Luke 13:10-17

Pentecost +14 - Year C

Luke 13:10-17

Understanding that G*D is an unassailable authority and that Satan is the great tester there are some questions to ask about who is being tested and where authority lies.

The woman? She seems to have remained faithful to her religious duties for 18 years.

The pharisees? They have been consistent about the importance of Sabbath and waiting some brief number of hours would better honor the import of Sabbath.

Jesus? This appears to have been an opportune time for the Satan to return, not with another big test but an ordinary one about patience? Jesus sounds as if he is anticipating the American way of wanting what he wants when he wants it. Is the use of authority qua authority the hammer to pull out for all situations requiring a too?

As always a dearth of information leads to speculation. You may be interested in the series, Provoking the Gospel of __________ by Richard W. Swanson which looks at the Gospels through the lens of theatre. Here is his concluding paragraph:

Did the woman want to be healed on Sabbath and disrupt services? Play the scene assuming that she did. Play it also assuming that she did not. After all, she was still attending synagogue services even though she had been praying (I am sure) for eighteen years for God to straighten her. Sabbath is crucial for faithful Jews. What happens in the scene if she is annoyed at being made the occasion for the Sabbath to be disrupted.

Happy imagining to you.