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On Apr 15, 2020: Luke 13 Luke 13 With Pastor Jerry · Teachings On This Day On FerventWord

• You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. All right. Well, there we are. And we're going to be in... Luke chapter 13 this evening, and so you can get turned there if you're not already, and want to encourage you to join with us in working our way through the Bible in three years, and allowing the Lord to minister to you as we work our way through day by day, and now we find ourselves looking at the life and the ministry of Jesus. And working his way towards the cross and these chapters that we're in all the way up through probably next week, we'll be really focusing on some of the teachings that Jesus gave as he was working his way down to Jerusalem in Persia. preparation of being crucified. But today here in Luke chapter 13, we see a few different accounts or a few different teachings that Jesus gives in relationship to the people that are around him and the things that he desires to bring out to speak as a result of the circumstances that he happens to to be in. And this is one of the amazing things about the Lord that he doesn't have to just, you know, have a specific plan or agenda, but he uses, he incorporates the things that are happening around him to minister to the people around him. And that's what we see happening here in Luke chapter 13. And so we're going to begin just by reading the first five verses, and then we'll dive into the message that God has for us this evening. So look with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 13, verses one through five. Here's what it says. There were present at that season, some who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered such things? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, what do you think? That they were worse sinners than all the other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Here as we look at Luke chapter 13, again, Jesus is going to be providing some teaching that comes out of a conversation that others around him bring up. It tells us here in verse 1 that there were some people around Jesus at that time. And they brought up this issue of the Galileans who had been killed and their blood had been mingled with sacrifices by Pontius Pilate. Now, as we begin to look at this passage, there's a couple of things about this that are interesting. Really, what they're doing is they're bringing up some current events. They're bringing to Jesus, you know, this question about, hey, what do you think about this? And they're talking about having this conversation about some recent events. that they were curious about or maybe was on the top of their minds. We actually don't know a whole lot about this event. Historically, we don't have it recorded specifically. There's a few possible occasions that Bible scholars will, you know, wrestle with and debate over. But the exact event is not really that important because Jesus is going to turn from that event and to really begin to challenge the people having the conversation and bringing forth the questions. And so even though it's not clear what actually happened, Jesus says, you know, what you really need to think about through this is where that leaves you and what that means for you. And so they bring up this question about the Galileans. Now, it's important to understand as we look at this, especially as he brings up another example in just a few moments. The Galileans, the area of Galilee was the northern part of Israel. And the Galileans were the people who lived there in the northern part of Israel. Now, Jerusalem and the temple was down in the south. And so there was a bit of a division between the nation in that the northern area, Galilee and Galileans in general, were considered to be less devoted to God. They were considered to be... More unholy. Not that they would be despised to the extent as like Samaritans or some of the others that they despised in those days. But at the same time, there was a, well, if you lived near Israel, the temple. If you were down there towards Jerusalem, you were better off. You had a better relationship with God. You cared more about the things of God. And if you lived in Galilee, you were more about your own business and there wasn't that same idea of righteousness for them. And so they're bringing up this situation and Jesus asked them the question in verse two, Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered such things? Now, they probably were trying to bring out some type of political situation, right? Pilate did this. Pilate, you know, brought in the blood of these men and mingled it with sacrifices. And oh, how terrible that is. And what do you think about that, Jesus? And Jesus, instead of engaging in that debate or getting into that discussion, He says, what do you think about this situation? He says, do you suppose? And it's interesting that Jesus says it that way. Do you suppose? He's really calling the people to stop and think about what they think. The word suppose, it means to be of the opinion. Is it your opinion, Jesus says, that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans? What do you think about that? Is that what you suppose? Is that your opinion? Is that the conclusion that you have come to? Now, why do you think Jesus calls attention to their opinions? Why do you think he calls them to stop and consider what it is that they have concluded and what they are thinking? He challenges their thinking because, well, their thinking is incorrect. And their opinions are, in fact, wrong. Their idea and their understanding, well, it's exactly what Jesus says. Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners? In their perspective, the way that they saw the world, the way that they interpreted the world and their opinion about these kinds of situations was that, well, those who died under such horrible conditions, those who had such tragic things befall them, it's because they are worse sinners. Because they have more sin, therefore, well, more bad things happen to them. And it's an important thing to consider for us tonight as we join with them and Jesus and talking about this and working our way through this passage. I would encourage you to consider for yourself. Do you suppose that those who experience tragedies, that those who experience these kinds of things, are experiencing it as a result of sin or a worse sin condition. Jesus challenges them in their opinions because they saw this tragedy as an indication of where those people were spiritually. And this is a lesson that we all need to learn. You cannot measure spirituality by circumstances. You cannot measure spirituality by circumstances. And that is true of your estimation of yourself, and it's true of your estimation of others. Those who are in difficult circumstances, those who are in tragic situations, We cannot jump to the conclusion or decide that it is because of sin that they are there. And of course, we have the whole book of Job to teach us that lesson, right? The friends of Job went to that conclusion. All of this terrible things are happening to you, Job. You must be in some terrible sin. It has to equal out that way. And the extent of the sorrow that you're experiencing is the extent of the sin that must be there in your life. That was the thinking of Jesus' day. That was the thinking of Job's day. And that is still the thinking of many today. And it's why we need to stop and listen to what Jesus has to say here. You might remember in John chapter 9, the disciples were with Jesus and they see a man who is blind. He was blind from birth. And so the disciples ask Jesus, who sinned? that this guy was born blind. Somebody had to sin. Somebody has to be at fault. It was either him, he sinned in the womb, or his parents, and so God punished his parents by making their son blind from birth. But it has to be an issue of sin. It was the common view, not just of the religious leaders, but even of the disciples who walked with Jesus and heard his teachings. They had this perspective that the situations, the difficulties, the tragedies, that we see happening around us must be the result of sin. Do you suppose? Is that the way that you think? Is that what you think about when you hear of someone perhaps in an accident or an earthquake or cancer or some other illness or disease? Is that how you interpret and understand the situations around us? It's important that we do not approach life that way. It's important that we don't have that perspective because, well, God is not trying to deal with the issue of sin in this life. Commentator Adam Clark puts it this way. He says, it's very wrong to suppose that those who suffer by sword or by natural accidents are the most culpable before God or most guilty before God. An adequate punishment for sin cannot be inflicted in this world. That last part is a key there. An adequate punishment for sin cannot be inflicted in this world. You see, God's not trying to pay people back for sin in this life because the repayment is not sufficient. And the repayment for sin is an eternal judgment. And so this life is not the avenue by which God is trying to make all things right. He will make all things right. He will bring justice. He will establish righteousness. He will deal with sin to that degree, but he's not trying to do that and accomplish that here in this life. And so we wrestle sometimes with the question of bad things happening to good people, but we need to remember that Jesus was the only good person who's ever walked the earth. And then you think about Did bad things happen to Jesus? In a sense, yeah. We just spent the last week thinking about the things leading up to the trials and beatings and crucifixion of Jesus. Bad things happened to him. He suffered greatly. But it wasn't a revelation of his spiritual condition. It was instead him being faithful to God and God accomplishing his purposes through his faithfulness. Do you suppose... But those who experience such things are worse sinners than you or others? Or do you suppose that you're experiencing the things that you're experiencing because you're a worse sinner than others around you? Jesus says in verse 3, I tell you, no. Tragedy does not only happen to sinners. And if that's what you suppose, if that's your opinion, you need to correct your thinking, readjust your doctrine, and readjust your perspective on the things that are going on. Jesus says in verse 3, I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Unless you repent. It's not that they were worse sinners, but again, Jesus here drives the point home. He says, look, they were not worse sinners than you are. Therefore, you must repent. You see, their theology and their perspective, their look was, look at those bad things that happened to those people. They must have been terrible sinners. I'm not that bad, so I don't need to repent. And so their perspective, this incorrect idea, it brought them to the conclusion that they didn't need to change, that they didn't need to repent. And so with their bad theology, They were comfortable. They were happy. They were like, hey, I don't need to repent. I must be righteous because bad things aren't happening to me. And Jesus is making the opposite point. He's saying, no, they weren't worse sinners than you. You're just like them. They're just like you. So you must repent because tragedies can happen to anyone at any time. And the reality is you need to be ready to meet your maker. You need to be ready to enter into eternity. You need to prepare yourself to meet your God in eternity. And so you don't evaluate spiritual condition by the circumstances of life, but instead you realize and you recognize the need for all of us to be right with God. Now, there