Weapons Formed Against Us - 4 - Legalism

Scripture: Luke 13:10-17

Luke 13:10–17 NIV

10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” 15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” 17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

8/24/2025

Order of Service:

Announcements

Opening Worship

Prayer Requests

Prayer Song

Pastoral Prayer

Kid’s Time

Special Music: Marty Padgett

Offering (Doxology and Offering Prayer)

Scripture Reading

Sermon

Closing Song

Benediction

Special Notes:

Standard

Opening Prayer:

Living God, you formed us in the womb

and appointed us to be prophets to the nations.

Stretch out your hand to cure our infirmity

and dispel our fear,

that we may know the freedom of serving you in Christ

and proclaim the wonders you have done. Amen.

Legalism

Rules

Middle school can be a challenging time, but I remember being excited when I was promoted up and got to start a new adventure. Two things stood out right away. First, we were allowed to chew gum in class. That had been against the rules in grade school, but now we had a little more freedom, and the teachers trusted us to handle it.

The second thing was even more exciting: our lunchroom had a Coke machine. Instead of just water or milk, we could choose soda if we had the money. Growing up, my parents rarely let us drink soda—Mom said it made me wild and unruly—so having that freedom at school felt amazing.

But by the time I was in high school, I had gone from enjoying that freedom to being addicted. I remember Mom finding dozens of empty bottles and cans of Mountain Dew stashed under my bed. She confronted me, and I denied it. Then she challenged me to go a week without soda. I was determined to prove her wrong, and I did. In fact, I stretched it out—one week, then another, then another. Before long, I had gone seven years without drinking a drop of soda, all to prove that I could.

I'm sure that by the end of that first month, Mom had pretty much forgotten about it and was just happy that I wasn't acting wild and unruly, and she wasn't finding empty bottles of soda stashed all over the place. But in my mind, I still had something to prove. So I gave up drinking soda for seven years just to show her that I could. I can even remember the day I first drank soda again after giving it up for all those years. It was at a church fellowship dinner, where an elderly lady came up and approached me, excited about having college kids like us in her church, taking part in leading and participating. She approached with a cup of punch in her hand, and I knew very well that there was soda mixed into the punch. I had set rules for my life about not drinking soda, but that woman was so shaky and put so much effort into coming over and offering it to me out of gratitude that I couldn't tell her no. I also didn’t know how to take it without drinking it. That was the day I fell off the wagon.

Looking back, I can see my problem: I had rules, but I didn’t have the right why. My rules were about pride and proving myself to others. Without the right why, even good rules can fall apart.

Last week, we talked about divided loyalties. This week, we’re looking at another weapon the enemy forges against us—legalism. Legalism is a loyalty to rules that look good on the outside, but if the why is wrong, it becomes a chain that binds us instead of setting us free. Legalism and our sense of justice can be used as a weapon of the enemy that keeps us from following Jesus faithfully.

The Sabbath

When we think of the church, we often think about buildings. Some are big, some small. Some ornate, others plain. Some are busy with activity every day of the week, others only open on Sundays. But we’ve also been taught that the church isn’t really the building—it’s the people. We sing it in our songs and teach it to our children with hand motions. But in Luke 13, Jesus shows us that sometimes the church (or in his case, the synagogue) wasn’t about the building, and it wasn’t even about the people. It had become about the rules.

Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, and in the crowd was a woman who had been crippled for eighteen years. Nothing about her seemed remarkable. She didn’t speak. We don’t know if she came hoping for healing or just to hear God’s Word. But Jesus saw her. He didn’t just see another face in the crowd. He saw her suffering. And right there, in the middle of the Sabbath service, He stopped, called her forward, and healed her.

For Jesus, this act of compassion was a part of the Sabbath celebration, and it happened as quickly and easily as someone sneezing and their neighbor saying "God Bless You”. But the synagogue leader didn’t see it that way. Luke says he became indignant. That means his dignity was wounded, and he was very angry. Jesus’ compassion felt like an insult to his authority. He wasn’t upset that a woman had been healed—he was upset that a rule had been broken.

You see, the Sabbath had become more about politics and pride than about God. It was enforced when convenient and ignored when inconvenient. I'm sure there were many Jews who found themselves forced to do things the religious leaders might consider work on the Sabbath. They may have dusted a shelf, cleaned off a table, or chased a mouse out of their pantry.

