Luke 13:10-17

This week, we leave behind the minor league “texts of terror” in Luke, and we turn to a healing story that might also be called a miracle story. The reading is Luke 13:10-17.

How does this story pit “the letter of the law” against “the spirit of the law”?

How do we Christians, today, interrupt Jesus’ healing power by insisting that things religious be done “our way”?

Do you keep a Sabbath as a spiritual practice? What challenges do you meet in trying to keep this discipline? When and how do you make your observance flexible, letting the spirit of the law supercede the letter of the law?

Have you ever felt like “the entire crowd” in Luke 13:17, when the rules were set aside so that something wondrous and joyful could happen for a person who was otherwise suffering or outcast or oppressed?