30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 13 10-17 The nature of Christ 03 Hypocrisy
📖 Luke 13:10-17
03October19 - Hypocrisy - _Luke 13:10-17_ - Bible reading: Matthew 23:28
_Luke 13:10-15 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. (11) And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. (12) But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity." (13) And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. (14) But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, "There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day." (15) The Lord then answered him and said, "Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?_
The woman longed for deliverance and that is why she came to the synagogue. She had been coming for eighteen years but the deliverance had not taken place.
Now, Jesus came, looked at her, spoke the word of deliverance to her, laid His hands on her and immediately she was delivered and made straight. She then began to glorify God.
For the ruler of the synagogue this was difficult to accept. He knew very well that this lady was coming to the synagogue for healing but had not experienced healing. What had not happened over all these years, now suddenly took place, for Jesus delivered her.
His response, very sadly came out of this sense of inadequacy and insecurity. Instead of being joyful for the lady’s healing and honest about his own struggles, he turned the whole matter around into one of relationship with God, saying that healing should not happen on the Sabbath.
Friends, isn’t this our problem too? We too are actually nothing but hypocrites. We want recognition and importance. We do not truly glorify God. We seek glory for ourselves. If we do not get recognition and importance, we are offended. We speak ill of other ministries and missions.
If the Holy Spirit is convicting any of us, let us confess and set things right with God. The Lord addresses this matter of hypocrisy in the twenty third chapter of Matthew. In Matthew 23:13 we read, _"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in._ and in _Matthew 23:28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness._
*Thought to ponder*
```God is against hypocrisy```