Christ on Trial

A Lenten Service Series

Second Week of Lent

"Witness: A Woman Healed"

Prosecutor: We now call a woman healed by Jesus on the Sabbath. We will call her Woman in keeping with contemporary beliefs that women were nonpersons, only slightly more valuable than animals. Why Jesus showed such concern for them we'll leave to your reflection. It is purported that a spirit of weakness caused her to be bent double for eighteen years. Then Jesus grasped her and told her to straighten up, which she did. This was followed by a heated exchange between Jesus and a religious leader, not because Jesus had healed a woman, but because He had broken Sabbath Law. Do I have the basic elements correct, Woman?

Woman: (timidly) Yes, I was in a terribly painful and disabled condition for eighteen years. Jesus not only made it possible for me to stand up, He also relieved all my pain. It was truly a miracle.

Prosecutor: Yes ... well ... I'm sure we are all glad you can be a productive member of society, but the miraculous nature of your so-called cure is not the point of this interrogation. Now, let's focus...

Woman: But, you must understand how important this was for me. You speak of focus. Try to imagine what life was like for me--always bent over, always looking down. It was hard to do anything, even carry on a simple conversation. And it would have been embarrassing enough to be seen that way, but it hurt even more knowing people felt I was punished by God for some sin, or that an evil spirit was behind it all. Oh, the pain was constant, but would worsen when the muscles went into spasms. I always feared I'd lose my balance and fall. Even in bed at night, I had trouble finding a comfortable position in which to sleep. I would have done anything for a cure, anything. I prayed constantly. But, as it turned out, I didn't have to even so much as ask Jesus. He saw me, pitied me, and healed me, right in the synagogue.

Prosecutor: Hmm. That fact is something we want to be very clear about. You were in the synagogue on the Sabbath, fulfilling your religious obligation. Jesus came up to you out of the blue--you didn't go there for a healing ... you didn't ask Him to do what He did?

Woman: No. I worshiped every Sabbath. I had my own place back by the door. Most of us--healthy or crippled--had our preferred place. I will say I'd heard about Jesus ... about His teaching. So I was looking forward to this Sabbath. I'd heard He would be there. And I always prayed to God for a healing. But being a woman, I didn't expect God's special attention. I would never have expected Jesus' attention, much less a miracle! The men aren't supposed to notice the women--that's why we are separated. 

Prosecutor: Then what? Did you moan or have a spasm to catch His attention?

Woman: No, I did nothing. And being in the back, hidden by the crowd, I don't know how He saw me. But, He did. Suddenly, He abandoned His teaching and called, "Woman, come forward." I didn't realize he was speaking to me. Then, I realized people were looking at me, moving aside to make a path for me. I was afraid that I'd done something wrong. But, when I got there and twisted my head around to see Him, his compassion dispelled my fears.

Prosecutor: I'm sure it was a wonderful moment, but please go on.

Woman: There isn't much more. He said, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." He put His hands on my upper arms and raised me up. And that was that. I was as straight and strong as I had been eighteen years earlier. I praised God, thanking Him for answered prayers.

Prosecutor: Yet, you must have heard the synagogue leader's reaction.

Woman: Oh, I heard him all right--every word. I expect everyone in town heard him. He turned on the crowd first--including me, I guess, though he knew I hadn't asked to be healed. He reminded us that the Law says people are to work on the other six days, so we were wrong to be there on the Sabbath hoping Jesus would heal us. But even though he said it to us, I think he was really criticizing Jesus. 

Prosecutor: Now we finally come to the point of this testimony. This Jesus is charged with ignoring both religious custom and the Law. "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work." This was not merely a human rule. This was GOD's Law. Religious leaders since the days of Moses had further defined it. Traditions have grown up around it to help us properly obey this commandment. What Jesus did (and what incited Him to do it by your mere presence) was a violation of God's Law. It clearly proves that the charges against Christ are valid.

Woman: But Jesus cited the very exceptions the scribes had allowed!

Prosecutor: Even though your testimony proves the validity of the charges, I suppose we can hear Jesus' excuses for His law-breaking.

Woman: First of all, He called His accusers "hypocrites." Then He pointed out an exception they themselves allow--watering their livestock on the Sabbath. I'm not sure I like being compared to a donkey or an ox. But, oh well ... He more than made up for it with His next statement. I guess you'd call it a rhetorical question. He said, "Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?" Imagine that--set free from my crippling condition and called a daughter of Abraham all in the same day! No one ever refers to women as daughters of Abraham. So, Jesus not only set me free from my physical disability, He freed me from untold ages of being considered unworthy because I'm a woman. Everyone rejoiced at Jesus' actions and words ... except the religious leaders, of course. Being bested in an argument and having their own laws used against them was downright humiliating.

Prosecutor: Yes, well, that's why we're interested in the Law in this case. Freedom can turn to license all too easily. Just look at life today. Stores are open on the Sabbath, people choose to sleep in or skip church. All kinds of strange, non-traditional forms of worship are being introduced. Even if people come to church, they seem to think the rest of the day is for their own pleasure. We must convict this Christ: He started it all.

Woman: Don't you see? Christ doesn't mean for the Sabbath to go unobserved. He frees us from "tradition-for-tradition's-sake." He doesn't care what music or format we use. He frees us so that we can worship God with joy and excitement. I think that's why He chose me to heal that Sabbath day--because I was bound by more than my disability or even an evil spirit. I was bound by the Law and my society's (a male-dominated society's) use of it. He set me free--set us all free--to worship with our whole hearts. In the end, He gave even His life that we might have that kind of freedom to love and praise God with new, free selves. Which makes me want to worship Him all the more!

Prosecutor: You've given the jury much to consider. You are dismissed.

By Elsa L. Clark with additional material by Peter Mead, Arden Mead and Mark Zimmermann. Art by Sally Beck. © 2007 by Creative Communications for the Parish, 1564 Fencorp Dr. , Fenton , MO 63026 . 1-800-325-9414. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA . www.creativecommunications.com.