Luke 13:1-17

You Hypocrites!

In the opening chapter of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Scrooge’s nephew Fred Hollywell has a wonderful speech in defense of Christmas. In the middle of his speech he utters these wonderful words: “I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”

What a remarkable phrase! Read it again; “... and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”

Jesus addresses this very concept twice in this passage. When disaster befalls others we tend to think that there must have been something they did to deserve such a fate; something that thankfully we did not do. Most of the time these thoughts are subconscious but not always. Yet, Jesus says that they are no worse than we are.

Then a powerful first hand illustration follows. A woman who has been crippled for eighteen years is healed by Jesus. But not everyone is happy. Jesus may have healed this woman but He broke our interpretation of the rules. What a travesty! Then Jesus opens up with both barrels. “If this were you, you would want to be healed. In fact, if it were your ox or donkey you would waive your rules and help.”

Ah, but this is a woman. Someone who is not you. Another race of creatures bound on other journeys. It is April and almost Easter (in 2011 anyway) but may the spirit of Christmas flow in our hearts.