#122 Lu. 13:11-17  JESUS HEALING ON THE SABBATH DAY

Introduction:

    In this text Jesus heals a woman in one of the Jewish
synagogues.  This makes at least three times He has healed in a
synagogue.  Quite obviously all three occasions took place on the
Sabbath day.  That is the day on which they met for worship in the
synagogue.  In the very early part of His ministry He cast a demon
spirit out of a man in the synagogue at Capernaum.  There is no
record of anyone publicly objecting to Him casting the demon out
on the Sabbath day.
    Toward the end of His ministry, also in the synagogue at
Capernaum, He healed a man with a withered hand.  This was the
synagogue in which Jesus had been the principle speaker and
teacher for most of the past three years.  But His healing of the
man with the withered hand had brought such great criticism that
He was not welcome in that synagogue any more.  I am not sure
whether He ever went back to that synagogue any more.
    It seems that this third event took place after the other two
and that it did not take place at Capernaum.  It most likely took
place on one of His trips through Galilee in the later part of His
ministry.  If so, then it took place in the synagogue in one of
the towns or villages that He visited.  As He traveled from place
to place, it was His custom to attend worship services at the
synagogue in whatever place He happened to be on the Sabbath day.

I.  The woman who had an infirmity

    V.  11, "And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of
infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no
wise lift up herself."  On this particular Sabbath day there was a
woman present who was badly afflicted physically.  Luke says that
she had a spirit of infirmity.  In verse sixteen Jesus said that
Satan had caused the affliction.  No doubt, Satan used one or more
demon spirits to bring about this affliction in the woman.  It is
worthy of note that Jesus did not say that the woman was actually
demon possessed.  Never-the-less, demons had caused the
affliction.  Demons can cause afflictions in an individual without
actually entering into him and possessing him.  It seems that is
the case with this woman.
    She had suffered these afflictions for a very long time.  Luke
said that she had been bothered with this affliction for eighteen
years.  It seems that if Jesus had not healed her she would have
had it for as long as she lived.  It would have never gotten any
better.  If it changed at all it would have only gotten worse.
    Luke said that she was bowed together.  That is, she was bent
double.  She was drawn double and even with the greatest of effort
she was not able to stand up straight.  I am sure she tried, but
she was simply not able to do so.  I said earlier that if Jesus
had not healed her, she might have gotten worse.  Most likely she
could not have been bent over any worse than she already was.  But
she could have gotten worse in that she could get to the place
that she would not be able to walk.  At this time, she was still
able to walk.  There is no mention of her being carried into the
synagogue.  She had walked in on her own.

II.  The woman healed by Jesus

    V. 12, "And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said
unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity."  You will
note that this woman did not approach Jesus and ask Him to heal
her.  Rather when Jesus saw her He had compassion on her and
immediately He called out to her.  He said, "Woman, thou art
loosed from thine infirmity."
    I want you to note closely what Jesus said.  He said, "Woman,
thou art loosed from thine infirmity."  Jesus did not say, "Woman,
I have found a new medicine that I want to try."  He did not say,
"I want to send you to a specialist that might be able to help
you."  He said in effect, "Woman, your affliction is over.  It is
done with.  It is forever gone.  It will never return."
    V. 13, "And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was
made straight, and glorified God."  Now get the picture.  She was
doubled over.  She could not even raise her head to look at Him.
But He reached out and laid His hands on her head and immediately
she straightened up.  While His hands were still on her she
straightened up and His hands went up with her.  It appeared
almost as if He had lifted her up.  He laid His hands on her and
He healed her.  He healed her and she raised up so quickly that it
would appear that He lifted her up.
    The so called miracle workers of our day lay hands on an
afflicted person and pronounce him healed and those who look on
cannot tell whether he was healed or not.  I'll tell you that is
not the kind of miracle working Jesus did.  There was no doubt in
anybody's mind that a miracle had taken place.  This woman had
this affliction for eighteen years and now suddenly at the touch
of Jesus she straightens up.  There was not only no doubt that a
miracle had taken place, but there was no doubt who had performed
the miracle.  Jesus miraculously performed that miracle.

