Sunday, May 05, 2024
Sunday Reflection: Compassion always
There are a lot of stories in the Gospels like this one, from Luke 10:
10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” 13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it to water? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” 17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame, and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things being done by him.
What we see here is a simple message: Compassion is more important than rules. The Pharisees have a point, too: that there were plenty of other days other than the day of rest to do some healing. But Jesus shames them, as they treat their animals better than the people around them in need.
Breaking rules is something we all do (some more than others). Perhaps one guide to the principled breaking of rules is that we are at our best when we do so on behalf of others rather than for our own benefit.
