bystander 05-27-2026

BYSTANDER: one who is present but not taking part in a situation or event, that’s Webster’s definition. That’s what a recent news story called a crowd of people, phones recording, as three young boys beat and robbed an elderly man. Once Jesus went into a synagogue to teach. Present was a man with a cripple hand and Pharisee bystanders watching, not in hope of healing but to accuse Jesus of healing on the Sabbath. Of-course Jesus is going to intervene, it’s what he does. After he heals, he asks the bystanders, (Luke 6:9) “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” The answer would seem obvious but as soon as you decide to “do good, to save a life” you lose your bystander tag and become an answer to the prayer “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as in heaven.” And since the way of all disciples of Jesus is “to love your neighbor as yourself” the option is never to push record on our cell phones. PK