'Ever wish you had a ring side seat? I mean, how wonderful it would be if we could step into the synagogue that day and see Jesus at work! [Luke 13] But we can imagine what he was like, especially when gripped with mercy. Hmmm, as was his Sabbath custom, Jesus was in the Father's house. On this day, there was also a woman, wracked with physical pain and discomfort trying not to draw attention to herself, but then - Jesus saw her.
Luke writes: Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.
But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”
Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him." Luke 13.10-17
We truly see Jesus' great compassion toward humanity in these verses.
What was wrong with the woman? Another Bible translation described the woman as having a 'spirit of infirmity'.1 Still another that the woman had been 'crippled by a spirit.2
**Something about this woman's condition impacted Jesus, but I must confess to you that something about her frailty/her physical state has greatly impacted me too. I have spent hours looking at the Greek word for infirmity and the various Bible translations and interpretations to determine what in the world was going on with her. This we know: she was bent at the waist, and this position for 18 long years. Imagine the difficulty of moving through life--not being able to look at the sunshine or the stars at night, the face of a child or a loved one without lifting her head and turning it to the side to see. How her neck must have ached, and her lower back!
Because Jesus truly saw the pathetic woman, He did the unthinkable by putting his hands on her, (a rabbi touching a woman? tsk, tsk), and He set her free from what had afflicted her, (this offended the synagogue ruler who Jesus set him straight!)
Here is a link for Luke 13, with a purview of four different Bible translations: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke 13.10-17&version=RSV;NLT;ESV;NIV,
The differences are small but interesting, and shed light on meaning.
What else in Luke 13? Jesus gave the Parable of the Fig Tree which illustrates the patient heart of our Father who longs for all to turn from their self-centeredness to Him, even letting evil go on longer than we think it ought, that more will come to Him.
And ah, the Mustard Seed Parable, in which Jesus likens the kingdom of God to a mustard seed--small as it is--yet from it, springs forth growth, a place of belonging and life. What beauty and flourishing can be wrought from a single tiny mustard seed! The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed planted in a man's garden that grows and becomes a vast tree where birds nest. Why, the nesting mama bird alone is a picture of the tender heart of God! Remember, Jesus had just taught Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.3 God is not only just, He is tender and compassionate.
Because God is compassionate and merciful, He healed the nameless woman--after 18 long years in her stooped position. Jesus set her free! Recall that earlier in Luke at the start of Jesus' ministry He announced that God had sent Him to "proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed"4 And so we have seen Jesus miraculously heal people, setting them free from that which bound them, including evil spirits--which seem to have caused this woman's disability.
And so I ask myself: what about now? What is Jesus' heart toward those who have a spirit of infirmity--those who are bound by addiction, mental illness, haunting memories of the past, crippling disease, chronic pain or something else entirely?
They , no we might not be bent over at the waist but inside ourselves, we are victims of dis - ease.
Does God still set the captive free?
Of course he does!
Did divine healing stop when Jesus ascended into Heaven?
No, Ma'am.
I submit to you - we often do not entrust these things to him.
You do not have because you do not ask.5
Please check out this song that is so right on:
God of Every Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvfwnFPaRRU
Let God be God of Your Story!
Christine
Luke, #45
1 - Luke 13.11, RSV
2 - Luke 13.11, NIV
3 - Luke 12.6
4 - Luke 4.18
5 - James 4.2
Comments