The story of Jesus healing the woman with a crippling spirit while he was teaching in the synagogue one sabbath is about a lot more than what is appropriate to do on the sabbath. It is a window into the mindset of Jesus about ministry.

The first thing we notice in this story is that Jesus is teaching in the synagogue on the sabbath. This sounds like such a traditional means of worship and teaching to us. Many Christians have adopted the term sabbath for Sunday, the Lord’s Day, and talking about Jesus being in worship on the sabbath makes us feel more connected to him and better about what we do on Sunday mornings. It seems like a really big affirmation that it is okay for us to stick to our traditional ways of doing things. If it was okay for Jesus, it ought to be okay for us!

There are …