Redemption Doesn't Follow Rules

Scripture Introduction

There are signs posted all over the swimming pool that says, “No running!” But you happen to notice off in the deep end a little kid—can’t swim (or it’s me…I can’t swim…), he’s drowning and every second counts. What do you do? Do you run as close to him as you can and then dive into the water? Or do you obey the signs and walk…maybe fast walk…but still it’s classified as a walk?

Of course you sprint. You ignore the signs, right?

But what if I change this a little. What if it’s not the rule at the swimming pool? What if it’s one of God’s laws? What if it’s something like

Exodus 20:10 ESV

but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.

What if you need to work in order to save somebody? We’re going to see this question come up for Jesus…listen in:

Luke 13:10–20 ESV

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him. He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?

Sermon Introduction:

Let me tell you why this matters. It matters if you’re the person drowning in the deep end. And in some regards that is all of us. We all need Jesus. We all need redemption. But maybe you are especially feeling that this morning...

Or maybe it’s been 18 years. It doesn’t feel as much like “drowning” as it does a slow decline. What happens to our souls after that 18 years? Have we given up? There is a message here for you if you are drowning and if you’ve been trying to keep your head above water for an 18 year slow decline.

But there is also something to be said for us from the perspective of being on the shore line. We’re not the one drowning we are the one with the life-raft.

And I think we could argue that both the one with the life-saving device and the one flailing at the deep end of the pool are both living in the context of a religious system that is so often dead and more abusive that it is life-giving. It’s a system that throws water on a drowning person and encourages the person with the life-saving device that he’d better hang onto it, it’s his, and you might need it later to enjoy a good float.

Here is why today matters—I want to show you from God’s Word that Jesus IS bringing redemption. This is just a little seed…a little shadow of that which is coming in full. And so this message gives hope when we are drowning and challenges us when we’ve got the life-saving device. Oddly enough we’re usually a mixture of both. We both need rescue and we need to be rescuers.

And so we will see here in this text the compassionate heart of Jesus. That’ll be balm for weary souls and a challenge for those of us who might be tempted to hang onto our own life-saving device and not plunge into the deep end.

It’s a general rule that our redemption needs to happen today…even if it can wait tomorrow, it really shouldn’t wait until tomorrow. And it’s also a general rule that it’s easier for redemption to wait until tomorrow if you aren’t the guy who needs it today. We see this truth in Jesus’ healing of this woman.

Now, I want to be fair here to the ruler of the synagogue with how I framed that earlier. I wasn’t exactly fair. Every Jewish rabbi would answer the question about the pool in the same way that we did.

It wasn’t considered breaking the Sabbath in order to save a life. But there were certain rules applied to this—was it really life or death? If it wasn’t life or death then you just wait until the next day…it’s fine to come and be healed on any other day, it’s welcomed. But it’d be considered work to heal on the Sabbath. So this lady…she has been dealing with this for 18 years. She’s fine. It’s not like she is drowning in the moment…her redemption can wait until later. That’s why he is indignant....now how did they get to this spot?

Building Fences

We started our study of Jeremiah a couple weeks ago. Last week we were in Jeremiah 1. There we learned that disaster was going to come upon God’s people at the hand of the Babylonians. They were going to lose their land—they were going to be sent off into exile. Spoiler alert--That happened—and it was horrible. The book of Lamentations is an expression of all the pain the people went through in that time.

Never again. You ever do that? Go through something really painful and think…I’m never going to do that again. Well magnify that times a thousand…and the religious leaders knew that what caused this to happen was that they didn’t obey God’s laws. They broke the 10 commandments a million times over.

But they assumed that what God really was after was obedience to the law—but they missed the heart of things. So what ended up happening was that they had a law…like “don’t break the Sabbath” that’s good…it’s about rhythms of rest, trust, care for others. That’s the heart of the Sabbath. But they seemed to have missed the heart…and made it about “do not work” as the sole foundation of the commandment.

But they also understood the human heart. If the law says “do not covet” we start wanting to covet. If a sign says don’t walk on the grass—even though we never thought of walking on the grass that’s exactly what we want to do. And so to combat this they developed a strategy. Build fences. And then build fences around those fences. What do I mean? I mean that they had strict laws. They built fences around the commandments. Rather than just saying, “Obey the Sabbath” they developed an entire system of how many steps you could take without breaking this. And it is some of these “laws” which are confronting Jesus in these chapters of Luke.

