A Cage Made Of Rules

But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” Luke 13:14

The Sabbath was a great day for healing by our Lord, but some clung to their book of rules. They clung so tightly to them that they could not see what (or who!) was before them.

Like money, rules can be useful to us. When listed in a checklist, a set of rules can help us to see an operation through to a successful conclusion. When followed in training, rules can keep us safe and ease the learning process. Experiencing a catastrophic failure in a system, as some of us have found out, is a tough way to learn a 'don't do that'. However, also like money, rules can be a way to build a cage around ourselves such that we cannot see the Savior.

The ruler growled a rule at the poor woman healed of an infirmity she bore for eighteen years. Six days you can come get healing, leave my Sabbath alone! Dude! Did you just see the Savior heal that woman bound for eighteen years by the Devil? Do you understand at all the pain she endured? This one was still bound by the Devil it would seem, bound up in his cage of good-sounding rules. Read the story in Luke 13 and see how our Savior put his adversaries to shame. It will be the same in the final judgment. Those who love Him will be glorified with Him; those who deny Him will be put to shame.

Trust in Him!

Bucky