Bible Studies

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The Gospels
Luke 13:10-17 - Opening Kingdom's Doors
Key Verses: (NRSV)

• 10-11: "Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. ¹¹And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight." – Any kind of pain, emotional, psychological, or physical, can keep us from being able to move out into ministry and from being the disciple we are called to be.
  
  
• 13: "When He laid His hand on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God." – Christ responds to everyone who calls His name in search of true healing and forgiveness.
  
  
• 14: "But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, 'There are six days on which to work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day.'" – Trying to hide behind a set of rules, laws and traditions, the religious leader attempts to preserve his "holier-than-thou" perspective and authoritative role in the synagogue.
  
  
• 15: "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water?" – Jesus points out that people always work on the Sabbath as they go about their daily activities. By enforcing the Law they have lost sight of the important things – providing help, sustenance, and salvation to where it's needed.
  
  
• 17: "When He said this, all His opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that He was doing." – Jesus broke down the barriers of legalism and illustrated a change that freed all people from the bondage of traditionalism and ritualism.
  

Points to Contemplate:

• Have you been healed? Is there something in your life that has limited your ability to walk straight and tall into the kingdom of heaven? Has a pain, sin, or darkness taken control of your life causing you to be crippled and bent over in selfish pity or shame? Once you called on Christ to heal your pain, did you feel His love pulsing through your body and were you able to stand a little straighter in recognition of that love? If you still suffer a malady of hate, anger, frustration, or pride, will you walk up to Jesus today and ask for His healing touch?
  
  
• What ought to be done? As you go through life do you keep running into barriers that have been established to keep things as they once were? Do you hear the words 'Oh, you shouldn't do that, what would people think?' or 'We don't do it that way around here.' or 'We are ________-ists; we don't believe in _________." Do you hear the words of the leader in the synagogue reverberating in your faith community today? Are there people standing proud and strong telling others what "ought to be done" and what not to do?
  
  
• Why should we rejoice? Why were the people in today's verses rejoicing? Was it because a single woman was healed from her maladies? Was it because Jesus put His opponents to shame? Or was it for the liberation people felt from the bonds of legalism and traditionalism being lifted? Do the traditions of your church lift and inspire people into knowing Christ better? Do they help create larger images of God, constantly growing you into a greater awareness of God in your life? Or are they rigid and stale with little life and only memories of the past to feed your soul? Do you know that a life with Christ is a life with an unlimited future? Shouldn't your worship reflect the infinite possibilities that lay ahead, not the dead memories that drag behind?
  

Promises of the Gospel:

Jesus once again took an opportunity to shatter the bondage of traditionalism and legalism that was limiting the people's ability to experience the love God. When we turn to Christ and hand over our broken lives for Him to hold, we become new people. He transforms us by His love into a rejoicing people – an Easter people – designed for a new future and a better tomorrow. As the tomorrows of our lives line up one after another, our focus is to be constantly on God. The more we focus on Him the more we come to know Him and the more we become Christ-like in all we do. Jesus breaks down the barriers of our past so we can reach the promise of tomorrow. We are not asked to tightly grasp and maintain traditions that become rigid and stale. Instead, we are called to open the kingdom of heaven to the world so we can help others experience the greatness of God's love.

FUMC Devotionals

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