Jesus heals a woman on the Sabbath and upsets the synagogue leader. There seems to be no surprise that Jesus could effect the healing of this woman, only that it was done on the Sabbath. The leader actually suggests anyone who wants to be healed should come back on a day other than the Sabbath. Jesus immediately responds to reveal his hypocrisy. Here’s the cool part in verse 17: “all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.”
Luke 13:10-17Thoughts about serving others
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In this instance, the synagogue leader and his band of supporters (all of Jesus’ opponents) were humiliated or in the Greek, kataischuno which is defined as:
Instead of being thrown out of the synagogue, at least on this occasion, it appears that the people won the battle and Jesus was able to continue teaching.
Jesus doesn’t enter the synagogue to pick a fight, he doesn’t go looking for trouble. In this instance a woman who has apparently been afflicted for 18 years is presented to him. We don’t have the details, but I would suggest that he sees her heart and the years of anguish and is moved to heal her on the spot. This is well received by the crowd, presumably her friends and family, and the crowd overshadows the synagogue leader’s ridiculous reaction.
My key point is to learn from Jesus’ approach. When we understand beyond any doubt that we are part of the royal family we move from being a spectator to ambassador. No one in the royal family can simply act on their own accord, especially in our current society; everything done by a prince or princess is recorded for the world to see. We have a great responsibility to share the Gospel and to do so with kindness and respect. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t call a hypocrite what he is, but it does mean we don’t go looking for a fight to prove we are something special.
At the same time we should not be afraid to speak up when the opportunity presents itself. Jesus was clear and concise and didn’t belabor the point. The synagogue leader is not the subject here, those who need healing are the center of discussion.