{"id":11842,"date":"2020-10-04T20:00:46","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T03:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/luke_13_1-9-copy\/"},"modified":"2020-10-04T17:38:15","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T00:38:15","slug":"luke_13_10-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/luke_13_10-21\/","title":{"rendered":"When Truth Sets You Free"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke 13:10-21\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Luke 13:10-21.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Luke 13:10-17 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.”
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 10-17: God had commanded the Jews to work six days and rest on the seventh (Exodus 20:8-11) so that their strength could be restored and their joy replenished.\u00a0\u00a0But the Pharisees and teachers of the law misinterpreted this command by teaching that even things like praying for a sick person\u2019s healing was considered \u201cwork\u201d and could only be done during the first six days but not on the seventh.\u00a0\u00a0Infected by the Pharisees\u2019 teaching, the synagogue ruler publicly rebukes Jesus for healing a woman who was crippled by an evil spirit for 18 years.<\/p>\n

Jesus responds by showing the silliness and hypocrisy of the Pharisees\u2019 teaching.\u00a0\u00a0To paraphrase Jesus, \u201cOn the Sabbath you untie your ox or donkey and give it water, don\u2019t you?\u00a0\u00a0Why is\u00a0that<\/em>\u00a0not work and okay to be done on the Sabbath, but setting a woman free from bondage\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0work and forbidden on the Sabbath?\u201d\u00a0Verse 17 suggests that the synagogue ruler and all those who ascribed to the Pharisees\u2019 Sabbath rules were starting to realize how silly those rules were, while the rest of the people were delighted by what Jesus was doing.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We need wisdom to know how to interpret and apply God\u2019s Word.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s Word is always good and helpful, but when we don\u2019t interpret or apply God\u2019s Word correctly or wisely, it can lead to tragic results.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s why we need to ask God for wisdom to know how to interpret and apply God\u2019s commands.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Here we see the tragedy of legalism.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Legalism causes us to focus on little things at the expense of missing the big picture.\u00a0\u00a0Legalism causes us to focus on man-made rules at the expense of missing God\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy our lives, keeping us in bondage as long as he can.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus came to set us free.\u00a0\u00a0No matter how long you have been in bondage, Jesus can set you free<\/strong>\u00a0by faith in His power, love and truth.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Luke 13:18-21 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to?
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.”
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to?
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”<\/p>\n

On verses 18-21:\u00a0\u00a0What is the point of the two pictures Jesus gives here for the kingdom of God?\u00a0\u00a0Jesus\u2019 point is that, like a mustard seed which is one of the smallest seeds you can plant, or like a little bit of yeast mixed into dough,\u00a0the kingdom of God starts off small but over time grows until it fills its entire environment and impacts those around it in a positive way<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

That’s what happened with Christianity.\u00a0 At the time when Jesus said these words, Christianity was a small movement that started with 12 ordinary, unschooled men following a man whose public ministry lasted only 3 years. Two thousand years later, Christianity has become the largest faith the world has ever seen with billions of followers.\u00a0 The mustard seed has grown into the largest tree.<\/p>\n

So whether it\u2019s the kingdom of God in your own life, or in your church, or in your ministry,\u00a0don\u2019t despise small beginnings<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0God has greater things in store.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You that wisdom comes from You.\u00a0\u00a0I pray for great wisdom, that I would know how I should live and how to interpret and obey Your commands.\u00a0\u00a0May I not be a slave to legalism, may not sweat the small stuff, but may Your love and Your truth set me free.\u00a0\u00a0Let Your kingdom come and grow within me.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Luke 13:10-21.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Luke 13:10-17 (NIV)\u00a0
\n10\u00a0\u00a0On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,
\n11\u00a0\u00a0and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.
\n12\u00a0\u00a0When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.”
\n13\u00a0\u00a0Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
\n14\u00a0\u00a0Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
\n15\u00a0\u00a0The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?
\n16\u00a0\u00a0Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
\n17\u00a0\u00a0When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.<\/p>\n

On verses 10-17: God had commanded the Jews to work six days and rest on the seventh (Exodus 20:8-11) so that their strength could be restored and their joy replenished.\u00a0\u00a0But the Pharisees and teachers of the law misinterpreted this command by teaching that even things like praying for a sick person\u2019s healing was considered \u201cwork\u201d and could only be done during the first six days but not on the seventh.\u00a0\u00a0Infected by the Pharisees\u2019 teaching, the synagogue ruler publicly rebukes Jesus for healing a woman who was crippled by an evil spirit for 18 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11844,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11842"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11843,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11842\/revisions\/11843"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}