Red handed

Romans 8:12-17; Ps 68 Our GOd is the God of salvation; Luke 13:10-17

Tid bits form the scriptures this morning

"if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him." Romans 8

"God arises; his enemies are scattered." Psalm 68

"He laid hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God." Luke 13

In the gospel for today, Jesus is caught red handed. There is no doubt that he is guilty as charged. THe synagogue official saw it, every one in the synagogue saw it, and there was no getting out of it.

For 18 years This woman had been afflicted, bent over, stooped to the ground. JEsus reaches out to her and she is healed, set free from this infirmity that has hounded her, oppressed her, slowly sucked the life out of her.

On side note, the fact that that she was in the synagogue, suggest at least some what that she had not given up on God; she still held on to hope and faith in Him even in the midst of her trials and struggles and sickness. This alone is worth meditating on.

But Jesus does her a good turn. In fact, Jesus' heart is always prepared to do Good, regardless of the potential fall out. He lets no one stand in his way of doing Good.

The synagogue official raised a stink, arousing the crowd against Jesus for this act of goodness. The official just flat out missed the point.

And the beauty of the gospel is that Jesus let him know it. Jesus didn't back down. "Hypocrites!" comes forth from the lips of Jesus. Jesus isn't labeling or name calling he is simply pointing out the truth that is obvious to everyone but the official himself.

Sometimes we should walk away from a fight but there are others when we must stand fast and speak boldly, holding our ground, especially when it comes to defending the life of another.

This was one of those moments.

Today, be on the look out for these kind of moments. Be prepared to do good; be prepared to speak out against injustice. Be prepared to not back down. Be prepared to be caught red handed in goodness. Be prepared to stand erect and give glory to God.