Meeting Jesus - Breaking Rules & Changing Lives
In the 10 Commandments, God provided a pattern he desired the Nation of Israel to follow. Work six days but stop on the 7th. God wanted the Israelites to set aside a day of the week to focus exclusively on him as a sign of trust. For six days, work the cattle, the crops, and labor. But on the 7th day – trust me.
“I have got it.”
“Set aside the 7th day to worship me, I will take care of everything.”
Doesn’t the idea of “ceasing from all work” sound appealing?
We rush to get home after school. Rush to get homework done. Rush to the soccer fields, baseball games, the basketball games, the softball games! Rush to get the kids supper, showered, and to bed. Rush to school the next morning to get the kids there on time, then we rush to work so we are not late. God said – be busy, not go crazy! Work hard from sun-up till sun-down. But on the 7th day, stop! The idea a Sabbath day with no work, just prayer, worship, family, laughter sounds incredible to me! But the religious leaders went overboard with God’s command to stop work.
They felt God’s command to stop wasn’t explained enough, so the religious leaders developed over 39 rules to describe what it meant to work or not work on the Sabbath.
They argued it was work if:
a tailor went out with a needle in his robe
a woman wore a clip in her hair
a person wore false teeth
if a man picked up his child on the Sabbath Day
The Pharisees and religious leaders NITPICKED God’s people to death! If you have ever belonged to a church that focused on rules instead of relationship with God, you understand how the Jewish people felt. They could never do enough “right” to please the religious leaders. And then this great teacher and miracle worker came along and turned the religious leaders world upside down. Jesus challenged them on how they taught the Word of God – and he challenged them with their rules about the Sabbath. Now that we understand the rules for the Sabbath, let’s read together from Luke 13.
Luke 13:10-17 (NLT2)
10 One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, 11 he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” 13 Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God! 14 But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.” 15 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? 16 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?” 17 This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.
So, Jesus was teaching on the Sabbath – and in shuffles this woman whose back was so crooked she was doubled over, she could not straighten herself out, and she had lived like that for almost two decades! I have seen older men and older woman just like that. Even though it was the Sabbath, the moment Jesus saw her, he called her to come to him, and he said, “You are healed from your sickness.”
But instead of celebrating her healing, the ruler of the synagogue continued to beat the same annoying drum. Instead of being happy for the freedom this woman had been given, he complained because Jesus had “worked” on the Sabbath. Think about this…for eighteen years, this woman suffered, unable to stand, walk, or sleep well. The religious leader did not care that she had suffered for so long.
But for Jesus – he saw her suffering and said, “This dear woman,has suffered for so long, isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?””
This makes sense.
Shouldn’t a person be freed on a day of worship?
Her suffering should remind us that…
SOMETIMES, PAIN LASTS A LONG TIME
For eighteen years, this woman could not straighten herself out. For 936 weeks, 216 months, 6,570 days, this woman could not stand up. She walked from place to place, doubled over, straining her neck to be able to see where she was going. This was somebody’s mother, grandmother, sister. Imagine this was your mom or grandmother. This wasn’t a few days of darkness. She faced pain every single day. When she woke up in the morning, the pain was there. When she went to bed at night, the pain was there. At breakfast, at lunch, at dinner, the pain was there.
Her disfigurement was there. It never went away with time…it only became worse. I know some of you might understand by experience that some pain lasts a long time.
Spiritual pain can last a long time.
Mental pain can last a long time.
Physical pain can last a long time.
Emotional pain can last a long time.
You wake up in the morning and the very first sensation you have is that of pain. Maybe you are haunted by pain from your past. Maybe you caused hurt to those you loved. Maybe they caused pain to you.
You have faced pain in your marriage, pain in your relationships with your children, or maybe daily you struggle under the weight of mental pain and mental darkness.
Maybe you feel overwhelmed because dark thoughts continue to linger in your mind for weeks at a time. You can’t exercise them away, you can’t pray them away, you can’t seem to shake them off. There is pain that lasts for moments, and there is other pain that lasts too long. Sometimes, people get swallowed up by pain.
Suicide is the 12th leading cause of death in the United States. In 2022, just over 49,369 Americans ended their lives. If you struggle with dark thoughts because of lasting pain in your life, please seek professional help. If you don’t know where to begin, I will help you know where to begin right now.
I understand that sometimes people feel like the only way to escape from the pain that is lingering in their lives is by ending their life.
