Our God is the God of Salvation"

Today's Mass Readings

In today’s reading the leader of a particular synagogue is upset with Jesus for curing a woman on the Sabbath, because he thought of such curing as the type of work prohibited by the Ten Commandments. In the diverse Judaism of Jesus’ day, this was actually an open question. What constituted “work” was hotly debated between Jewish scholars of the time. This specific synagogue leader clearly considered such healings to be a form of work from which God commanded we must rest on the Sabbath. Notice, however, that the leader does not rebuke Jesus directly. Instead, he rebukes the crowd. Jesus, however, explains why such work as healing is not prohibited by the Sabbath. Everyone who owns livestock meets their needs, such as taking them to drink water, during the Sabbath. Is it not also proper to meet the physical/spiritual needs of others during the Sabbath? That this particular instance is more than simply a physical need is clear by the fact that it is Satan who has kept this woman physically bound for eighteen years.

It is true that in the ancient world people often attributed physical illnesses to demonic forces. But it is not accurate to think that ancient peoples only did this because they had no modern knowledge of how illnesses were caused, even though they in fact did not have our modern understanding of the causes and transmission of illnesses. These ancient peoples did not attribute all illnesses to demonic forces, and in fact, even the illnesses they sometimes thought were caused by demons were not always thought to be demonic in nature. In other words, just as we do today, ancient peoples had more naturalistic accounts of diseases and illnesses, even for illnesses that were sometimes thought to be the work of demonic forces. It is only on certain occasions, in the New Testament for example, that the illnesses are seen as the result of sins and/or demonic activity. No one in Jesus’ audience appears to know of the demonic origins of the woman’s illness. Notice that the synagogue leader criticizes for the healing, the curing, not for an exorcism. To turn the matter around, what Jesus did through his physical healing on this occasion, was much more than merely meeting a physical need; He met a spiritual need at the same time. But this is not simply the case when confronted with demonic activities. When the rich young man approached Jesus and asked about what He needed to do to inherit eternal life, Jesus informs him that if he wants to reach perfection, he should give away his possessions and help the poor. Meeting people’s physical needs is a form of meeting their spiritual needs. The corporal works of mercy are spiritual.

We may never encounter demons in our lives, but we can always fight spiritual battles through prayer, but also through meeting the physical needs of others.

- Jeff Morrow