are times that God uses difficulties and hardships in our lives to get our attention. But again, it's not an attempt to pay back for sin. It's But he uses those things to call our attention to sin so that we might have the occasion and the opportunity to repent. And that's the truth. We all need to repent. The word repent, it means to have a regret that is accompanied by a true change of heart towards God. It's not just sorrow. It's not just feeling bad. But it really speaks of that true change of heart. It speaks of a real change that takes place in our lives. We're all familiar with these things, and yet we need to be reminded of them because we're so good at fooling ourselves and deceiving ourselves. Repentance is not being sorry that you got caught. When you're sorry that you got caught, well, if you could figure out a way to not get caught... you would keep on doing what it was that you got caught doing, right? And so that's not repentance. If you're sorry that you got caught, if you wish there was a way to do it without getting caught, or if you wish you could figure out a way to do it where you could keep on doing it and not getting caught, that's not repentance. Repentance is a true change of heart towards God. Repentance is also not being sorry that you have to experience the consequences. Whatever consequences there are as a result of sin, as a result of these issues, if you could figure out a way to escape the consequences, then you would keep doing it if you're not repentant. If all you're concerned about is the consequences. But if you're repentant, even if you could get away with it and not experience consequences, if you're repentant, then even if you could do it without getting caught, you wouldn't. Because you've had a real change of heart towards God. Repentance is not outward changes. It's not forced obedience. It's not good behavior. It's not legalism. Repentance, a repentance is an inward transformation. I really like the way that the Apostle Paul describes repentance for us. And he gives us a good idea, good understanding of what this looks like. Sometimes we think about repentance and it's hard to tell if someone is repentant, but Paul says no. In 2 Corinthians 7, talking to the Corinthians about their own repentance, he says in verse 10, Godly sorrow produces repentance, leading to salvation, not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death. And he describes their repentance in verse 11. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner. What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication. In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. Paul says, think about your own past experience of repentance and understand there's a huge demonstration of the transformation that takes place with repentance. It begins with godly sorrow. And so there is that appropriate sorrow that is there, but it also produces diligence. Again, it's a diligence to walk with the Lord. It's a diligence to make things right. It's a diligence to go forward. He says it produces diligence and a clearing of yourselves. Again, you're making things right. You're not trying to figure out a way to keep on doing it but not getting caught or not experiencing the consequences. No, but it involves this clearing of yourselves and making things right and going and making amends. It produces indignation. There's a righteous indignation. There's an anger over the sin, over the issues, over the damage that was done. It produces fear that keeps us from continuing on in that behavior. It produces vehement desire. Oh man, I want to go forward. I want to grow. I want to, you know, again, make things right and draw near to the Lord and become like him. It produces zeal, he says. and vindication. There's all of this transformation that happens with real repentance. So that's what repentance looks like. And Jesus says, you must repent. It wasn't that these guys that experienced that tragedy with Pilate mingling their blood with the sacrifices, it wasn't that they're worse sinners. No, they're just as sinful as you are. And so, well, you need to repent and you need to be ready. You need to be prepared to meet your maker because You consider yourself to be righteous and you think that you're protected as a result, but you're not. You need to be ready to meet God for real. Continuing on in verse 4, Jesus gives another example. So they brought up the first example, this situation with Pilate and the blood mingled with sacrifices. But now in verse 4, he says, Or those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? Jesus now brings it closer to home. They're talking about all those dirty Galileans, not a surprise that these terrible things happened to them. Jesus has that discussion a little bit, but then he brings it closer to home and he says, how about the situation that happened at Siloam? Now, Siloam was right there connected to you next to Jerusalem. It was in the southeast section of Jerusalem. And you probably remember the Pool of Siloam. A couple events happened there throughout the life of Jesus. And so that's right there in Jerusalem, in the midst of Jerusalem. And this is another occasion we don't have. a lot of history about it, but Jesus is talking about it. So we know that it happened. And so apparently there was a tower and it fell over and 18 people died as a result. So Jesus says, you think those Galileans are dirty and more sinful and, you know, not a surprise that kind of thing happens to them. But now what about in your own turf, around the people that you would consider to be more righteous than the Galileans? Here, they had a tragedy and their lives were cut short. A tower fell over on them. And again, Jesus asked them the same question. Do you think, do you suppose, is it your opinion that they were worse sinners than the other men around them in Jerusalem? And again, Jesus challenges them with this because