Luke 13:10-17

Luke 13:10-17

10 And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” 13 And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God. 14 But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him? 16 “And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 As He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.

Satan seeks to inflict humanity with misery.  A woman was afflicted by an evil spirit who kept her bent over so she was unable stand up straight.  She must have been in terrible pain and suffered even further from the looks of scorn and pity that accompanied her.  It is hard to know why Satan would want to torture her in this way, other than the fact the misery loves company.  God made all of us to reflect His image and worship Him.  Satan strives to squelch this reflection of God’s image in us in any way he can.  When Jesus sees this woman, He calls to her, touches her and sets her free from this evil spirit.  What follows is a myriad of responses to this miracle.  Some of these responses are expected while others are difficult for us to understand.

THE WOMAN GLORIFIED GOD: The woman’s reaction to being healed was to glorify God.  This is clearly the correct and expected response to her situation.  For almost two decades she had been afflicted by this evil spirit without relief.  Now, at the command of Christ, she was free.  The sickness that the spirit had been hurting her with was gone.  She could stand up straight, walk erect and I would imagine she must have danced for joy.  Her heart overflowed with gratitude and she gave glory to God.  The blessings we receive from God should fill our hearts with joy and our lips with praise.  Certainly, sin is the most serious affliction with which each of our hearts suffers.  We have been forgiven and freed by the power of Christ on the cross.  This should cause us to join this woman and all our brothers and sisters in Christ in an anthem of praise to the glory of God.

THE OFFICIAL CRITICIZED CHRIST: The synagogue official responds to the healing of the woman by criticizing her for coming to the synagogue on the Sabbath to be healed.  He makes a statement for all to hear that they can come to seek for healing on the other six days of the week but, in his mind, the Sabbath was not to be used for the purpose of healing.  He seems to ignore the evidence that God was at work in the synagogue that day.  Instead of joining this woman in praising the Lord, he chooses to be controlled by legalism.  Perhaps he was embarrassed that he had not been able to provide this woman with relief and now Jesus was getting all the attention in “his” synagogue.  It is a dangerous thing when we put our reputation and beliefs above the clear workings of God.  We all tend to build “kingdoms” around our own reputations and comfort.  When we perceive that something is a threat to that “kingdom” we run the risk of acting and thinking very foolishly.

THE LORD TAUGHT TRUTH: Jesus responded to this entire situation by defending the woman and teaching the truth of Scripture.  The Law prohibited working on the Sabbath, but there were certain jobs in an agricultural society that simply could not be avoided.  It was not prohibited to eat or drink on the Sabbath and it was recognized that animals needed to be cared for.  A person was not allowed to take his animal and go plow a field on the Sabbath, but he could untie the animal and lead it to a place where it could eat and drink and then tie it back up.  Jesus showed the synagogue official that his “theology” was clouding his judgment and common sense.  If it was legal for a person to untie an animal to provide relief from thirst; it certainly must be legal to “untie” a woman from the bondage this spirit had tied her up with.  God’s Word is true and we must always pay close attention to it so we don’t do and say things that contradict what He has taught.

THE OPPONENTS HEARD WITH HUMILITY: It is hard to understand how Jesus would have opponents.  His love, ability to heal and the wisdom of His teaching attracted multitudes of people who wanted to follow.  I can only think of two motives that would have caused people to oppose Him.  The first is jealousy, they wanted to have the crowds following them instead of Him.  The second is unbelief, they simply did not believe that He was the Messiah, so His claims to be the Son of God were blasphemous to them.  This caused them to nit pick and look for any reason they could come up with to support their unbelief.  His refusal to follow their interpretations of the Sabbath would be one of those areas.  However, when Jesus taught the Scriptures, they were humiliated.  His knowledge and ability to teach Scripture put them to shame.  God’s Word is always the best defense as it is authoritative and the source of truth.  Our knowledge of God’s Word is vital for us to be able to communicate the Gospel and convince people of the truth.

THE CROWD RESPONDED WITH REJOICING: The crowd’s response was one of rejoicing.  They saw the miracle and heard Jesus defend Himself.  These were two great reasons to rejoice.  A lady who was stooped over in pain was now dancing around for joy glorifying God.  It is hard not to be thrilled and join the party.  Their faith was also affirmed by the teachings of Jesus.  He put the skeptics to shame and they were rejoicing in the fact that the Messiah had come.  Later on the crowd would turn against Him, but certainly there were some who truly believed.  An emotional response without genuine faith will not endure when hardship and suffering happen.  It is a great thing to rejoice, but it is not enough.  We must truly believe that Jesus is Messiah, the Son of the living God.  Only this conviction will allow our faith to stand the test of time and trials.

APPLICATION: When we face any trial, temptation or satanic attack, we must take these things to the Lord, He is our only true source of hope.  We must give glory to God and worship Him for all He has done in and for us.  Know God’s Word and boldly use it to defend our faith and challenge those who scoff at Him.  Evaluate the motives of our hearts to make sure we are not building our own “kingdoms” to the point that our hearts are flooded with jealousy and unbelief.  Rejoice in the glory of God and worship Him, but make understand that an emotional experience must be grounded in genuine faith.