Jesus Picks a Fight–Seven Times. Luke 13:10-17.

Do you picture Jesus as strong, tough, and bold, or meek, pale, and weak? The reason I ask is that portrayals of Jesus run the gamut: Though almost everyone sticks to the traditional tall, skinny, brown-haired Englishman in a white robe (just sayin’), the question of manliness spans a broad spectrum.

Once or twice, I have seen Jesus portrayed as rugged, muscular, tan, and sweaty, but more often He appears pale, weak, and so skinny you wonder how he can even walk.

Sometimes the hair is long but manly (sort of), but other times His hair looks as womanly as something out of a shampoo commercial.

How do you picture Him?

I don’t know what He looked like. But I know He would not have looked weak. The Bible indicates Jesus was not at all afraid of the religious leaders of His day. In fact, He deliberately picked fights with them over and over. Do you know how many times He purposefully healed people on the Sabbath day?

SEVEN TIMES! 

Jesus performed seven healings on the Sabbath.

(1) Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, Mark 1:29-31. (2) The man with the withered hand, Mark 3:1-6. (3) The man born blind, John 9:1-16. (4) A crippled woman, Luke 13:10-17. (5) A man with dropsy, Luke 14:1-6. (6) Jesus cast out an evil spirit, Mark 1:21-28. And finally, (7) He healed a lame man at the pool of Bethesda, John 5:1-18.

The Bible’s use of seven (the “perfect number”) is always significant, indicating perfection or completeness.

By healing seven people on the Sabbath, Jesus points out that healing is not against God’s Sabbath rules, but rather is merely a violation of the man-made traditions that had been added to the original rule.

The Sabbath restricts work activities so you can rest and reflect on God. But healing is not inconsistent with that rest, which Jesus makes clear:

“‘Hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you untie his ox or his donkey from the feeding trough on the Sabbath and lead it to water? Satan has bound this woman, a daughter of Abraham, for 18 years—shouldn’t she be untied from this bondage on the Sabbath day?’ When He said these things, all His adversaries were humiliated, but the whole crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things He was doing” Luke 13:15-17.

Notice verse 17: “His adversaries were humiliated….”  Over and over, Jesus seems to have deliberately poked the Pharisees in the eye with a sharp stick. Not only was Jesus unafraid of the religious leaders of His day. Jesus knew before He began His ministry that it would all end at the cross. Until then, no confrontation was a threat to Him, but rather simply another step closer to His redemption of all mankind.

By healing on the Sabbath, Jesus not only demonstrated grace and the true meaning of sabbath, but He proved Himself to be one of the strongest, most fearless examples of loving manhood in history. 

Read Luke 13.

For a deeper discussion, consider this helpful article: https://cateclesia.com/2022/06/13/healing-comes-with-the-sabbath/

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