that's what they thought. Those people must have been real sinful. And you could tell, just look how God judged them and the tower fell over on them. You might also remember the Apostle Paul in the book of Acts as he was journeying towards Rome in captivity. But there was that shipwreck that took place. And as the ship was wrecked, they make their way to an island. And so they escape the sea. They get up on the island and it's cold. And so they begin to put a fire together. And Paul, as he's helping to gather the wood, as he's putting wood on the fire, a serpent comes out of the fire and latches on to Paul's hand. Now, the natives on that island are watching all of this take place. And it's interesting, in Acts chapter 28, verse 4, it says, When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live. Again, I share this because this is such a common interpretation of events that happen and things that transpire. And we need to understand this is not the way it works. They saw Paul escape the sea, escape the shipwreck, make it to land, but then he's bit by a serpent. It's a poisonous serpent, a deadly serpent. And they conclude, wow. God must really have it out for him. He must really be some kind of murderer or some sinful person because how could you escape, you know, one thing, but then still be struck so tragically. There are many who interpret life this way, who think this way, who suppose this way. And Jesus says, no, that's not the way that it works. God's plan to judge sin was accomplished at the cross. It's finished. That's his approach to dealing with sin. Now there is a plan B for those who reject God's plan A of the cross and receive the forgiveness that God offers. Well, they will be experiencing eternal judgment instead of receiving Jesus. But those are the two options. Either the judgment for sin was paid for at the cross or eternity will pay for that judgment in hell. Either way, God's not trying to bring final justice in this life. That's not what he's trying to accomplish here. We do experience a lot of things, and it's the result of living in a fallen world. And some of the things that we experience are the result of, you know, our foolish decisions and consequences for our actions. But it's not God's judgment for sin in that way. We need to understand. And we need to understand that so that, again in verse 5, he says, I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. We need to understand that. We need to correct our bad thinking so that we don't think of ourselves as secure when things are going good in our lives and when things are happening well for us or we're being protected in some way. And so we think, I must be good. I must be fine. I don't need to repent. That's the condition that these people were in. And Jesus says, no, you're blind to your condition and you need to wake up. The reality is you need to repent. You need to have a real change of heart. You need to really transform. The word repent, as Jesus calls them to repent, it's, well, he says it in a way that it means that it's an ongoing thing. You need to repent and keep on repenting. You have to do it. You have to keep yourself in that position of repentance, of turning from sin and grasping hold of the Lord. It's not a one-time action in the past. Jesus is asking you for a current and continuing repentance. Repentance is not putting on a show. It's not making a big announcement. Although perhaps repentance may involve, you know, some announcements and some words that need to be shared, like Zacchaeus, he repented and he made some announcements, but the announcement itself isn't necessarily repentance or proof of repentance. Repentance is not controlling behavior or making rules. Repentance is a real change of heart. Has your heart been changed? Have you been transformed? Have you turned from sin to draw near to the Lord? Pastor David Guzik gives us an important exhortation to consider. He says, we all may die at any time, so repentance must be a top priority. Those who died in both of these instances did not think that they would die soon, but they did. And we can suppose that most of them were not ready. We all live in that condition and we know it. Sometimes we forget it and we don't like to think about it, but the reality is we must make repentance a priority. We need to be right with God. We need to be seeking him and pursuing him and having his priorities and passions be our priorities and passions. Well, I know I've spent a lot of time on these first few verses, but we do want to continue on working our way through the rest of the reading today. And so we're going to jump into verse 6 now and move forward a little bit more quickly as we consider the rest of the passage. Jumping into verses 6 through 9, here's what it says. He also spoke this parable. A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down. Why does it use up the ground? But he answered and said to him, sir, let it alone this year also until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well, but if not, after that, you can cut it down. To further illustrate his call to repent, Jesus goes on to tell the parable about this fig tree. And the fig tree was often used as a symbol of Israel. And so we can understand some things from that perspective. But also it's not out of line to understand that in this example of this fig tree, Jesus is speaking to us. And essentially it means this, God has given you life. And he expects that there will be fruit that is produced in your life. But some are not producing fruit. And so what to do? Well, the owner comes by. He says to the gardener, the keeper of the vineyard, he says, and this tree, it's been here for three years. I keep every year, I come back in season, I keep looking for the fruit and there's no fruit. It's time for this tree to to stop taking up space and taking away the nutrients and things that others around it need, which