“On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for 18 years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.” — Luke 13:10
Every Sunday, we park offsite and take a church shuttle so that there are enough parking spaces for visitors and newer members. Our bus goes through an underpass where recently, we saw some homeless men and two dogs under the bridge. One block from our church.
Today, on a Tuesday, after my children’s guitar and piano lessons at church, we swung by and gave the homeless men a large bag of shirts. Brand new. Spring cleaning, we had found some new shirts of my dad and brother that had been forgotten they hadn’t worn yet.
What struck me weren’t the homeless individuals or their makeshift shelter. It was their pet dogs. Unconditional love. We all yearn for it. No matter where in our journey of life. Aside from the guarding advantages of owning a dog…….dogs love unconditionally. Provided with the very basic essentials for survival like food and water, dogs love their human friends unconditionally.
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Jesus understands our basic need for unconditional embrace.
When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” Then He touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God! —Luke 13:12-13
Jesus had compassion on this woman. He was busy teaching Scripture and busy with the hustle and bustle of dealing with the people in the synagogue like the Pharisees. Yet this woman was not forgotten by Jesus.
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The Pharisees’ response to Jesus’ healing however, manifested how much they wanted to forget this woman:
But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her in the Sabbath day.
“There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.” —Luke 13:14
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Did Jesus know the Pharisee leader’s attitude would be calloused and calculated? Of course. But Jesus’ unconditional love for this woman superseded the rules and approval of man.
This woman needed unconditional love and physical and spiritual healing. She hadn’t approached Jesus nor asked for a miracle. She had come to the house of God to worship. Jesus honored her worship and went straight to her most innermost, basic needs.
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Tomorrow, the kids and I have an errand near our church. Already tucked inside our minivan’s trunk is a bag full of Peter Thomas Roth shampoo, conditioner, and soap that smells really good and Kleenex tissue and socks (including a brand new Batman pair of socks to mix things up.). A stop by that one block from our church where the makeshift homeless tent is. A bag of just the basics.
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Basic is good. Basic works. We all need the basics of life, not just to get by and survive, but to thrive.
God gives us one of the most human basic need we yearn for: unconditional love. We can’t give complete unconditional love like God can, but we can give an understanding of that basic need to others in small ways, in big bagfuls.
Share the basics with others. Show them the basics and goodness of the Real Truth.
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Copyright 2019