9.8.8 is a National Hotline for Suicide Prevention. Today, if you struggle in this area, please call that number to begin down a path toward healing. I want you to know you are not alone. If you have suffered a long time (physically, emotionally, spiritually, or mentally) like this elderly woman, keep dragging yourself to church.
Keep getting out of bed. Keep moving forward, even though it hurts. We have a ministry called Celebrate Recovery. They meet every Friday night at 6:00PM in Adventure Beach. If you struggle with hurts, habits, or hang ups, come check out CR and see if it is a place for you to recover.
We are for you. God loves you deeply. And, I invite you to cling to the hope found in Jesus, because…
CONSISTENTLY, JESUS CHANGES LIVES OF HURTING PEOPLE
We have been walking through the Gospel of Luke since the beginning of the year. I want to briefly point out to you how Jesus has changed the lives of hurting people:
In Luke 4:35 Jesus healed a man possessed by an evil spirit.
In Luke 4:39 Jesus healed a woman with a high fever.
In Luke 4:40, Jesus healed those brought to him from an entire village: sickness, disease, and those possessed by evil spirits.
In Luke 5:13, Jesus healed a man with an advanced case of leprosy.
In Luke 5:24, Jesus healed a paralyzed man.
In Luke 6:10, Jesus healed a man with a deformed hand.
In Luke 7:10, Jesus healed an officers’ servant.
In Luke 7:14, Jesus walked over to a grieving woman’s’ dead son and raised her boy to life.
In Luke 7:21, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and blindness.
In Luke 8:24, Jesus stopped the wind and waves from flipping over the boat of the disciples.
In Luke 8:33, Jesus healed a man filled with many demons.
In Luke 8:43, Jesus healed a woman who had reached out and touched the hem of his robe as he was passing by.
In Luke 8:50, Jesus gave life back to a young twelve-year-old girl.
In Luke 9:6, Jesus sent his disciples out into villages and healed the sick.
In Luke 9:10, Jesus fed over 5,000 people because they were hungry.
In Luke 9:42, Jesus healed a boy with seizures.
In Luke 10, Jesus sent out 72 more people to heal others.
In Luke 11:14, Jesus healed a man who could not speak.
And here in this passage in Luke 13, Jesus healed a woman who had been bent doubled over for 18 years. Chapter after chapter, day after day, we see Jesus changing the lives of hurting people. He rescued people from disease, death, deformity, demons, and darkness. You might say, “Jesus had to heal people to fulfill the prophecy about him.”
Ok. But Jesus did not have to heal every person that came to him, he could have gotten away with healing only a few people to fulfill the OT prophecy. He could have changed only a handful of people’s lives. Instead, every single broken or hurting person who reached out to Jesus for healing was changed forever. He chose to pour his life out to meet the needs of those who were living in pain and without hope.
That’s because Jesus really does LOVE mankind and Jesus really is concerned about you. Your life matters to Him. Your joy matters to Him. Your pain and darkness does not go unnoticed. Your obedience to him matters to him – because he knows if you apply his word to your life, if you apply his teachings to your marriage, your children, to your own character, your life is going to change for the better.
You are important. You have significance. You DO matter.
So, please remember:
MIRACLES STILL HAPPEN; GOD IS NOT BOUND BY RULES
The greatest miracle that has happened in my life is when I surrendered my life to Jesus and received forgiveness for my sin. I came to a point in my life where I understood that God created mankind in his image. He had a relationship with Adam and Eve, but they chose to rebel against God. And since then, all humans have lived in rebellion against God.
We hurt others. We lie. We are selfish.
We lust. We live content with the world to revolve around us.
We call it “doing what I want.” God calls it sin and disobedience.
And just like every loving parent has consequences when their child acts rebellious, God has punishment for our sin. The punishment for our sin is eternal separation from God.
Romans 6:23 (NLT2)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
In 1991, I understood that even though I chose to sin and rebel against God, God chose to demonstrate his love toward me.
Romans 5:8 (NLT2)
8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Just like Jesus demonstrated his love for this crippled, bent in half, broken woman, Jesus demonstrated his love for you and I by being willing to be put to death on the cross. In that moment, he gave up his life, paid the penalty for our sin, to bring you and I close to God.
1 Peter 3:18 (NLT2)
18 Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.
The greatest miracle that you will ever experience is the miracle of enjoying a relationship with your Creator that came through the death and resurrection of Jesus. If you would like to surrender your life to Jesus and experience this great miracle, our prayer team will be here at the close of the service. They would love to lead you to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.
Hebrews 13:8 (NLT2)
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.