Key Verse: "Woman, you are set free from your
infirmity."
Luke 13:12B
Here we go again, with another confrontation on the Sabbath!
This time it's a poor old woman who has suffered for eighteen years. Jesus does
battle for her, offering relief, not only from her physical burden, but from
her spiritual ones.
Was she depressed due to her infirmity? Was her suffering
brought on through some act of sin, as we speculated concerning the man in John
5:1-15? Again, as with the man, we do not know. In God's infinite
grace, her story is buried with her. All we need to know is that she was
crippled by a spirit for eighteen years, (Luke 13:11) and Jesus released her
from its grasp, (Luke 13:12-13).
What I find interesting in this story, is the response of
the leader of the Synagogue in which Jesus is teaching. He does not address
Jesus directly. Instead, he turns to the people. Was he looking for support?
"There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on
the Sabbath." (Luke 13:14B) Healing might have been work for him, but not
for Jesus. It was worship.
Jesus, in typical fashion, does not hold back. He addresses
the Synagogue leader, but he makes sure that the people hear as well. Jesus
basically points out that the attitude of this leader is to treat his animals
better than his fellow human being who was, not only created in the image of
God, but is of the same nationality as himself. She too is of the chosen race,
yet the man's ox obviously enjoyed more compassion than his own distant sister
through Abraham. (One can observe that even today, some people treat animals more humanely than they treat other humans,)
Again, the twisting of the Sabbath and the oppression of
religion is brought forward for Jesus to address. He would not walk away and
wait for tomorrow when He could relieve her suffering today! Again we are
reminded of His stated mission, "The Lord has anointed me to preach good
news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim
freedom to the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners," (Isaiah
61:1 & Luke
4:18-19).
This is what He came to do then and this is what He came
to do for you today. He longs to release you from whatever is weighing you down
and holding you back. The Psalmist says: "Praise be to the Lord, to God
our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Our God is a God who saves; from the
sovereign Lord comes escape from death." (Ps.
68:19-20) I struggle daily to remember to hand my burdens to the Lord for
Him to carry. When I succeed, I walk a little straighter and hold my head a
little higher, just as this woman experienced, because I am no longer carrying
my burden alone. I am released from its crippling effects on my soul. May He
also help you with yours.
Hymn: "Don't Forget the Sabbath"
also: the Cares Chorus
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