Then he laid his hands on her, and instantly she was restored and began to glorify God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded by telling the crowd, “There are six days when work should be done; therefore come on those days and be healed and not on the Sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “Hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you untie his ox or donkey from the feeding trough on the Sabbath and lead it to water? Satan has bound this woman, a daughter of Abraham, for eighteen years—shouldn’t she be untied from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” When he had said these things, all his adversaries were humiliated, but the whole crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things he was doing. (13:13-17)
Much like Africa today, Jesus lived and taught in a culture driven by shame and honor. Everything that people did (and their responses) were often framed in this perspective. You can see it so clearly in this story where the synagogue leader is really angry at Jesus, but because of “shame and honor” he cannot direct his anger at a teacher and instead takes it out on the innocent crowd. Actually, he takes it out on the poor woman who had come for healing. She had never asked to be healed and she had broken no law; Jesus saw her in her suffering and ministered to her based on His love and mercy. Yet, because she was at the bottom of society in the eyes of the synagogue official he felt like he could call her out when his real issue was with the Messiah.
Jesus understood the nuances of the culture in which He lived, but He also valued truth and righteousness above all else. Instead of directing his rebuke indirectly to the official via the crowd nearby (like had been done to Him), Jesus called out the Pharisees directly and named them as hypocrites. In short, He makes it clear that they value their livestock more than they value people; especially those who are hurting and wretched. The bible says that “all his adversaries were humiliated, but the whole crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things He was doing.” Jesus did not humiliate them because He wanted revenge. It was simply the byproduct of Him doing the right thing and Him standing up for the downtrodden.
There is a right way and a wrong way to correct people and stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. Our Lord took whatever abuse was hurled at Him in stride and He never pushed back to defend Himself. Yet, He always stood for those who were mistreated; He is the father to the fatherless and the champion of those who are oppressed. I think where we get off track is that we take things personally in our advocacy and we forget who we are fighting for. Righteous indignation over how others are mistreated can often turn into self-righteousness when we go from defending others to defending our positions. Jesus never lost sight of that, and He never made it about Himself. He was the lamb of God silent before His own “shearers” (Isaiah 53:7) and He was the Lion of the Tribe of Judah who defends the weak. Father, make me more like Jesus!
