Luke 13:14-17 14But answering the ruler of the synagogue, becoming angry because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Therefore, coming on those days you can be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15Then the Lord answered him and said, “Hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the feeding trough and lead it away to water? 16And should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17And as he said these things, all those opposing him were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.
Verse 14 introduces the real issue that brought conflict. The leader of the local synagogue where Jesus was became angry about Jesus healing on the Sabbath. This story is similar to the healings on the Sabbath in 6:1–11 and 14:1–6. The ruler did not address Jesus directly but tried to discredit him before the people. The ruler’s response shows his priorities. He would rather keep his legalistic interpretation of the Sabbath than to see the woman who had been crippled for eighteen years healed and restored to health. Basically, it was law over people, and his interpretation of the law was skewed. There were six other days for Jesus to heal.
Luke records the title of Jesus as Lord, possibly intentionally to show his sovereignty over the situation, the Sabbath, and any illness people might face. Jesus is the supreme authority over the law. His rebuke of the synagogue ruler is sharp, but he includes others because of the plural hypocrites. He addressed others in the group who agreed with the criticism of the ruler. Jesus’ response through rhetorical questions challenges the faulty logic of the hypocrites. How they answered the first question about leading their donkey to water is how they should have answered the second question. Jesus used his typical argumentation called a fortiori, what is true in the lesser situation should also be true in the greater situation. Of course, a daughter of Abraham is more important than a donkey. Verse 16 gives a clue the cause of the woman’s condition but does not necessarily indicate she was demon possession because Satan can use ailments and disabilities to hold people down spiritually.
This situation brought two different responses. About the so-called hypocrites, Jesus’ words were a stinging rebuke, and everyone gathered in the synagogue knew it. The opponents were put in their place and could respond in two ways: they could either accept Jesus’ rebuke, repent, and believe, or they could harden their hearts and go deeper into their hypocrisy. Unfortunately, it appears that they did the latter because the tension continues to grow between Jesus and the legalistic Jewish leaders. The crowd who witnessed the miracle saw God’s hand at work and rejoiced for the woman and all that Jesus was doing. This story is about putting religion over people. Religion can take many forms, including legalistic practices and rituals. The law was meant to show us how to love our neighbor, not keep us from it.
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