Wed.’s Devo - Healing Waters

Read Luke 13:10-17 I tend to forget that Jesus spent so much time in the synagogue teaching before he was cast out. Today while he was there, a woman with the spirit of infirmity approached him. She had been oppressed by this spirit for 18 years and it had her bent over. (What a picture of what the devil will do to a person.) When Jesus saw her he called her out and told her that she was loosed from her infirmity. I can just see the chains that tied around her body so tightly that she couldn’t even stand up suddenly snap and her body came to attention. She could now stand straight and tall with strength pouring through her veins. Glory to God! Then, amazingly, the ruler of the synagogue rebuked Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. It makes me wonder how many foolish doctrines and traditions I might have that look that contradictory. I wonder what the woman was thinking about now. Jesus rebuked him back and called him a hypocrite. He reminded them that they unloosed their ox who they load down with burdens from their stall and led them to water just like he unloosed this woman and led her to healing waters. How could they not call what they did work and call his healing work. She, as a child of Abraham who had been tied up away from water for 18 years was worth far more than their ox. This shut them up for the time being and freed the people to rejoice. Lord, may we be people who loose people of their burdens and lead them to healing waters.