DON'T MAJOR IN MINORS
LUKE 13:11-16
LUKE 13:11-16 NKJ
11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity." 13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14 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."
15 The Lord then answered him and said, "Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?"
OBSERVATION:
Here we find Jesus doing what He did best. Teaching, preaching, and healing.
And we also see the Pharisees doing what they do best, being hypocrital.
Jesus healed a woman who was bent over and could not raise up. Jesus said it was Satan who had bound her for eighteen years. And when she was healed, she glorified God.
We can see some important things about healing in this short passage.
Satan was the one who had caused the sickness in this woman, not God. And when she was healed and stood up straight, she glorified God. God was not getting any glory out of this poor lady being bent over for eighteen years. He was glorified when she was healed.
However, the Pharisees were not excited. They were more concerned that Jesus healed on the Sabbath than they were a woman getting free from her infirmity. How sad. This poor lady had lived in bondage for a long time, and they were more worried about violating the Sabbath.
But Jesus did not let their indignation go unchecked. He addressed them directly and called them hypocrites. They would take care of their animals on the Sabbath; shouldn't this woman with a covenant with God be healed?
APPLICATION:
The Pharisees majored in minors. They put their strict man-made laws regarding the Sabbath ahead of people getting help.
Are people getting helped? This is a major. The day it happens is a minor.
But we still see some Pharisee behavior today. Believers caught up in minor things instead of the big picture, people receiving God's help.
A number of years ago, we had some people taking us to task regarding Christmas trees. They cited that the trees came from a pagan ritual. A lady came to me very concerned because people were condemning her about the trees. I had to laugh. We are not worshipping the trees; they are decorations. And they are pretty at Christmas. So, we kept them. And still put them up today. So many things in life and in God's kingdom are important. Let's major on the major things and minor on the things that just don't matter.