Jesus is not self-seeking

 JESUS IS NOT SELF-SEEKING

Then he [Jesus] put his hands on her, [the crippled woman] and immediately she straightened up and praised God… [But] 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.”

LUKE 13.13–14

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

HOSEA 6.6

Based on LUKE 13:10–17

As humans, we like to be liked. As soon as we walk into a room, we scan the area and adjust our body language, volume, and actions to match the vibe of the room. Whether we admit it or not, we want others to like us, and we carefully measure our words and actions to secure others’ admiration.

We’re naturally selfish, and we’re experts at playing games to come out on top. Even within our religious circles, rule-keeping often masquerades as righteousness in an attempt to manage others’ perception of us and subtly ensure God’s approval too.

And once again, Jesus flips our scripts and reveals the sinfulness of selfish hearts, uncovering a better way.

It’s a Sabbath, and Jesus is teaching in a synagogue when His gaze scans the crowd and falls on a woman who is crippled. She’s hunched, her spine painfully distorted for eighteen years. Others see her too but hardly notice her — she’s a novelty for newcomers but invisible to those who see her week after week.

But not to Jesus. He refuses to ignore our infirmities. Jesus interrupts His teaching and calls her forward. Her heart beats faster as she shuffles toward the front. Have I broken the law without realising it? Why is He calling attention to me? Why can’t He just leave me be?

We can’t know exactly what she was thinking, but we know she obeyed, and as soon as she reached Jesus, He touched her and set her free of her infirmity.

Immediately, the woman straightens up and begins praising God. The synagogue leader is furious at this perceived breaching of Sabbath law, and publicly scolds the crowds. “Come get your healing on the other six days,” he says. While he doesn’t openly rebuke Jesus, the leader’s unspoken accusation hangs thick in the air, and Jesus doesn’t hesitate to respond.

These self-righteous people were caught up in their own selfishness, manipulating the law to take care of their own wants, while ignoring the needs of others. But Jesus was not impressed with their rule-keeping, and He didn’t care for their opinion of Him. He had come to seek and to save the lost, and He rebuked those who twisted God’s commands to protect their own farm animals but oppress the very ones those laws were meant to protect. The whole point of the Sabbath was to celebrate God’s rule over the world and to rest in His work — Jesus was bringing the full meaning of the Sabbath to bear on this woman’s life, setting her free to rest on the day of rest.

In revealing their hypocrisy, Jesus humiliated His opponents and reinforced God’s original intention with His laws, to love Him and to love one another. Jesus could have waited to heal this woman until after He had finished teaching. He could have put it off until the next day. He could have searched out a quiet moment to deliver her privately.

But Jesus wasn’t trying to win their approval. He cared more for this suffering woman than He did for what others thought of Him. Because love looks out for the interests of others, it’s not interested in how others think we look.

Prayer 

Lord Jesus, forgive me for the ways in which I selfishly ignore others in seeking my own good. Give me Your love for those my community scorns or ignores, and help me go out of my way to show them Your love.

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

If you want to read more 

Exo 20.8–11, Mt 9.12–13, Lk 14.1–6