are fruitful. And so it's time to remove this tree, cut it down. Why should it use up the ground? But the keeper of the vineyard offers an alternative suggestion. He says, how about we give it one more chance? Don't cut it down this year. But instead, he says, let me dig around it. Let me fertilize it. And let's see if, well, maybe it can produce fruit this one last time. As we give it the extra time, as we give it the extra attention and extra nutrition, maybe it can produce fruit. And if it does, great. Now you have a fruitful tree. And if it doesn't, well, okay. You gave it the best shot that it could have. You gave it one last opportunity. And if it's not producing fruit, then you can cut it down. This is... An interesting parable to consider. Let it alone this year also. You know, God is very good at giving another chance to us. He's very good at giving us another opportunity. God gives people time to repent. He doesn't judge us immediately. The first season that that fig tree didn't produce fruit, the owner didn't come and just cast it out immediately. He gave it some time to, well, work out whatever needed to be worked out to produce fruit. But as time progressed, well, then the pressure for there to be fruit increases. God gives people time to repent. He gives people time to turn around, but he doesn't give unlimited time. He doesn't give all time. He doesn't never, you know, apply pressure or deal with the situation. Then there comes a time where he says, it's time to put an end to this. It's time to deal with this because, well, the results are, are not good, and fruit is not being produced. But it's interesting that the keeper of the vineyard says, let me dig around it. Let me fertilize it. Let me give it some extra special attention. Give it another opportunity. And this is the way that God often works. You think about the nation of Israel, if that is the fig tree that Jesus is talking about, They've been not fruitful for a long time. And now they get some extra special attention. Here is the Son of God there with them, bringing forth the truth in a way that is loving and compassionate. And so they have their best opportunity to repent right now while Jesus is with them. They don't. And so there's some tragic results that happen as a result. In a similar way, Jesus says, look, you need to repent. You need to walk in repentance. You need to be fruitful. And if you're not fruitful, well, there's a danger of time running out. God gives you time. Don't think of that as, you know, God just permitting you to live the life of sin or the life of unfruitfulness. But understand, there's a time, there's a season, there's a place where that opportunity comes to an end. And if there is not fruit, well, then the tree will be cut down. There's a point where God says, that's enough. Enough opportunities, enough time, enough space. It's time to deal with it. Now, in looking at this, of course, we can take the encouragement and take the reminder on top of the things that the Lord has already been saying and remind ourselves and stir ourselves up. We need to repent. We need to turn. We need to be right with God and living in preparation for meeting God in eternity. But I also want to ask you to consider this in another way. Here's the owner of the vineyard or the farm or whatever, where the fig tree is planted. And he comes and he's intentioning to cut down this tree, but here comes the vine keeper. And I would suggest that you and I should pray about this role of the vine keeper. That perhaps God wants to use us in the lives of the people around us to be that vine keeper who, well, we're part of God giving that one more chance to someone. And that there is the need for us to not give up And to not say, you know, sometimes it can be very difficult in the people that are around us and the people that we're interacting with and dealing with. It can be very difficult and we can be tempted to give up. Don't give up. The vinekeeper says, let's give it another season. Let's give it another chance. And so here you see the vinekeeper interceding on behalf of this fig tree. I think this vinekeeper presents some good examples for us. Not giving up. interceding on behalf of those that are unfruitful. And maybe they are in that place where God is ready to deal with the situation and it's, well, it's not going to be good because of the unfruitfulness that is there. But we can put extra time. We can give extra attention. He says, let me dig around. Let me fertilize it. Let me pour into this tree a little bit more. Let me have a little bit more opportunity to meet the needs of this tree and Maybe it'll be fruitful. Maybe things will change. Maybe there will be a turnaround. And so here we have a good example in this vine keeper. Again, it's a call for us to be repentant and ready to meet the Lord, but also it's a call for us to be involved in the work of God in the lives of others and giving them that opportunity and being part of the nourishing, the fertilizing, the pouring into the lives of others that they might have a chance to be fruitful. Well, moving on to verses 10 through 13, here's what it says. Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity 18 years and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said to her, woman, you are loosed from your infirmity. And he laid his hands on her. And immediately she was made straight and glorified God. Again, Jesus here is interacting with the people around him as he's on his way to Jerusalem. And so they ask him questions about the situation with Pilate and he addresses that and ministers to them about that, has a conversation about that. Then he leads that into this discussion of the fig tree. Now, as he continues on, he's in the synagogue on a Sabbath day. And here is this woman who is in a terrible position. She's in a terrible condition. She's bent over, it says, and she's been this way for 18 years. She was unable to raise herself up. Now, what's really interesting about this account is that Jesus refers to this as a spirit of infirmity. And so what we're talking about in this situation is not necessarily a physical illness or a physical condition, but a spiritual condition that has affected her physically. It's a spiritual attack. It's spiritual bondage. In verse 16, we'll see in just a few moments, Jesus said that this woman had been bound by Satan. And so whatever led to this situation, we don't know. Whatever happened that caused her to be in this condition and how that unfolded, we don't know. But here we find her, 18 years bound by Satan, a spiritual attack, a spiritual battle in spiritual bondage. And she was there in the midst. And Jesus, when he sees her, he calls her to himself. I think it's interesting to consider some of the details here. He doesn't go to her. He invites her to come. Come on over here. And as she responds, she's going to be set free. He says, woman, you are loosed from your infirmity. As she responds to the invitation of Jesus, as she responds to the call of Jesus, she is set free. She is delivered completely. The word loosed, it means to free fully. She's completely and totally delivered from this spirit of infirmity, from this spiritual bondage that has bound her for 18 years. Now again, the details are interesting because he says this to her, woman, you are loosed from your infirmity. And then he lays his hands on her and immediately she was made straight and glorified God. Jesus says the words and then lays hands on her. And as she is processing the words and believing the words and receiving the words of Jesus, she feels his touch. And immediately she was made straight. She stands up. She's set free truly. And her first act is to glorify God. Her first act, it says she was made straight and glorified God. First thing she did, the Lord touched her. The Lord delivered her. The Lord redeemed her. So the first thing she does is glorify God. She praises God. She rejoices in this freedom that she has been given. But that's not the same reaction that everybody had around her. Going on into verse 14, it says, the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. And he said to the crowd, there are six days on which men ought to work. Therefore, come and be healed on them, but not on the Sabbath day. And so here is this woman bound for 18 years, delivered, and you can imagine the joy and the screaming and shouting of joy that would be going on as she's glorifying God. But at the same time, there is this ruler of the synagogue. The synagogues were local places where the Jews would come to worship God and learn about God. And they would usually be ruled by or governed by a group of elders. But there would be one of them who is essentially nominated or chosen to run things and to make sure the day-to-day happens. And so there was this ruler of the synagogue in each of the synagogues. And here he comes on the scene and he is so upset. And this picture always cracks me up. It always makes me laugh a little bit. He's like, no miracles today, you know, and just so angry that miracles are happening and that lives are being changed and that people are being healed. And, you know, just so upset and completely powerless to put a stop to it. But, you know, you can see very clearly he would put a stop to it if he could. If he had the power to stop all the miracles, he would do that. But he can't. He doesn't have the power. Jesus has the power. And so it's a little bit funny, but it's also terribly sad because it really pictures for us the position of the religious leaders. They're bound by their religion and blinded by their religion. The issue was this happened on the Sabbath day and God had established the Sabbath day as a day of rest and not work. But the Jews had built on top of that all of their traditions and laws and laws upon laws and laws upon laws and traditions upon traditions upon the laws. And there was now this huge system that was a burden for people. Perhaps began innocently, you know, Rabbi, help me understand what this means. I have the situation. How can I honor the Sabbath in this circumstance? And okay, well, here's a rule for that. Here's how to handle that situation. And then next week, there's another situation and then another one and then another one. And you can see this just begins to build into this huge system of laws. And Jesus often broke the traditions of the religious leaders, but he never broke God's laws. And so healing this woman wasn't a violation of God's law, but it was a violation of their traditions. It was a violation of their practices and what they held so dearly. And so Jesus responds to him in verse 15 and says, then the Lord answered him and said, hypocrite, does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it? He responds to this ruler of the synagogue and says, you are a hypocrite. You're wearing a mask, not the COVID-19 kind of mask, but you're putting on a fake face, pretending to care about God. But really what you care more about is your own traditions. You care about your traditions more than God and more than God's children. And that's what you're most concerned about. That's what's the priority for you. You're a hypocrite. You pretend to care about the things of God and to represent God, but you don't. And you're a hypocrite because, well, in your own circumstances, you have all these rules about the Sabbath, but you do what you need to do with your donkey that needs water, even though it would violate all of your traditions. But you do that for your donkey, but you wouldn't allow this to happen for this woman if you had the power to control it. You pretend to care about God, but you really don't. Verse 16 says, So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, think of it for 18 years, be loose from this bond on the Sabbath. And when