Loading...I love the phrase and image from our prophet today, Isaiah:
You shall be a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail.
This is an image used frequently by Isaiah and in the psalms,
and it fills me with refreshment every time I encounter it.
It reminds me of the Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon,
especially the waterfall and pond area, and where the irises are, and the stream that 
burbles its way down a hillside.
Everywhere in the Japanese Garden seems to be a watered garden where springs of water trickle by and where waters never fail.
The Garden is a place I would go (when I lived nearby) often to be refreshed,
and to leave renewed.
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In our Gospel story, Jesus goes to a synagogue – a place of religious learning with scripture read, a sermon proclaimed, and prayers offered. Of course, one of the things to learn about and be reminded and renewed in at the synagogue was The Law.
Keep in mind, the “law” that we’re talking about was the Law from God,
and it was given as a gift, a way to guide life in community and life in relationship to God.
The Law set boundaries, healthy boundaries, for how to live out our lives together.
Some aspects of the Law may seem odd, or archaic, or even too strict for us,
but the were (and are) seen by the Jewish people as a gift of life from God.
They are, in fact, what makes it possible to live in the watered garden, like a spring of water, and for the ancient ruins to be rebuilt; for the light to rise in the darkness and the gloom to be like the noon day.
We Christians jump to the conclusion that the Law is a bad, restrictive, old-fashioned thing that’s seen its purpose and is now antiquated.
After all, Jesus fulfilled the Law, didn’t he?
And, in stories such as this one he could be heard as saying that the Law – at least the one about Sabbath-keeping – needs to be broken, or at least put aside.
But the gift that God has given through the Law reminds us to care about one another and our community as a whole!
The Law makes it so that we cannot selfishly only think of ourselves:
we must think about and help those who are hungry;
we must treat our family members with respect and honor;
we must care for and care about the immigrant in our midst, especially the ones who are protesting conditions in detention centers by holding a hunger strike;
we must notice and reach out to those who are bent over and in bondage for 18 years, 18 months, or 18 days.
The Law is always pointing us back to God, the life-giver.
Even the Law about the Sabbath Day, a day of rest for everyone in society,
turns us back to the One who made us, renews us, and refreshes us.
Turns us back to the One who heals us.
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So yes, of course the religious leader of the synagogue got upset at Jesus for healing on the Sabbath! As he understood the Law of life from God, Jesus was breaking the letter of the law and the intent.
But, that’s not what Jesus was up to –
either in the healing he gave to the bent over woman,
or in his response to the leader of the synagogue.
This was not an opportunity for Jesus to same the leader,
to thumb his nose at them all and say,
“You bad! Me good!” or
“The law is useless, just follow me!”
That’s not how Jesus operates. Never has been. Never will be.
Rather, I believe Jesus is reminding the whole crowd in the synagogue, the leader, and the bent over woman
that God is concerned, first and foremost, with life and life abundant.
Jesus reminds us that God is primarily concerned with our healing and wholeness, our wellbeing and shalom.
For Jesus – for God – it’s “life first over rules and regs.”
I also believe that Jesus is making a powerful statement about who he is,
in the synagogue, on the Sabbath, for a Daughter of Abraham who’s been bound by Satan for 18 years:
Jesus, the Divine One, gives life
Jesus, the Divine One, sees this woman and has her stand up.
Only God can do this sort of healing,
and Jesus is letting it be known by all who are gathered and all who will hear this story told –
He is God who heals.
“’Woman, you are set free from your ailment!’ When he had laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up and began praising God.” (vv. 12b-13)
I imagine that the woman might have praised God using the words of our psalm today: Bless the Lord, O my soul!
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The Divine One,
The One who fulfills the Law – the gift of God.
The One who brings freedom and liberation to those who are bound up and imprisoned says to you:
Beloved, you are set free from your ailment!
And immediately, you are set free from whatever bings you and keeps you from living in the love of God who created and re-creates you.
Stand up and praise the One who loves you, and frees you, and heals you.
Stand up and praise the One who has given you the gift of life including boundaries and the law and community and people who help us and people to whom we extend compassion and care.
Stand up and praise the One who fills you with renewed life and makes you life a watered garden, a spring of water whose waters never fail
as you live in the beloved world of God’s creation.
Amen
