10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath
day. 11 And behold, a woman that had a spirit of infirmity
eighteen years: and she was bowed together, and could in no wise
lift herself up. 12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her, and
said to her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 13 And
he laid his hands upon her: and immediately she was made straight,
and glorified God. 14 And the ruler of the synagogue, being moved
with indignation because Jesus had healed on the sabbath, answered
and said to the multitude, There are six days in which men ought
to work: in them therefore, come and be healed, and not on the day
of the sabbath. 15 But the Lord answered him, and said, Ye
hypocrites, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox
or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? 16 And
ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had
bound, lo, _these_ eighteen years, to have been loosed from this
bond on the day of the sabbath? 17 And as he said these things,
all his adversaries were put to shame: and all the multitude
rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
18 He said therefore, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and
whereunto shall I liken it? 19 It is like unto a grain of mustard
seed, which a man took, and cast into his own garden; and it grew,
and became a tree; and the birds of the heaven lodged in the
branches thereof.
20 And again he said, Where unto shall I liken the kingdom of God?
21 It is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three
measures of meal, till it was all leavened.
A true follower of Christ will worship in public on the Sabbath Day, for
this was the custom of our Lord. On one of these days he found occasion to
reveal his sympathy and power by releasing a poor woman who for eighteen
years had been bound by “a spirit of infirmity,” just as on such occasions
his word to-day brings deliverance to souls bound by the power of sin.
It was his sympathy which prompted this act and further led him to relieve
the consciences of his hearers from the burden of traditions placed upon
them by false interpretations of the Law. When the ruler of the synagogue
criticized Jesus, by addressing those whom the woman represented, on the
ground that such healing broke the law of Sabbath rest, his hypocrisy and
that of his sympathizers was unmasked by the reply that where
self-interest prompted, they interpreted the Law so liberally as to allow
them on the Sabbath to loose their cattle which had been bound but a few
hours, while they refused to allow Jesus to relieve a daughter of Abraham
whom Satan had bound for years. They were pretending to be zealous for the
Law while denying its essential principle of love. Their real breach of
the Law was shown both by their lack of sympathy for the woman and their
hatred of Christ. Their interpretation of the Law was shown to be absurd,
for it prevented an act of mercy which, on the Sabbath, was not only
allowable but necessary. Jesus never intimated that he would abolish the
Sabbath; he only designed to restore to it the true spirit of worship and
love and liberty and joy.
In view of this gracious work of power the multitude rejoiced; and Jesus
spoke the parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven, the former to
indicate that his power yet was to extend over all the earth and the
latter that it was to transform all human life. Some readers interpret the
former parable as indicating the unsubstantial forms that Christianity at
times assumes, and the latter the false doctrine which at times permeates
the Church. Whichever interpretation one accepts, it is hardly wise to
base upon it any theories as to the order of events related to the coming
and Kingdom of Christ. All will agree that small beginnings and invisible
forces are not to be despised or distrusted by the followers of the Christ
who some day will deliver the whole suffering creation “from the bondage
of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.”