The issue wasn't just about the Sabbath rule; it was about who was breaking it. For Jesus, the well-known teacher and guest preacher, to violate it right in the middle of the Sabbath service showed everyone how unimportant the rule was. And for this leader, if the rules broke down, then the synagogue fell apart, and his entire life fell apart. His loyalty wasn’t to God or to people—it was to the rules.

That’s what legalism does. It looks holy on the outside, but it turns rules into weapons that crush people instead of bringing them closer to God. Jesus shows us something better. He shows us that the heart of the church and the true 'why' of the Sabbath isn’t about blind obedience to rules or rituals. It is about setting people free from work and giving them the time and space to be present with the God who truly sees them.

The Why

1 John 4:8 gives us the heartbeat of all God’s commands: God is love. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. That’s the “why” behind every rule God ever gave His people.

When God gave Israel the law, it was to set them apart from the nations around them. Egypt and the other kingdoms built their lives on hierarchy and oppression. The rich lived in luxury while the poor were worked like animals. But God’s people were called to be different—to love one another, to care for the vulnerable, and to reflect His holiness to the world.

The Sabbath was God’s great equalizer. One day a week, masters and servants alike had to stop and rest, reminded that they were all servants of one Lord. Even their animals got the day off. Even the land itself was supposed to rest every seven years. And every fifty years came the Jubilee—a year when debts were forgiven, slaves were set free, and land was restored to its families. It was a reset button, reminding Israel that everything belonged to God and everyone stood equal before Him.

We have no historical evidence to know that Israel ever celebrated the year of Jubilee. But Luke 4 tells us that when Jesus first started to preach in synagogues, he read from Isaiah 61, which referred to that year of Jubilee and told them that that time had come. He came to set the captives free, to help the blind to see and the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the mute to speak, so that they could all come into God's presence. To be seen, to be loved, to praise and serve him, and to be his people together.

So when Jesus healed the woman in Luke 13, He wasn’t breaking the Sabbath—He was fulfilling it. The leader of the synagogue thought He was making an exception. But Jesus was showing the real heart of God’s law. Compassion, healing, and freedom, and drawing all people into God's presence with praise and gratitude... that’s what Sabbath was always about.

Living the Law

I tried to fix my soda addiction by making rules for myself, but without the right why, it didn't work. Rules themselves will not fix us or point us in the right direction. The best they can do is try to keep us out of the wrong places and from doing the wrong things.

Legalism will keep us from following Jesus if we are more loyal to the law—especially our own interpretation of it—than we are to Him. But there’s another danger too: using our freedom as an excuse to do whatever we want. In the days of the Judges, everyone did what was right in their own eyes. They twisted “God is love” into permission for sin, and it led to oppression, violence, and destruction.

We can’t use the law to oppress one another, and we can’t use freedom to excuse our sin. Jesus didn’t come to get rid of the law—He came to fulfill it. He lived it out in real life so we could see what it looks like. The law and our freedom are guardrails. But Jesus Himself is the goal—the one we keep our eyes on, the one we walk toward.

So when you face questions about time, money, relationships, enemies, emotions—when you feel stuck between a rock and a hard place with no good options—don’t lean on your own interpretation. Look to Jesus. We don't have to guess at what we think Jesus would do because we have a living relationship with him today. Instead, we can ask:

What did Jesus do? (The Scriptures show us.)

What is Jesus doing right now? (He is alive and His Spirit is leading us still.)

We are flawed, but He is perfect. We are unfinished, but He is faithful. If we watch Him, listen to Him, and follow Him, He will enable us to live in holiness and grace, in a way we could never do on our own.

So let me ask you: where is your hard place today? Where your heart says one thing, your head says another, and neither feels right?

Proverbs 3:5–6 says,

Proverbs 3:5–6 NIV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Turn to Jesus. Let Him lead. And follow wherever He takes you.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, You are our first love, and our hearts and our lives belong to you above all else. We are grateful for your law that leads us to you. Help us not to love the gift of the law more than the giver of it. In all we do, may our understanding of right and wrong bow to you as we follow you into true life, surrounded by your love. May our lives be witnesses to your holiness and grace to the world around us. In your holy name. Amen.