Amy C Walters

A Woman with a Disabling Spirit | Luke 13:10-17

While Jesus is teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath, he notices a woman who is disabled. When he heals her, the people rejoice but the religious leaders rebuke them for seeking healing on the Sabbath. But Jesus has come to set them free.

We’ve come to another story that takes place on a Sabbath. It’s one of the major battleground topics between Jesus and the religious leaders. They have very different ideas of what is appropriate on the Sabbath. 

On this particular Sabbath, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue and he sees a woman who’s bent over. She’s unable to straighten up and has suffered from this disabling spirit for 18 years. 

What would it be like to experience that kind of disability? What would your view of the world be? You’re just looking down all the time.

You would be constantly looking down. You’d see nothing but dirt and feet. You wouldn’t get to see people’s faces, or look anyone in the eye. 

Do you remember the early days of the pandemic when everyone was wearing masks and you could only see half of their faces? It was so hard to read their expressions or guess what was going on in their mind. That’s what this woman has endured for 18 years. 

I imagine that it would be very difficult for this woman to do any kind of work, to care for her family, to take care of her home. Being bent over like that would really limit what she is capable of.

It must also be exhausting to walk anywhere. She wouldn’t be able to see where she was going. I’m amazed that this woman is at the synagogue because it must have been a great deal of effort for her to get there that day.

But there she is. And Jesus sees her. He calls her forward and says to her, “Woman, you are set free from your disability.” 

In today’s culture, addressing someone as “woman” would be rather rude. But that’s not the case in the ancient near east, and that’s not the tone of what Jesus is saying. In Jesus’ time and culture, that was a term of respect. 

Jesus later addresses the synagogue ruler who has reprimanded the people for coming there for healing. He says, “You hypocrites, doesn’t each one of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and take him out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for 18 long years, be set free on the Sabbath from what bound her?”

Notice the language around confinement and freedom. Untie. Kept bound. Set free. Jesus is setting up a picture of imprisonment. 

It reminds me of way back in Luke 4, when Jesus is starting his ministry. In the Nazareth synagogue on the Sabbath, he opens the scroll of Isaiah and he reads, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 

Setting the prisoners free, releasing the oppressed. This is part of the Messiah’s job description. And here we see Jesus doing that very thing. He is setting people free. 

But it’s not just this woman, and it’s not just physical freedom that Jesus is bringing. Notice that Jesus was sent to “proclaim freedom to the prisoners,” that is, to preach about it. What kind of freedom comes through preaching? Spiritual freedom. 

Let’s talk about the synagogue ruler. When Jesus heals this woman, he is indignant. Instead of praising God for his power and the woman’s healing, he rebukes the people. “There are six days to work. Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.” 

He is closing the door in their faces to God’s grace and mercy. This synagogue ruler who is supposed to be pointing people to God instead places obstacles in their path to him. 

And this synagogue ruler is not alone. Notice in Jesus’ response to them, he says, “You hypocrites.” Plural. And then later it references “those who opposed him.” Again plural. So even though we just see the synagogue ruler speaking here, he is speaking on behalf of the other religious leaders that were in that place.

Back to the synagogue ruler’s rebuke: Jesus does not let his comment stand. He addresses them very forcefully, calling them hypocrites. And he challenges them with their attitudes towards the very people they are meant to be serving.

In a previous passage, in Luke 12:42-48, Jesus tells a parable about a master who has gone away and has appointed a manager to lead the other servants. But instead of treating those servants with kindness, this manager abuses them. Jesus’ parable is a warning to such abusive managers. 

I believe this synagogue ruler is an embodiment of that parable, that he is one of the managers that Jesus speaks against.

There are mixed reactions to this miracle and rebuke from Jesus. Those who opposed Jesus were humiliated but everyone else rejoiced “at all the glorious things” that Jesus had done. “All the glorious things” makes it sound plural. So the people weren’t just rejoicing at the healing. They were also rejoicing that Jesus spoke up for them against the religious leaders. He was setting them all free from spiritual oppression. 

Our key truth for today is that Jesus sets people free. 

This is a key truth we’ve encountered before in our study of Luke, but it’s worth repeating. Jesus brings out the words “bound” and “set free.” He emphasizes the freedom that he brings. 

We also need to remember that we have been set free. “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). Don’t go back to slavery, to old systems, to old ways of doing things, to earning your salvation. Jesus has set you free from all of that. 

Embrace that freedom. Take this as a reminder from God to celebrate your freedom today. 

Today as you go, think about what Jesus has set you free from. You don’t have to pursue perfection because Jesus has bought your salvation. You can be free of guilt and shame because Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf has wiped it out. You don’t have to carry guilt anymore. And you are free from the expectations of other people. You are free to live in service to your God who set you free.