A seriously handicapped woman who had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand erect was healed by Jesus on the Sabbath. The official of the synagogue where it happened was more concerned about keeping the Sabbath than seeing her freed from suffering. He missed the point of God’s commandment.
The Law reflects the heart of the Lawgiver, which is love. If we comply with the requirements of the Law and do not fulfill its purpose, then we fail to keep it. Speaking in tongues, prophesying, having faith to remove mountains, and religiously keeping the Sabbath amount to nothing if we don’t care for the needy and the suffering. May we obey the spirit of the Law, not the letter, and understand that it was made for man, not man for it.
