Wednesday, March 1, 2023 – Luke 6:1-16
Yesterday we looked at who Jesus is as a doctor, and today we can confirm that Jesus is a trustworthy and perfect doctor through another healing story. In Luke 6, Jesus heals a man with a deformed right hand on the Sabbath. The description of the man’s ailment on the right hand demonstrates that this ailment not only caused him pain and discomfort, but it also greatly disrupted his life because the right hand was most likely his dominant hand. His deformity possibly kept him from working and hindered his social life.
Jesus asked a rhetorical question as he knew what the Pharisees and those of the religious laws were thinking about his healing. He asks, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save a life or destroy it?” (6:9)
Jesus is showing those who were there with him that if you have the power to do good, why would you not use that power? Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, so there is no law or set of rules that can keep him, the perfect doctor, from healing and doing good. Jesus frees us from things that may also keep us from doing good- inconvenience, laws, rules, etc.
We can ask this question in our life if we have the power and ability to do good, why would we not use that power? If we have the ability to help someone, why would we not help? If we have the ability to sit with someone when they are going through a hard time, why would we not do that? Because it is an inconvenience? For Jesus, there are no inconveniences or excuses for why we should not help those around us.
Question for reflection:
- What keeps you from helping others? Does today’s devotional challenge this?