What are the ways you need healing?
Text: Luke 13:10-17. Read it here.
We’ll start with a short musical introduction, then continue with the Bible readings for today and the sermon by Pr. Bill Wong.
In today’s story, Jesus is at it again — healing on the sabbath. THis time, it’s a woman who has a condition that causes her to bend over. This crippling condition has afflicted her for 18 years. Jesus sees her and immediately calls her over to him. He lays his hands on her and heals her. “Woman, yyou are set free from your ailment,” Jesus says. You can just imagine the joy of all who knew her to see this woman stand up straight!
The people praise God in their joy. Yet, Jesus’ contemporaries criticize him. Healing is work, they argue, and the sabbath day is for rest — according to the law that God gave their ancestor Moses back when they left slavery in Egypt for the freedom of the Promised Land.
Fast forward 2,000 years. What cripples us today? What are things for which we need healing? We have our physical ills. Some of us have addictions. What about injustice? The Old Testament prophets called people out for that all the time. We find we still need Jesus in our lives to heal us of our many ills, great and small.
Prayer: God, please heal us!
Gracious, loving God, I ask that you heal me now of all my ills. Heal me of the things that one can see. Please heal me of the things people cannot see. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.