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10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” 15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing. ~ Luke 13:10-17
When we confront religion, whether in us or someone else, we confront much more, we confront Satan, himself. Religion was Satan's idea from the beginning. It was he who told the couple that they could be like God and man has been following that lead ever since.
According to Luke 13:10, the Lord Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, and it was the Sabbath. It was there the Lord Jesus came into contact with this lady who, for eighteen long, painful years, had an illness caused by a spirit. In fact, according to v.16, Satan was the cause of this woman's illness. She was doubled over and could not stand up straight.
When the Lord Jesus saw her in v.12, He called for her and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." Without even confronting the demon, the Lord Jesus ended the lady's illness. He initiated this event and nothing is mentioned about her faith. The text doesn't even say she came to be healed. It appears she was going about her day as she always did.
That day, the Lord Jesus healed her independent of her will or her faith. He was known to heal with or without faith. He healed people from demon oppression and possession. And He always healed immediately. He healed this lady, as others, completely, instantaneously, and permanently.
In v.13 we read, "Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God." He didn't need to put His hands on her. Of course, according to the Law, she was unclean, due to her sickness. He touched her to communicate to her her value.
In v.14 we read, "Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath."
This ruler of the synagogue had the responsibility to oversee the synagogue. He was the religious establishment man. He was the typical legalist who had little or no compassion for people. He had just seen this lady who needed mercy, compassion, tenderness and kindness. But, this ruler was indignant. He displayed intense displeasure for all to see.
This man had no heart. He showed no compassion. This compassionless legalist thought it better that this lady continue in her suffering than to have the Lord Jesus heal her on the Sabbath in his synagogue.
Notice the language the Lord Jesus uses of freedom and bondage. The synagogue leader uses the word therapeuo, the Greek word for healing. The Lord Jesus, on the other hand, keeps coming back to the words luo and apoluo, the Greeks words for releasing or loosing her bonds. This indicates something more than physical healing is going on here. Yes, there is healing, but there is also something more than healing happening here. The synagogue leader talks about the finer points of the Law while the Lord Jesus talks about freedom from bondage. The Apostle Paul wrote "It was for freedom we have been set free." The Lord Jesus came to free us from the bondage of religion.
Miracles do not create faith, they strengthen faith. Only God's Holy Spirit can produce faith. Granted, we must be willing. But, at the end of the day, He does the work. Here's a man who saw a miracle, right before his eyes. Yet, it didn't matter to him at all, because his heart wasn't prepared for it had never been broken.
The religious, trying to make themselves holy through their supposed good behavior, accumulated many rules that they could keep on the Sabbath and convince themselves in spite of the rest of stuff going on in their heart and life, they were OK with God because they kept the Sabbath. The ruler of the synagogue tried to bring a charge against the Lord Jesus. But of course, there's nothing in the law of God that says you can't help somebody on the Sabbath.
So, the Lord Jesus answers this man in v.15-16 where we read, " 15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"
If I had been crippled for eighteen years, I wonder if I would be faithful to worship God week after week in the synagogue. Surely this lady had prayed and asked God for help, and yet she was not delivered, at least for eighteen long years. However, God’s apparent lack of concern did not cause her to become bitter or resentful.
Ever sensitive to the needs of others, the Lord Jesus saw the woman and called her to come to Him. It may have seemed heartless to the congregation for Him to do this and expose her handicap publicly, but He knew what He was doing. He wanted the woman to help Him teach the people an important lesson about real freedom.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who can set the prisoner free. He spoke the word, laid His hands on her, and she was healed and gave glory to God! That was a synagogue service the people never forgot.
The bondage of the ruler of the synagogue was worse than that of the woman. Her bondage affected only her body, but his bondage shackled his mind, heart and spirit. He was so bound and blinded by religion that he ended up serving the purposes of Satan and opposing the Son of God!
Of course, the Lord Jesus could have healed this lady on any other day of the week. After all, she had been bound for eighteen painful years, and one more day would have made little difference. But He deliberately chose the Sabbath day because He wanted to teach a lesson about freedom. Note the repetition of the word free.
Satan puts people into bondage, but true freedom comes from trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. The Sabbath that God wants to give us is a “heart rest” that comes through His GRACE and not from our attempts to earn His favor.
Ah, GRACE, I love it! Someone recently said to me, "Christianity is too easy." I said, "For who?" He said, "For us." I said, "Of course it is, because it was most difficult for the Lord Jesus who earned it for us." When we live not being buoyed by God's GRACE, we deny the effectiveness of the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. The adventure awaits us, so go and throw caution to the wind and be a display of His GRACE before all to see, today!