What qualifies as work? And how do we get as far away from this as we possibly can. We don’t want to sin. We don’t want to displease God. That’s a good thing but it doesn’t address the heart. And so relating to God entirely on a “law” (do good, don’t do bad) level is incomplete. It’s turning it into something that you can try to do even apart from relationship…stuff you can do without the heart. And that’s missing it.

In the Mishnah they outline 39 classes of work that profane the Sabbath.

Here are some of the examples, “tying or loosening knots”. Did you tie your shoes this morning? Sewing more than one stitch. Writing more than one letter. So you see that these fences really extended beyond what the Lord actually prescribed in His Word. And what happens after this? It changes the way we think about God.

Why does God care about “tying or loosening knots”? Why does God care about you tying your shoes? Well…I don’t know…because he’s holy and this is what His Word says. If you love God you won’t tie your shoe on a Sabbath day.

And we can see this same thing even in our culture. Some of the laws and rules that we have had concerning Christianity…they sound strange and outdated at times. Why does God care what two consenting adults do in their own home? Well…if we’ve made what the Bible says about sexuality a list of “do’s and don’ts” and have done no different than the Pharisees then this is what is going to happen. We’ve lost the heart of why God has said some of the things he has said…we’ve missed that His commands are about human flourishing an more importantly about imaging God.

But what this kind of thinking can also do is make you put the letter of the law over the spirit of the law. And when this happens as we read in Scripture “the letter kills”. Paul, the guy who wrote that, understood this. It was how he was able to be part of the execution of one of the first deacons—Stephen. The first martyr—guy who died for his faith in Jesus. You can think you are doing the right thing…somebody ties their shoes and so you give them strict punishment because they aren’t obeying God—they aren’t loving God. But wait a second, this doesn’t have anything to do with God. You made that rule up.

And so you have a lady who has had a disabled spirit for 18 years. She gets healed and rather than celebrating the religious leaders are furious with Jesus. That’s how that happens. We put “law” and our own rules over a relationship with the Lord. We put stuff over people.

It sounds good. They wanted to honor God, they didn’t even want to come close to offending Him and breaking His Sabbath. But God isn’t pleased with this because it isn’t loving people. It’s missing the core of things. It’s missing love for God and love for people.

So that gives us some background, then, to what happens with this woman.

Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. And behold (that’s supposed to draw us in…fix our attention here)…there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for 18 years.

What’s the disabling spirit? We don’t know for sure. It could have been a spine issue—that’s what it seems like with how Jesus healed her. But some have thought there might be a spiritual or even emotional element to it as well…that the two are fused together. She’s in pain and she’s downcast. And it’s been 18 years.

18 years…Jesus was probably like 12 when she first got this disorder. That puts it into perspective. 18 years…wow. 2004. Think about how much has changed since then. What were you praying about in 2004? What was your great problem on this day 18 years ago?

Do you have anything like this that has been lingering for years. That’s the difficulty sometimes with a chronic illness. It’s crippling. It can be frustrating. You can give up hope. And there is a sense in which for your own mental health you have to be resigned to this thing.

I think of this with Joni Eareckson Tada. I sure hope I can bring this wheelchair to heaven.

Now, I know that’s not theologically correct.

But I hope to bring it and put it in a little corner of heaven, and then in my new, perfect, glorified body, standing on grateful glorified legs, I’ll stand next to my Savior, holding his nail-pierced hands.

I’ll say, “Thank you, Jesus,” and he will know that I mean it, because he knows me.

He’ll recognize me from the fellowship we’re now sharing in his sufferings.

And I will say,

“Jesus, do you see that wheelchair? You were right when you said that in this world we would have trouble, because that thing was a lot of trouble. But the weaker I was in that thing, the harder I leaned on you. And the harder I leaned on you, the stronger I discovered you to be. It never would have happened had you not given me the bruising of the blessing of that wheelchair.”

Then the real ticker-tape parade of praise will begin. And all of earth will join in the party.

And at that point Christ will open up our eyes to the great fountain of joy in his heart for us beyond all that we ever experienced on earth.

And when we’re able to stop laughing and crying, the Lord Jesus really will wipe away our tears.

