Texts: Isaiah 58:9 “If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil … your light shall rise in the darkness“ and Luke 13:10-17
In the light of the Old Testament reading (related Isaiah 58:9-14) I’d like to offer some reflections on the gospel story of the healing of the crippled woman.
No doubt there were plenty of pointing fingers in the story – people like to be part of the action – newspapers are full of them pointing out their share in the story and I don’t expect people were much different then. After the event, they would all want to point out where they were and what they say and how it felt to them. And no doubt, to point out the woman herself – and those who had lost face by opposing Jesus – and no doubt there was some “speaking of evil” on both sides!
So much for after the event. But let’s go back to the beginning. There would almost certainly be pointing fingers and whispered comments when this woman “appeared” in the middle of Jesus’ teaching. Where did she appear? The gospel doesn’t tell us. Was she with the rest of the women? Or had she, as I’ve always imagined it, blundered into the midst of the men, unable to see where she was going? Wherever she appeared, she was late – moving around when others were sitting quietly listening to the visiting Rabbi – disrespectful, disturbing her betters, doesn’t she know how to behave in the synagogue – o yes, plenty of scope for the speaking of evil.
But Jesus saw her – and saw her as she was meant to be, a “daughter of Abraham” – not bowed by the yoke of pointing fingers and cruel comments. She couldn’t see him. Bow your head for a moment – look as the floor immediately in front of you. Try to look sideways without moving your head. Note how much or rather how little you can see of your neighbours. Then imagine half a lifetime with no wider view of humanity than what can be seen directly below you. At best you will have a distorted view of their faces – at worst you will see nothing but their feet. She could not see Jesus. But she appeared before him. Most of the commentaries I looked at stated that she did not come seeking healing. This appears to me to be pretty poor psychology. A famous rabbi with miraculous healing powers is making a once in a lifetime visit to the local synagogue – and she appeared by accident? She couldn’t see Jesus or know exactly where he was, but she was drawn to him, if only to the sound of his voice. She didn’t ask for healing – that is clear from the gospel – but anyone can hope and pray that they will receive it, even if they dare not ask. She has been bowed down by that yoke, that weight, unable to see or make normal contact with anyone for eighteen years – surely she came in hope of healing?
But to be healed of what? Here I digress a moment to point the finger at the peculiarities of Biblical translation and to warn you that there will be quite a lot of “actually the Greek says” in these reflections! What puzzles me is that so often translators chose English expressions which don’t bring out the links between words in passages such as this. We lose all the subtlety and some of the good jokes and I’m not sure that we always gain a more fluent piece of English either! It’s quite a problem when trying to decide what to say about a passage.
Anyway, back to the woman and her problem. Our translation has “a spirit that had crippled her” and “ailment” but the Greek actually says “a spirit of weakness” and “weakness” which is far more subtle. She is bowed down by something and can no longer stand upright under its weight – she is weak but how has this weakness come about? Has she carried for too long mental and physical burdens which overwhelm her? Is she ground down by the hard physical labour required of so many women, then and now? Is it the weakness of subordinate social position and custom which breaks the independent spirit? Or the spiritual weakness of sin? Had there been pointing fingers in the past and speaking of evil – true or false - against her? We don’t know. We are not told. Of course we are all familiar with the idea that in NT times sickness was caused by demons and Jesus himself refers to the fact that “Satan” has bound this woman. But there are many kinds of demons, not least those of being rejected by others, especially those in your own religious community.
Looking at the Greek gives us further clues about what this woman has suffered and what kind of speaking of evil she may have been subjected to. The words for “untie” (used about the animals) and “set free” (used about the woman) have the same root, enabling a play on words that is not obvious in the English translation. Also the words for “bound” and “bondage”, with which Jesus describes her former state, are used primarily of animals (e.g. Palm Sunday donkey) and for shackles or chains of prisoners and slaves. When Jesus challenges the leader of the synagogue, he does not just use a comparison but does so in words which say unmistakably “You have treated this woman like an animal”. Similarly the word used at the moment of healing (”apoluo”), which is translated “set free”, literally means both to release and to send away. It is used nowhere else to describe healing and therefore appears to imply that the woman’s problem is at least partially external – it is something that can be sent away from her. Notice that Jesus does not pray or forgive her sins or perform an exorcism. Instead he tells her that the burden has been “sent away”. And the tense of the verb is interesting – it is translated as the present “you are” but can also mean “you have been” – in other words, she is already healed, but unable by herself to send away whatever she is suffering from. Again, when Jesus helps her physically to regain her stature, her status and her self-respect there is a double meaning: not just “set straight” physically but also “set right” in terms of justice.
Of course all this is not to say that the woman was not burdened by her own sins which can just as easily be shackles, bearing down body and soul. But like any good story, with carefully chosen vocabulary, this one has several strands of meaning woven into it and challenges us to think how we react to them. Actually most commentaries on the story chose to focus on the conflict over the Sabbath, rather than the woman herself. The word “Sabbath” occurs five times – suggesting that it is more important than she is! Certainly there is plenty to read about how the Sabbath should be kept and a number of different interpretations of the behaviour of the leader of the synagogue, none of which I’m going to go into this morning. My own view is that he sounds like someone expecting a sudden stampede of the temporarily ill and would rather they made an appointment to “Come on these days”! For him, one woman is more than enough! But when Jesus wins the argument, he does so not just by a clever comparison about behaviour on the Sabbath, but by focusing on the central truth of what God wants. We have a translation that says “Ought not” she to be healed, but the Greek is the divine imperative and actually means “Is it not God’s will?”
And when he said this, not only were his opponents put to shame, but no doubt a few fingers were pointed at them too. The crowd are not interested in the restrictions imposed by the religious leaders (or the building or the Sabbath) – they rejoice at wonderful things (Greek says “glorious”) that Jesus is doing. And how true that could be today! There is an untapped source of wonder in so many people. They don’t want complicated arguments about theological niceties but they do seek release from things that bind them. Too many people pass through life without really looking others in the face. Too many live lives deformed by unnecessary burdens, accusations and the speaking of evil. In this story, Jesus not only heals the woman but sets right her in her rightful place as a human being. She is a “daughter of Abraham”, an important title in terms of God’s covenant and one which is rarely used in the Bible. No wonder she praised God! And think of that moment. After eighteen years, she can suddenly look someone in the face again. And the face she sees in the face of Jesus. What would a church be like in which such things happen? Is it not God’s will that such things should happen today?