborators: Alexandra Perez & Angelica Cuate
