January 28, 2024: A Religion of Liberation - Michael Hidalgo

This week, we consider how unhealthy religion adds burdens to people- it can be something that binds people up in an oppressive way rather than liberating them.  The Torah seems clear regarding work on Sabbath. So when Jesus heals a woman who has been oppressed by diseases for 18 years, we should not be surprised the legalistic religious types in the room take umbrage with Jesus’ actions. It is their uncompassionate response that leads Jesus to ask, “Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?” This is a nod to Exodus 23 (and Deuteronomy 5) which insists Sabbath is even for the rest and renewal of animals. Simply put, Sabbath is a gift. Sabbath is also a day of liberation: it is to remind the Israelites of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Thus, for Jesus, this day was about liberation. His words point seem to point toward how something good, like religion, can become something that oppresses rather than liberates.