A DAUGHTER of ABRAHAM -- Monday:
Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day. If you wanted to find Jesus on the Sabbath day, that is where you would find Him – in a synagogue. In His home town, He also read the Scriptures publicly while there (Lk 4:16). On this particular Sabbath day, as our Lord was "teaching," He noticed before Him "a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself." With great compassion, when He saw her "He called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity." Departing from the synagogue routine, Jesus "laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God." What a glorious occasion! A woman who had been under the oppression of the devil for eighteen years came to the Sabbath gathering, and left in a state of wholeness.
Notice, the infirmity of the woman did not keep her from coming to the synagogue. She was "bent double, and could not straighten up at all" (NASB), yet she came anyway. She could not look up, but she came anyway. In spite of her infirmity, she listened to the teaching of Jesus. When He called her, even though movement must have been with considerable difficulty, she came at His summons.
O, how much we can learn from this woman! Surely she will rise up in the judgment and speak to those who absent themselves from the assembly for the slightest reason. Will she not have a word for those who have become intolerant of their infirmities after only a day, or a week, or a month?
The Lord Jesus is always cognizant of those in the assembly, and we must learn to reckon on that fact. Many bring infirmities with them to the assembly. It is better to be infirm in an assembly where Jesus is teaching, than fully well where He is not teaching.
At a word, Jesus freed this woman. Eighteen years of oppression were instantly dissipated. In an outburst of praise, the healed woman "began glorifying God." Surely everyone will rejoice at such a victory. But, alas, that was not the case. As is too often true, the leader of the local synagogue, called "the ruler of the synagogue," was indignant over the whole incident. He thought it improper to heal anyone on the Sabbath day, and thus delivered a telling speech to the audience. "There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day." Since he was bold enough to articulate his unbelief publicly, the Lord responded to him publicly. "Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound; think of it; for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?" His words were so powerful that "all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him" (Lk 13:10-17, NKJV).
There are some arresting considerations in this text. First, here was a woman of faith – a "daughter of Abraham" – bound by Satan for eighteen years. There was no apparent sin that had brought on the condition, and it was of considerable duration. Although it appeared to be a physical infirmity, it had been induced by the devil. Although she was a daughter of Abraham, she could not rid herself of this infirmity. Yet, it did not keep her from observing the ordinance of the Lord, or listening to the Savior of the world. Too, although she could not look up in the body, she continued to do so in the spirit.
Jesus reasoned that such a one SHOULD be loosed from her infirmity – even though she had NOT been for eighteen years. It was not proper for a daughter of Abraham to be in the presence of the Lord of Abraham, and remain bound by Satan. Too, there was no more appropriate time than the Sabbath day, in which she could enter into a new kind of rest from the oppression of the wicked one.
While this occasion is not intended to be a spiritual template to be placed upon all conditions of infirmity, it does open a door of hope for the oppressed. It seems to me that it is comely for the sons and daughters of the Most High to come expectantly to the assembly. Even if they have great burdens with which they have lived for years, there remains every reason to hope for release. It may be that Jesus will call such people to Himself, and with a single utterance of His powerful word, grant them freedom. No one should dare to withhold such marvelous hope from the people of God. Rather, let us exercise ourselves to give Jesus the speaking role in our assemblies. Who knows what will happen as we sit in rapt attention at His feet.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, help me to be more aware of His presence in holy assemblies, than of those who appear to have the prominence.