A Liberating Sabbath

Luke 13:10-17

This event is only recorded in Luke’s gospel.

It allows a fascinating look at how Jesus relates to the Sabbath, to man-made religion, to Satan’s long victimization of a woman, and of that woman’s complete liberation.

Verse 10 –

• Teaching in the synagogue. When Jesus (and later the disciples) were described as teaching in synagogues, they were simply participating in the regular order of the service. That involved the reading of the Scripture and then open discussion of the text. Any Jewish adult male could join in this activity. So, Jesus doesn’t “take over” the order of service; His teaching is a natural part of it. Of course, the quality of His teaching was indeed supernatural. He taught as no man ever had.

• This is the last recorded instance of Jesus teaching in a synagogue. It probably occurred in the last few months of His earthly ministry.

• The woman had been bound by a demonic spirit for 18 years. The word used of her condition is a specific medical term. It is characteristic of the physician/author to use such terms. The word means “bow together” and probably referred to a fused spine or severe curvature of the spine. At any rate, it would have bent her over, caused great pain and severely restricted movement. And, most likely, it would have had a lethal ending.

Verse 12 –

• Jesus saw her. There isn’t any indication in the text that she did anything to draw attention to herself – no imploring Jesus, no crying out. She would have been seated (or moving toward a seat) in the section of the synagogue reserved for women.

• Jesus called her over. Notice, His “formal” teaching stops for a moment…but not his teaching. No, even when Jesus wasn’t preaching a sermon or explaining an Old Testament passage, He was always teaching: in small groups, in personal conversations, by His deeds, and by His personal example. In this case, Jesus sees not only a beloved “daughter of Abraham” who needs His care, He also sees a wonderful teaching moment for everyone present as well as for everyone (including us) who will learn about it later.

• Note that the compassion of Jesus isn’t mere sentiment. It meets the needs of hurting people.

• Jesus frees her from her physical affliction and the influence/control of a demon. The tense used here means she is liberated now and from now on.

Verse 13 –

• The command occurs at the same time as verse 12. Again, the laying on of Jesus’ hands here is a picture of His compassion, His humility, His kind identification with seeking men and women, and of His power to fully possess His own. It is as if His hands are declaring to Satan: she is Mine!

• Her healing is complete. Luke uses the same word “erect” as he did in verse 11 explaining what she couldn’t do before.

• She began to glorify God. She understood where the power had come from. Also the Greek here signifies that her grateful praise of God was ongoing.

Verse 14 –

• The official is indignant. It is a pretty strong word in the original language, coming from a source that meant physical pain. It thus refers to very intense irritation, far more than simple annoyance. Here’s something to consider – this feeling is frequently sinful, but it doesn’t have to be. If it is an expression arising from pride, selfishness, loss of control, impatience, jealousy, etc., it is a sinful act. A couple of other New Testament examples where the word is used to show incorrect attitudes: when the other disciples were “indignant” toward the expressed ambitions of James and John and the “indignation” of certain disciples against the women who extravagantly ministered to Jesus.

• However, be careful not to interpret words out of context. “Usage determines meaning” (that’s an old saying among Bible scholars) and it means that a technical definition of a word is only part of what the reader needs to understand it. You must interpret the word in its specific context: who uses it, how it’s used, how it is received by the listeners present, and so on. And to illustrate this maxim, here’s an interesting example to show that strong indignation doesn’t necessarily mean sin; namely, the fact that Mark uses the same word to describe Jesus’ reaction to the disciples when He discovered they were keeping the children from coming to Him!

So, be careful. Use context, etymology and the normal use of language – all of these – to best determine a word’s meaning. And, on this particular point, note that one can be angry and sin not. One can feel and even demonstrate righteous indignation towards evil. But do we too often claim the latter when it really is an expression of sin? I’m afraid so. Be careful then of our exegesis and be careful of your honest, holy living!

• The synagogue official says his indignation is because Jesus broke the Old Testament law by healing this woman on the Sabbath. He is wrong. Yes, he correctly quotes the Law but his “therefore” is all on his own. Even the laws the Jews had devised on their own allowed for healing on the Sabbath. Again, the official is just plain wrong. Note too how he doesn’t dare to address Jesus Himself, he confines his criticism to the crowd. And he acts as if he could have/would have healed the woman had she come on another day! She had been suffering from this demonic ailment for 18 years already. Where had he been?

• Beyond these issues, Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. His liberating compassion is always in order. And indeed one of the very purposes for the Sabbath was its reminder of God’s delivering power (Deut. 5:15).

Verse 15 –

• Jesus obviously hears the official’s complaint and responds to him and others who are sharing his criticism. (Note the plural “hypocrites” that Jesus answers.) The word comes from the masks used in ancient drama. The word had come to mean a dissembler, a fake. It is used 20 times in the gospels (15 in Matthew alone) and always by Jesus towards stiff-necked sinners.

• Jesus’ question is a powerful one, exposing not merely the hypocrisy of the synagogue official’s argument, but its irrationality too. Is animal care more important than caring for human beings? Absurd! But this is how utterly ridiculous man-made religion can get.

• A side note…for those who believe that the newborn Jesus wasn’t laid in a real manger, note that the word for “stall” here in verse 15 is the same word used in Luke 2: 7, 12 and 16.

Verse 16 –

• Satan is involved in the physical oppression the woman has endured. The demon hasn’t acted on his own.

• Should she not be healed?

Verse 17 –

• The opponents of Jesus are humiliated. In fact, the Greek tense suggests this was a continuous shame they experienced. And yet, they would not repent and turn to Jesus!

• Not all synagogue officials reacted this way. Remember Jarius in Mark 5?

• The multitudes, unlike their teachers, recognized the obvious and rejoiced at Christ’s miracles. Freedom and truth and grace are always to be celebrated.