God time

 

The Jesus I contemplated on today is a familiar one, Jesus the healer.  From the time we were children most of us learned about Jesus casting out demons, healing lepers and allowing the lame to walk.  This is a wonderful aspect of Jesus and one that allows us humans to see His divine nature.

But in the Gospel I’m reflecting on today, that aspect of Jesus played only a tangential role.  Almost incredibly, Jesus found Himself criticized for having utilized His divine nature to heal someone.  The reason for the criticism was that a religious leader of the time decided that Jesus was in violation of the rule forbidding working on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10-17).

Rules are an important part of any religion or society.  As a wise man once pointed out to me: “Everyone needs rules.  If you want to see a miserable teenager find one who has no boundaries imposed on him.”

But rules generally only make sense if one references their purpose.  Otherwise they become entirely human artifacts that exist only for their own sake.  In that sense they track the distinction made by Saint Paul: “if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:12-17).  Rules as understood and applied by the religious leader in the Gospel are entirely of the flesh; they do nothing to help us achieve the life of the spirit.

The religious leader’s error was that he lost sight of the purpose of the rule. The purpose of the rule forbidding Sabbath work was to allow all to be able to glorify God at least one day a week.  But understanding it as he did, it became a rule that would actually prevent glorifying God as Jesus did by healing the sick woman.

As humans we all struggle with rules.  We break and bend them, often for selfish reasons. But the greatest error is entirely losing sight of their purposes.

When I was growing up, Sunday was when we “made time” for God.  But “God time” was always Sunday; rarely otherwise, except our nightly rosary. 

So when we look at the story in Luke’s Gospel and see Jesus breaking the rules by healing on the Sabbath, we see a redefinition of “God time.”  The religious authority got bent out of shape because Jesus was “working” on the sabbath.  But consider the work He did!  Most of us probably think to ourselves, “can’t the guy even heal on the Sabbath?  What is it about these rules, anyway?”  But then again, when I think of all the leaves I raked, or last-minute homework assignments I did on Sundays I remember thinking, “Wait a minute, we’re not supposed to work!”

The Sabbath, whatever day observes it, is definitely “God time.”  But that’s not the only “God time” there is.  Certainly, in this instance Jesus was no respecter of rules.  He did his Work regardless of the time, or the rule, or the custom.  He taught us by this example that there are other “God times”, too.  Jesus found His “God work” wherever it was.  Just as we should find our own, when and where, and do it.