III.  The critical attitude of the ruler of the synagogue

    V.  14. "And the ruler of the synagogue answered with
indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, and
said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to
work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath
day."  Now can you feature this?  Here is this woman that has been
in this condition for eighteen years.  No doubt she had attended
this same synagogue for all or most all of that time.   This same
man had been watching her hobble into his services as best she
could for year after year.  It was an extreme effort on her part
to get in and then after the service was over it was just as
difficult to get up and get out.  He ought to be shouting for joy
that she is healed.  But what does he do?  He gripes and complains
because she is healed on the Sabbath day.
    You will note also that he does not voice his complaint
directly to Jesus.  Rather he voices his complaint to the woman
and to the congregation of people.  He intends for Jesus to hear,
but he does not have the nerve to voice his objection directly to
Jesus.  He might as well have, because Jesus is going to speak
directly to him about it.

IV.  The Lord's rebuke of the critic

    V. 15, "The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite,
doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass
from the stall, and lead him away to watering?"  Jesus
immediately spoke up and called the man a hypocrite.  I mean right
there in the synagogue right before everybody Jesus calls the
ruler of the synagogue a hypocrite.  He doesn't mince words.
    But Jesus did more than to criticize the man.  He showed the
folly of the kind of reasoning the man used.  Looking at the man
Jesus asked, "Do not you on the Sabbath day show kindness to your
dumb animals?  Do not you loose your ox or your donkey and take
him out to pasture or out to get water?"  Jesus knew that he did.
Furthermore everybody there knew that he did?  All the others did
the same thing.
    Jesus then followed up with another question.  V. 16, "And
ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath
bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the
Sabbath day?"  Jesus appealed to their reasoning not only on the
basis that human beings are of greater value than animals, but
that this woman was a direct descendant of Abraham.
    The first argument should have been enough.  If you can show
kindness to a dumb animal on the Sabbath day then why is it not
lawful to show kindness to a fellow human being?  But not only
that, the Jews took great pride in that they were descendants of
Abraham.  In their minds, the descendants of Abraham stood higher
in rank than all other humans.  In that this woman was a
descendant of Abraham, why would it not be lawful to do kindness
to her?  If you can do kindness to an animal on the Sabbath day,
surely you can do kindness to a descendant of Abraham on the
Sabbath day.
    Jesus also appealed to their reasoning on the basis of
ordinary human kindness.  He reminded the ruler of the synagogue
that this woman had been in this condition for eighteen years.
This descendant of Abraham had been in this dreadful condition for
eighteen years.  That is a long time to bear this illness.
    Further, He appealed to their reasoning on the basis of
opposition to Satan.  This woman was a victim of Satanic forces.
She had been oppressed by Satan.  Surely it is lawful on the
Sabbath day to oppose Satan and to have victory over him.
    These were sharp words.  They would bit.  They were intended
to bit.  I am sure that the look on the Lord's face and the tone
of His voice also expressed His great disapproval.  He wanted all
to know that He disapproved.

V.  The shame of the adversaries

    V. 17, "And when he had said these things, all his adversaries
were ashamed..."  This statement lets us know that the ruler of
the synagogue was not the only one who was critical of Jesus for
healing the woman on the Sabbath day.  There were others present
who were also just as critical.  Apparently they, too, occupied
some place of leadership in the synagogue.  The Jewish leadership
was almost unanimously critical of Jesus.  They were not just
critical of Him healing on the Sabbath day.  They were critical of
Him p-e-r-i-d!  They had not voiced their criticism, but in their
minds they were just as critical as the ruler of the synagogue.
    But after Jesus pointed out the folly of their thinking, they
were ashamed.  They were all ashamed.  Even the ruler of the
synagogue was ashamed.  This is the way that all people ought to
feel when they are shown to be in the wrong.  The problem is that
all too many people never acknowledge their wrong.  They still
insist that they are right even when they are proven to be wrong.
Therefore they never feel any shame for their wrong doing.  I
expect that we have all been guilty of that at one time or
another.  But we ought to be willing to see our error when we are
wrong and we ought to be ashamed of our wrong.

