Jesus asks in our gospel account for today, "...ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" An interesting question, that at first glance, seems directed solely, and pointedly, at the leader of the synagogue who was so bent out of shape over Jesus' amazing and merciful healing of this woman who had been crippled, bent out of shape, burdened with an evil spirit, for eighteen years! As we read this passage, the first thing that we see, is Jesus, being confronted, yet again, by apparently selfish, arrogant religious leaders who are concerned, first, with the letter of the Law, and only second, with real people who have real spiritual needs. You could read this account today as presenting just more evidence of how Jesus puts such religious leaders in their place--declaring them, not religious or leaders--but "hypocrites"--play actors--who make a grand show of their religiousity, but have no heart for God or God's people. And that is an accurate and faithful reading of this text. We church leaders would do well to hear this text, in this way, to keep ourselves grounded, both in the Laws and commandments of God, tempering that, with love, and grace, and mercy.

     But this passage, this account also proclaims something else about Jesus--and that is, that God sent His Son, to, as we hear in psalm 103 today, "forgive you all your sins, heal all your infirmities, redeem your life from the grave, crown you with mercy and loving-kindness--to satisfy you with good things, and renew your youth like an eagle's"! Yes, Jesus came, not to put an end to the Law, but to fulfill it--but Jesus fulfills God's laws and commandments, by offering, bringing, showering upon us, forgiveness from the burden of our sins, healing of our infirmities, life after death; indeed, mercy and loving-kindness--to satisfy us with the good things of God, so that our youth, might be renewed like an eagle's! Do you not love that phrase? Jesus didn't come simply to give a drop of water to those who are dying of spiritual dryness; Jesus didn't come to put a little salve and a smiley-face band-aid on our sins and shame and broken-ness--he came to satisfy us with the good things of God! He came so that we might be renewed in life; He came so that we might feel, once again, young like an eagle, soaring gracefully and gently in the sky; young, so that we can glide through life effortlessly, not burdened by the worries and anxieties of life, but uplifted--lifted up, as an eagle is lifted up by the rising wind. Now, we all know Jesus didn't come to be some supernatural fountain of youth; we all know you can't be sprinkled with water from the baptismal font, and voila, you become young again. But just think about the experience of that woman Jesus encountered that sabbath in the synagogue. For eighteen years, she had lived life crippled, Luke says, with a spirit, that kept her bent over and quite unable to stand up straight. This burden, Jesus says was of Satan--as indeed, any such burden is ultimately the work of Satan--whose job it is to keep us burdened with guilt, shame, fear and anxiety. Eighteen years this woman had lived this way--with no hope, and no relief--never looking up, never looking around, never able to enjoy God's creation and the wonder and beauty of it all, bent, instead, looking forever downward. And then, Jesus enters her life. Then, on this particular sabbath, this woman came to the synagogue looking for some help and for some hope. And Jesus was there. And Jesus, right there in the synagogue, proclaimed to her, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." And when he laid his hands on her, she stood up straight and began praising God. Who wouldn't begin praising God, standing up straight, after eighteen years of being bent and crooked? Can you imagine what that must have been like? You know what it's like to stand up and stretch, after sitting in a cramped airplane seat for hours on end. You know what it's like to stand up and move around, after enduring another agonizing three hour Broncos defeat. Most of us know what it's like to be able to get up and stand up straight, after being immobile for an extended time. But that's nothing, compared to the joy and freedom and release this woman experienced, after Jesus set this woman free from eighteen years of bondage. Wouldn't she have felt, her youth, renewed like an eagle's? Wouldn't she have felt, light, and free, and uplifted, like an eagle, soaring in flight? You bet she would have! And that experience, is just what Jesus wants for you--as well.

     Jesus asked, "ought not this woman whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath?" And Jesus also asks, "ought not you who are also bound, be set free from your bondage--today--right now, on this sabbath?" Our difficulty is, not all of us are ready to be set free from our bondage. Our difficulty is, not all of us will admit that we are in bondage; not all of us realize that we are carrying a burden of guilt, shame, and sin--some of us for eighteen years, or more! Some of us have been walking, crippled so long, that it seems normal to us. Some of us have been looking down so long, we think it's up! Some of us have grown so accustomed to our burden, we no longer realize it is a burden, we no longer want to be relieved of our burden, we no longer pray to Jesus and come to Jesus, on the sabbath, hoping for, expecting to be relieved of our burden. Guilt we've carried with us for decades, for something we did when we were kids, or early in our marriage; shame from childhood abuse that has shaped who we are and how we live; addiction to drugs or alcohol has become an accepted part of our disfunctional and sometimes destructive lives; a broken marriage that we refuse to acknowledge needs healing; a spiritual life that is really no spiritual life at all, marked by emptiness, despair and loneliness...these and so many other burdens we shoulder, shuffling through life like a woman crippled by a satanic spirit year after year after year. And the greatest tragedy of all is that some of us come to be with Jesus sabbath after sabbath, never really asking Him for freedom from our bondage. But then, it doesn't appear this woman in our gospel account asked, either. She just showed up. And Jesus did all the work. Jesus saw her. Jesus declared her free from her ailment. Jesus laid his hands on her. All in the synagogue. All on the sabbath. All because of the grace and power of God, at work in and through Jesus, come to forgive and heal and redeem and satisfy and renew. And for those who are open to such freedom--for those here, this morning, who will allow Jesus to touch us--where will he show himself? Where does the line form, so that we may be set free from our bondage, on this sabbath day?

     Pastor Arthur Just, Jr., professor of exegetical theology and dean of the chapel at Concordia Seminary in Fort Wayne, teaches his students that miracles in the Bible were meant to manifest God's presence among his people. Under the new covenant, the miraculous manifestations of God's presence are present for us, in the sacraments--each and every sabbath that the sacraments are celebrated among us. It is there, that God comes now, to manifest his sure and certain presence among us, and in the world that so needs His visible, tangible presence. Which means that Jesus is present now, for us, today, in the sacrament of the altar, where Jesus again, incarnates himself; where Jesus is again, present for us in flesh and blood--to declare that we are free from our ailments, to lay his hands upon us, to set us free from our bondage. Jesus, is indeed, still in the synagogue, every sabbath to forgive sin, to heal infirmities, to redeem our lives, to satisfy us with good things, to renew our youth like an eagle's--and He is present for us, in the miracle, the mystery of the Lord's Supper, where God, in Jesus Christ, incarnates himself in bread and wine, that become for us, His real presence--that become for us, anew, and again-- Jesus--our Lord and Savior. Jesus, present among us, asking you and me, today-- "ought not you be set free from this bondage you are burdened with--and what better time, than on the sabbath?! The line forms here, to be touched by Jesus, and be set free. The line forms there, right behind the woman with a crippling spirit.

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.