Amy C Walters

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

When Jesus defends a woman he has healed against a religious ruler’s rebuke, he calls her a “daughter of Abraham.” It’s the only time this title is used in Scripture. Through it, and the rest of Jesus’ interaction with her, we see that Jesus affirms the dignity of women.

One of the things that we want to look at in this story is how Jesus interacts with other people in it–particularly, how he interacts with the woman who’s the main character. 

Even though she’s the main character, we know very little about her. We don’t know her name, we don’t know her age. What we do know is that she has been suffering for 18 years from this crippling disability, that she’s bent over and cannot straighten up at all. And we know that she has come to the synagogue on the Sabbath, where she meets Jesus.

We’ve mentioned how it’s probably very difficult for her to even get to the synagogue, to walk there in the state that she’s in, but she has come. And Jesus, as he is teaching, sees her and calls her forward.

As a woman who’s been living with a disability for almost two decades, she’s probably used to fading into the background, to being unnoticed and ignored. But here Jesus is calling her out in front of everyone. She might have been scared. 

But maybe she’s heard about Jesus, and just maybe there’s a little tiny spark of hope in her as she steps forward. And that hope is justified. Jesus says to her, “Woman, you are set free from your disability.” 

We’ve talked about how calling her “woman” is not derogatory or rude. Instead, it’s a term of respect. There’s warmth in it. And Jesus is communicating to her that freedom is coming.

Then Jesus puts his hands on her and heals her. Now, Jesus has healed other ways in the past. The woman with the bleeding issue just touched the hem of his robe (Luke 8:44). Some people were healed with Jesus just saying the words. So no physical contact was needed. But Jesus chose to heal her that way. 

There’s something so warm and comforting and close about that. It’s possible that this woman has not experienced human touch in a while because of the situation that she’s in.

But when Jesus touches her, she is healed and she straightens up. Her first response is to glorify God. She praises God for the healing that she’s just experienced.

So let’s review the main points of the story so far. Jesus sees the woman, calls her, speaks to her, touches her, and heals her. Jesus initiates the healing and does all of the action. 

This woman was not standing there raising her hand. She wasn’t calling out to him. She wasn’t trying to get his attention. Jesus is the one who initiates it all. 

And it doesn’t stop there. The synagogue ruler then rebukes her and anyone else who has come for healing. “There’s six days to do work, come on those days for your healing, not the Sabbath.” It’s interesting that the synagogue ruler aims his rebuke at the people, not at Jesus. 

But Jesus comes to the woman’s defense. He says to the synagogue ruler, and to anybody else who would side with him, “You hypocrites, doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it 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?” 

Let’s take note of a couple of things from what Jesus says. First of all, he mentions that she’s been bound for 18 long years. Luke does not record in this story that this woman told him any of that information. And Jesus, as we know, has been traveling from village to village teaching in the synagogues. So it’s not like he’s been staying there, hanging out in this town, meeting everybody and getting to know all of their stories. But Jesus knows this about the woman without her having to say it. 

Jesus calls the woman, “A Daughter of Abraham.” This title is not used anywhere else in Scripture. “Son of Abraham” appears several times in the Bible, showing that someone is an Israelite, one of God’s chosen people. 

So what Jesus is saying to the synagogue ruler about this woman is that she, too, is one of God’s chosen people, just like you. You are family. And as a daughter of Abraham, she is an heir to the promises that God made to Abraham. 

If we put all of that together–how Jesus treats and responds to this woman–we get our key truth for today: Jesus affirms the dignity of women.

In a time when women were probably more prized for their ability to have children and the work that they could do, Jesus says that her value does not come from that. Her value comes from who she is, a daughter of Abraham, an heir of the promise, a child of God. That’s who she is.

We’ve seen already in the Book of Luke how Jesus honors and values women in a way that’s so different from the culture he lived in. When Mary chooses to sit at Jesus’ feet, listening to him teach, Jesus affirms her (Luke 10:42). Jesus had women supporting his ministry, following him as disciples (Luke 8:1-3). Jesus went out of his way to help women. He pauses in his teaching and preaching and traveling to reach out and help them. Young women and old, Jesus affirms their dignity. He shows them their value as daughters of God. Jesus was consistently countercultural in his honoring treatment of women. 

That is the Jesus who reaches out to us and calls us to him as well. We live in a culture that claims to value women, and that believes the Bible devalues them. But how are women treated today? What are they valued for? 

We’re valued for how we look. The more beautiful you are, the more value you have.

Or maybe we’re valued for what we can do. Are you someone who has it all, huge following on social media, a great mom, an incredible housemaker, that your life is like a magazine? Those are the things that we value.

But Jesus says your value is not in any of those things. It’s that you are his daughter. 

Maybe you’ve been overlooked like the woman in this story. Jesus says to you, “I see you. I know you. I’m calling you. I’m speaking to you. I want to heal you and defend you and honor you.” 

Today as you go, ask God to uproot any lies that you’ve started to believe about your value and your worth. Ask him to instead let his truth sink deep into your heart about who you are in him, that you are valued, that you are honored, that you have dignity as God’s daughter, and that he loves you deeply. Because Jesus affirms the dignity of women.