2015-09-27: Luke-The Investigative Gospel – Feeling the Weight of the World

Sermon Audio: Feeling the Weight of the World
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 13:10-17
Duration: 20:30
Size: 9.38 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
Feeling the Weight of the World
Luke 13:10-17

Our Scripture Passage for this morning is a story of restoration and health, in the face of a system that seems bound and determined to keep oppressed people where they are.

Have you ever felt so low about yourself that all you could muster-up the strength to do was to look at your feet on the ground?

It’s interesting. Jesus always notices those on the margins. Jesus always notices the castaways.

When she could finally straighten up her back, what she saw must have been clear: the religious institution was bent over and suffering under the weight of its own laws.

So Jesus says to the religious folk, who are angry at Jesus for breaking the Sabbath Law, that love and taking care of other people trumps the Law every time.

But the religious leaders’ insistence on rigid laws and following them to a tee—no matter who they hurt along the way—keeps them from being healed.

They look wise with this self-made religion and their self-denial by the harsh treatment of the body, but they are no help

As is so often the case, when we legalistically insist on the letter of the Law, the needs of others are overlooked. By holding to standard operating procedures, the “royal law of love” gets pinned to the mat.