The Crippled Woman:
This woman had an infirmity for 18 years. It is a story of love, compassion and what is really important in the kingdom of God. The difference of legalism and righteousness is brought to light through this woman. Luke 13:10-17
The story of the crippled woman is only found in the Gospel of Luke. This is not surprising because Luke was a physician and would focus on the telling of this woman’s story. She gives us a great incite of life in the world of hurting women. She gives us hope and courage to carry on knowing the love, compassion and righteousness of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. There was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed and could not lift herself up. There are two things to consider here and both are important to our growth as Women of Christ: The reason for the infirmity and how she handled it.
Since the Luke 13:11 refers to this condition as being a spirit of infirmity I am suggesting that this infirmity was a fragility of the soul not a condition from birth. Carrying heaving burdens, bearing trials and troubles for 18 years could weaken the body and could bow the back. Bow the back is an indication that this poor crippled woman was completely bent forward and could not lift herself up. Since this crippled woman has no name it is what happens to her that is important not her name. She was in the synagogue which suggests that she a faithful woman. This is supported because Jesus saw her, and He called her to Him. Jesus told her she had been loosed from her infirmity. She was released from her fragility of the soul.
Jesus laid His hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. What an amazing righteous act of making a suffering human being whole and straight. It is even more fitting that this brave woman glorified God in the synagogue on the Sabbath. The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!” (Luke 13:14).
The focus was on the legality of healing on the Sabbath. The focus should have been on the miracle of healing, the righteousness of the healing. The crippled woman glorified God for her healing. She made a statement that she was a worthy person and one that received a great gift from Jesus and gave glory to God. She believed in the healing powers of Jesus. Jesus put it into proper proportion when in Luke 13:15 He called the ruler of the synagogue a hypocrite. Jesus pointed out that everyone would loosen an animal on the Sabbath and lead him the animal to water. Jesus was pointing out that a human being is more important than the animals in the field.
Even today in our society we see that there are more respect and more attention given to the animals who are in trouble than they do with humans who are in the same kind of trouble. It is easier to give a few dollars or a few sacks of food to an animal than it is to give a person in trouble a listening ear. Where has our compassion gone?
The next verse Jesus identifies that the crippled woman was a daughter of Abraham, meaning she was of the chosen people. And it was satan who had bound her the 18 years. How fitting it was that it was on the Sabbath that this crippled woman was released from the bonds that satan has placed upon her.
When Jesus had said these things, all His adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. Because this crippled women had been pledged for 18 years by satan and became bent over with an infirmity people rejoiced and recognized the miracles of Jesus Christ on the Sabbath. This woman gives us all hope.
It is easy for us to blame God for allowing suffering in our lives that too often cripples us. Jesus held satan responsible for this suffering of this crippled woman. It was satan that had entangled her and far too often us in a society that puts legalism over righteousness. The social media dictates what we should be, who we are, and what we should look like.
We are held captive by the evilness of a society that allows our very identity to be dictated to through glamor magazines, movies, video games, even the tabloids lining every grocery store shelf that tells us how ugly we are. We need to stand up on the beauty we have inside because we are daughters of a loving Lord who value us as Women of Christ. The dictates of this society should not be allowed to claim who we are and what we should look like inside or outside. We are all who the LORD has created and loves.
We need to go to the LORD in prayer and stand up straight and ask that the heavy burdens that more times than not that society has placed upon our shoulders. We need to stand up straight and claim with confidence the love we are given by Jesus Christ. He accepts us for who we are, who He has created and who He uses for His bidding.
Once the woman was healed and set free she glorified God. She recognized the miracle. We need to stand up and recognize the miracles and the blessings we have in our lives today given to us individually by the LORD God. I am not talking about the flashy, pretend, earth shaking miracles that do not give the glory to a loving LORD that we see on the television. I am talking about the miracles that are done in the quietness of the soul, for the everyday “stuff” that happens in our lives. These are the miracles that the common people or the ruler of the synagogue cannot see nor understand. The quiet times we feel the arms of Jesus wrapped around us in comfort or protection. The miracles we feel in those times we hear the words of Jesus come into our heart in times of trials or troubles. The comfort and peace we receive in times of pain and anguish are miracles of love from the LORD.
We serve a loving LORD who does not want His people to be bent over with physical disability or bodily imperfection or sexuality or age or education or income. We serve a LORD who holds us beautiful to behold and precious in His sight. He would have His family to have our strength renewed. He would have us run and not be weary or in pain. He would have us walk and not be faint or afraid. He would want us to recognize and know that we belong to Him and are accepted and loved by Him. He would want us to know He wants us to be set free and restored to our wholeness and to walk straight into His arms.
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “The Crippled Woman:.” Becker Bible Studies Library Oct 2014.< https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1439 ,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2014, October) “The Crippled Woman:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1439,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2014) “The Crippled Woman:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (October), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1439 , (accessed).