he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame. And the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. Here, Jesus says, look, you would care for this donkey that is thirsty. Shouldn't this woman be cared for? Shouldn't her needs be met? And she's been bound by Satan. Shouldn't she have the chance to be delivered, even though it's the Sabbath day? And it says the adversaries were put to shame. It made so much sense when you put it in that light. You'll care for the donkey, but not this woman. How does that honor God? How does that represent God? And they were put to shame. They were made red-faced is the idea that it pictures there. They're They're angry and embarrassed. They're put to shame. But the multitude rejoiced because of the glorious things that were done by him. But I want to finish up just thinking about this little part here of verse 16. Again, Jesus says, I really like this little phrase right in the middle here. Jesus says, think of it. He doesn't just say that this woman has been bound for 18 years. He says, guys, would you stop and think of it? Here, Jesus is really expressing his compassion for this woman. He says, think of it. He's thought of it. He has put himself in her shoes. He has considered. Now, 18 years ago, it was 2002. I don't know where you were back in 2002, but could you imagine that? Having been bound in an affliction, bent over, unable to stand, spiritual bondage, great oppression from 2002 until today, Jesus says, I've thought about that. I've pictured that. I've imagined that. I'm able to feel what that must have been like for her. And he tells everybody around, think of it. Think of it. He calls us to have compassion on people who are bound in sin and bound by Satan. We're to have compassion. That's the whole idea of mercy is to feel for one who is suffering the consequences of their sins. To have that care, that concern, that feeling and be able to sympathize. Not to be angry like the religious leader here or to be disgusted or, you know, to think of a comparison, you know, like the guys at the beginning of the chapter. They're, you know, thinking, hey, we're much better than those Galileans. We're not as sinful as they are. And Jesus says, when you look at this woman bound by the enemy, think of it. Let it go through your idea. Let it go through your mind what she must have been experiencing. The hard times. difficult pain that she must have been experiencing for such a long time. And the Lord looks on people like that, bound up, hurting, desperate, and he has great compassion. Not so much concerned about the traditions and, you know, the regulations and the way that we usually do things and all of that. No, what he's mostly concerned for is that that person is so hurt, so burdened, so bound. Jesus can sympathize. He says, think of it. Think of it. It's a good thing for us to consider. You know, there's a lot of people around us going through all kinds of different things. And we can put on our critical, judgmental attitudes. We can put on, you know, the lenses where we evaluate and think about, you know, whether or not they're getting what they deserve or whether or not we're better than they are. We can approach it in so many different ways. But here Jesus identifies with her, feels what she feels, and invites her to be delivered from the bondage that she's in. Again, like the keeper of the vineyard, maybe that's our role. Maybe we need to be the ones who say, maybe we can turn this around. Let's do some digging. Let's put in some extra time. Let's put in some extra nourishment. Give another chance for that one who is bound, for that one who is blinded, for that one who is caught up in sin to be delivered, to turn things around and be fruitful. And so here we have a great passage today. to see the life and the ministry of Jesus, the heart of Jesus, that we might follow him in his example, be a light, make an impact, to be right with God, to be ready for eternity at any moment, and to be involved in the work of God reaching out to and impacting others around us. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word and the great reminders and encouragements here. And God, I pray if there are those listening that, Lord, you were speaking to them in the beginning portions about repentance and what that looks like. And Lord, there is a real need for there to be that repentance. I pray, God, that you would continue to speak to that person's heart. Lord, that there would be a letting go, Lord, a full surrender. Lord, not a fake surrender and not a partial letting go, but really letting turning from sin to real repentance. Lord, I pray for a real change of heart. Lord, that's not something that we can do on our own, but you help us as we call out to you, as we turn from sin, as we turn towards you, you help us. As we draw near to you, you draw near to us. And so God, I pray that you would meet each one right where they're at, right where you know that they are God, that they would Lay those things aside with a genuine repentance and grasp hold of you and embrace you fully. And God, I pray for us as we continue forward in the interesting days that we're living in. Lord, may we be like the keepers of the vineyard. Lord, involved in your work, involved in your vineyard and part of the work that you're doing in the world around us. Give us, Lord, lots of patience to give people another chance and another chance to give multiple opportunities, to invest more time, to invest more resources, Lord, to be able to give the opportunity because life is so precious. And I pray for anyone who is bound, anyone who's caught up in the lies of the enemy and the power of the enemy and the clutches of the enemy. Lord, would you give us opportunity to give that invitation? They might come to you and be fully delivered, to be set free, Lord, that you might be glorified. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.