I find it so poignant that finally at the point when I do have the use of my arms to wipe away my own tears, I won’t have to, because God will.

We don’t know about this ladies disposition. There is nothing in this text of her coming to Jesus, of asking Jesus. We don’t hear of her faith. All we know is that she is at the synagogue…maybe that says something. It’s been 18 years and she’s still plugging along still trusting in God, still showing up for worship. There is no indication though that this lady sees Jesus as the great healer. It’s not her great faith that heals her. It’s one thing...

Jesus saw her…that’s something right there. She didn’t expect to be seen. She didn’t really come for a miracle on this day. But she got one.

Woman you are freed from your disability. The language here…freed. We’ll see it again in a moment…but there is the idea here that she is in some sort of bondage. This isn’t saying that she was demon possessed or anything—this was saying that Satan’s hold of destruction on her was the case.

Now we could take a bit of a side road and talk theology of suffering here. In one sense all suffering and evil and this stuff is Satanic. It’s not something that was present in the Garden and it’s not something that will be present in the new heaven and the new earth. But we don’t want to make too sharp of a point on that. You can really go south there quickly. Suffering is complicated. The point in this passage isn’t to untangle that it’s to say that Jesus redeems.

The disability has her shackled…He lays hands on her…immediately healed. She glorifies God. Now you’d expect celebrating all around but the ruler is indignant. Incensed, irate, offended…this is the response you have when you feel as if you’ve been unfairly treated.

But Jesus calls him on his hypocrisy. Actually according to their own rules—they can untie a donkey or an ox and water it…why? “Preventing suffering to living things...”

So in reality they are treating humanity less than animals. It’s Jonah again. Daughter of Abraham…they say they are sons of Abraham…very own daughter…they are allowing her to be chained for these 18 years.

“You can come and be healed any other day....” Hmmmm....sure about that? It’s been 18 years, bro. This shows the impotence of the religious system as well. It can’t heal her. But with one touch Jesus does what 18 years of showing up at synagogue couldn’t do. With one touch Jesus does what all the rule following couldn’t do. It heals.

Adversaries put to shame and the people are rejoicing as they should be. We need to look at verses 18-20

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

Some put this with the next section…and I get that. But there is one reason why we can’t that tricky little word “therefore” in verse 18. That means that Jesus’ parables here are being tied to the previous narrative. How so? How does this relate?

How does the mustard seed relate. Tiny seed. Little leaven.

A little act of grace…something small…this is what the kingdom is about, small things—little works of redemption that sprout into much bigger things.

Conclusion:

How do we apply this passage?

Do we come at this from the angle of the religious leaders and ask that question of our hearts. Are we trying to live by rules and such and thinking that somehow this is going to change things. And its made us not have compassion. It’s made us miss the woman and be indignant when we see Jesus doing stuff that doesn’t fit into our mold. Do we apply it this way? And say....Jesus, break our hearts for this. Help us see the beauty of the gospel. Help us love people better.

Do we come at this from the angle of the woman who had been 18 years without redemption? Do we challenge ourselves with our prayer lives…have we given up praying for things? Are we trusting God with the inconsolable things..the stuff that won’t be mended until glory. Are we trusting and believing that he could at any moment heal and fix this stuff.

Or do we just step back and look at the big picture? Do we look at this and just rejoice at the heart of Jesus. “This can’t wait another day.” I found it interesting to contrast this with the vinedresser we saw last week. Judgment can wait. Redemption can’t. Preventing suffering isn’t something that should wait for tomorrow.

And in doing this we start to see the beauty of the mustard seed and the leaven.

I know I take us here often..but we need to know where we are going. Revelation 21:1-8

Revelation 21:1–8 ESV

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

How does that happen? Ultimately it happens by Jesus coming and setting all things right. But I think this mustard seed and leaven tell us something. This kingdom isn’t about one big cataclysmic moment as much as it is about that little thing. That one act of compassion today is part of that growing kingdom. That little seed that is planted....that small gesture…that simple obedience today…is all part of building to this beautiful moment.

The way the religious leaders are viewing this is all backwards. As if God’s law is some fragile little thing that has to be protected by building fences around it. As if God needs protected. Instead tear down the fences and let it do its work…let the tree grow.

Are you trusting in Jesus’ redemption for you?