Luke 13:10–17
Now Jesus was teaching in one of the
synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit
that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite
unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman,
you are set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, immediately
she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There
are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured,
and not on the sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You
hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from
the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a
daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from
this bondage on the sabbath day?” When he said this, all his opponents were put
to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that
he was doing.
Reflection
• What
condition robs me of my
dignity and my rightful place in the community?
• How I am “unable to stand up straight” and to face the world?