Holiness vs Hypocrisy
Luke 13:10–17
Luke begins his story with Jesus teaching in a Synagogue on a Sabbath. These two institutions were very important for the Jewish people in the time of Jesus. Synagogue is not just a place where people gather to worship and listen to the Torah, rather it is the center of their civic, social, and political life second to the Temple in Jerusalem. Sabbath, on the other hand, is meant to be the most holy day for the people of Israel according to the Decalogue. But it is not only for rest or abstinence from work, it is meant to be a time for people to cultivate their relationship with God; a time of restoration of strength and re-creation of the soul (life)
It was in this setting that Jesus performed a great miracle. He healed a woman who was bent over for 18 years because of an evil spirit (Satan in v. 16). When Jesus saw her, he touched the woman, and she was healed. This is a gesture of compassion and great empathy on the part of Jesus. He saw the suffering of this woman and he wanted this woman to be relieved of her suffering and be restored to health. So, Jesus called the woman and told her, “you are set free.” (v. 12). Apparently, Jesus sees the deplorable condition of the woman as a form of captivity or enslavement. In other words, healing this woman is an act of liberating her from an ailment that oppresses her both physically and spiritually.
But the miracle was overshadowed by the leader of the Synagogue who was not happy with Jesus violating their fundamental tradition. He was horribly upset with Jesus for healing the woman on a Sabbath. His absurd argument was, there are other days in a week to perform healing but not on a Sabbath. This seems to be a lame attempt to accuse Jesus of grave violation of their tradition. But Jesus did not back down.
If the Jewish leader was adamant that Jesus violated their custom, Jesus was equally irked by his hypocrisy. Notice how the Jewish leader was indignant because Jesus healed a person on a Sabbath day, but he refused to acknowledge the great act of God that happened before his eyes. Thus, Jesus strongly criticizes him and calls him a hypocrite. The leader was accusing Jesus of violating the Sabbath when every person in that room knows that there are activities that are allowed on Sabbath especially if it’s about caring for someone else’s life, including that of animals. In this exchange, Jesus exposes the failure of the leader in upholding God’s justice because of his superficial holiness and self-righteousness. Thus, he was humiliated by the words of Jesus (v. 17). He postures as someone who is expert in the Torah but fails to practice what God really requires—to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly before God (Micah 6:8).
Notice how Jesus called the woman, “daughter of Abraham” (v. 16), making her equal to anyone else in that room. For Jesus, she is as beloved and valued as much as any “son of Abraham” regardless of her physical condition or sexuality. In other words, this is how Jesus demonstrated justice and compassion toward this woman by seeing her as equally deserving of God’s healing and mercy. Therefore, Jesus embodies true holiness that liberates the captives, gives food to the hungry, clothes the naked, welcomes the homeless; these are the things that bring light and healing to God’s people (Isaiah 58:6–9).
This is an invitation for us to revisit our notions of holiness and justice in light of the Gospel. Holiness cannot be fabricated by rituals or customs. Worship should not be confined inside our intricate structures and sophisticated sanctuaries. Rather, let us humbly ask the Lord of the Sabbath to free us from our self-righteousness and pride, to transform our imaginations for us to see his face in the least of our brothers and sisters, and to empower us to stand against all forms of oppression and injustice even in our communities.
In summary, holiness without genuine compassion and empathy towards the weak and the poor is hypocrisy. Healing and life comes from knowing Jesus, the one who actually embodies the Torah of God. Jesus is the one who liberates and breaks every chain of oppression, both physical and spiritual, by calling his followers to follow his lead and to practice the greatest command—to love your neighbor as yourself.