VI.  The rejoicing by the common people

    (V. 17), "...and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious
things that were done by him."  This statement speaks not of the
Jewish leaders but of the common people.  The common people made
up the majority present and they rejoiced at what had happened.
They rejoiced that Jesus healed the woman.  They were happy for
her.
    They rejoiced that Jesus had won the verbal battle with the
ruler of the synagogue and with the other leaders of the
synagogue.  They recognized that their leaders were wrong in this
matter.  They rejoiced in the power of God that was evident in
this great miracle.  The majority of them did not yet accept Jesus
as the Christ, but they did acknowledge that He was a great
prophet of God.  I am not sure about the people in this particular
congregation on this particular occasion, but some of the common
people of Israel actually trusted Jesus as the Christ and as their
personal Savior.  Possibly some of the people in the congregation
were saved after they saw Jesus perform this miracle.
    Luke does not tell us if this woman got saved after she was
healed.  I will have to acknowledge that there is the possibility
that she didn't.  We are not told and therefore we cannot know for
sure.  But in my own mind, I feel sure that she did.  I think she
came to realize that Jesus is the Christ that the prophets of old
had prophesied about.  I think she believed the message of John
the Baptist that Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin
of the world.  I personally think that she trusted in Jesus as her
Savior and I am expecting to meet her in heaven and get acquainted
with her.  I could be wrong, but that is what I expect.

VII.  Some things I would point out to you

    I would now point out some things that stand out to me in this
event.  The first is the great need of the woman.  This woman was
in desperate need.  She was virtually a cripple.  Her whole life
had been disrupted.  She was unable to function as a normal human
being as she had done earlier in life.  There was no way possible
that she could ever overcome her problem by her own effort.
    The second thing I would point out to you is the destructive
work of Satan.  Satan had held this woman captive for eighteen
years.  He had ruined her life.  What is worse, he desired also to
ruin her eternity.  He wants to ruin the lives of all men, women,
boys and girls.  He wants to cause all people to go to hell.
    The third thing I would point out to you is the great love and
compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This woman did not have to
call on Jesus and plead with Him to have mercy on her.  She did
not have to even ask Him to her.  He took the initiative and
extended His mercy to her.  So it is with every man, woman, boy
and girl.  Jesus does not wait for people to turn to Him and plead
with Him for mercy.  He has taken the initiative.  He sends the
gospel message to them.  He sends the Holy Spirit to them to tug
at their heart's door and impress upon them their need of being
saved.  It is true, however that after one is aware that he needs
to be saved, he must call on Jesus and ask Him for salvation.
    Furthermore, I would point out to you the great power of the
Lord Jesus.  In the healing of this poor woman, Jesus demonstrates
that He is the very Son of God.  He is Almighty God dwelling in
human flesh.  He had the power to instantly heal her physical
body.  He is equally able to save the souls of all who are lost in
sin.  He able to save the hell-bound sinner and instantly He can
put him on the road to heaven.
    I say to you that there are many people today who stand in
need of the Lord.  All men are sinners by nature and until one is
born again from above he is lost and on the his road to hell.  He
is held captive by Satan whose greatest delight would be to cause
him to spend eternity in hell.  Every individual in this whole
wide world needs to be saved.  He must be saved or else he will
spend eternity in hell.  Thank God that some of you have already
turned to Jesus and trusted in Him and are saved.  But there is
molt likely someone here this morning who still need to be saved.

Conclusion:

    I am going to call on you who are lost to come and put your
faith in Jesus Christ to save you and keep you out of hell.  I am
also calling on every saved person to give your life in worship
and service of our Lord and Savior.
    Those of you who are lost and are now ready to trust in Jesus
Christ, I am asking you to come during the singing of this
invitation hymn.
    Those of you who are saved and who are now ready to come and
unite with this church, I am asking you also to come forward
during the singing of this hymn.  Some of you may need to come on
promise of a letter from a church of like faith and order.  Some
of you may need to come by statement.  Some of you who are saved
may need to come for baptism.