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Topic: Between Law And Love
[DCLM Daily Manna 18 August 2020 Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: Luke 13:11-22 (KJV)
11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.
12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14 And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.
15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?
17 And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
18 Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?
19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.
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20 And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God?
21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
22 And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.
Key Verse: “And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.” – (Luke 13:14)
MESSAGE:
It is amazing how people have allowed the strict observance of the law to make them miss connection with God and other people. The Pharisees and the Jewish leaders allowed themselves to become so blinded by the letters of the law to the loss of their human feelings and kindness towards others. They prefer to watch people die if helping them will amount to breaking of the law.
Jesus in our text was present in their synagogue on a Sabbath day and seeing this poor woman who was in need, He could not hold back reaching out to her. In His love for humanity, He reached out to heal her of her eighteen years’ infirmity. The ruler of the synagogue was however infuriated by this. He preferred that she remained in her bondage than getting healed on a Sabbath day. Jesus, however, saw into his hypocrisy and envy and rebuked him for it.
Jesus teaches that love is the fulfilment of the law. It is sad therefore to see how many of us have allowed the law to hinder us from loving and connecting with people. Many of us have failed to reach out to people with genuine needs because we think that such will amount to breaking human laws we have set for ourselves. How many seekers have we turned away from our churches because they failed to conform to our perceived understanding of what constitutes proper Christian dressing? How about those we condemn and fail to help just because they do not conform to our denominational practices?
We cannot be more righteous and law abiding than Jesus. He never failed to connect with people who truly needed help. How we need to be like Him! He reached out to the needy and downtrodden instead of being restricted and tied by the dead letters of the law.
Thought For The Day: Only by love can we fulfil the law.
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