#1395 Luke 13 Part 2 Empathy Isn't Just for Empaths

 

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him. Luke 13: 10-17 ESV

Luke 13: 10-17 Sabbath Good

Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath - This was an enormous part of Jesus' ministry, teaching. He has very close students, disciples, who follow Him, and who He also prepares to send out. He sends them out, and He is also training a smaller group of the disciples to be the head Apostles, the pillars of the church. We have seen Him on the hillsides teaching multitudes, and even teaching from a boat in order to gain some distance from the crowd. The synagogues were places of prayer, public reading and teaching, like the places we meet for church. He is the Word become flesh, dwelling among us, and He puts a lot of His effort into the proper teaching of God's word. The Pharisees and Sadducees have butchered it, added to it, removed what shouldn't have been removed, and Jesus is here to set the record straight. 

1Of David. I give You thanks with all my heart; before the gods I sing Your praises. 2I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your loving devotion and Your faithfulness; You have exalted Your name and Your word above all else. 3On the day I called, You answered me; You emboldened me and strengthened my soul.… Psalm 138: 1-3

…28In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? For all of them were married to her.” 29 Jesus answered, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30In the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.… Matthew 22: 28-30

…8Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in. And he saw and believed. 9For they still did not understand from the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.… John 20: 8-10

Who had a disabling spirit for 18 years - Some argue about the wording, and think it the way of Luke here in describing what was told to him about the situation. Some prefer the medical term of  spondylitis ankylopoetica, but Luke is a doctor and he still chooses to describe it as a spirit. Some will say that not every illness is spiritual or demonic, and true enough, but it doesn't really matter, because every illness can be traced back to the fall which all men have since participated in. 

She was in this condition for eighteen years. “For eighteen years she had not gazed upon the sun; for eighteen years no star of night had gladdened her eye; her face was drawn downward towards the dust, and all the light of her life was dim: she walked about as if she were searching for a grave, and I do not doubt she often felt that it would have been gladness to have found one.” (Spurgeon)

11Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. 12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned. 13For sin was in the world before the law was given; but sin is not taken into account when there is no law.… Romans 5: 11-13

…23When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. 24He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.” 25For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.… 1 Peter 2: 23-25

She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself - That would be a painful position and she knew it for 18 years, and in a culture where it would be assumed that she must therefore be some great sort of sinner. 

1Now as Jesus was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth, 2and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him.… John 9: 1-3

Woman, you are freed from your disability - He lays His hands on her and she immediately straightens out and glorifies God. I can't even begin to imagine, and so we would assume that everyone is happy for her.

Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath Day - Nope, its these guys again from the Karen sect, and now according to him the Son of God is once again guilty of doing good on the Sabbath. "There are six days in which work ought to be done", and that is true, but this is not a law against every form of work on that day. It is a law against commerce, against them setting up business and money as an idol, against making their servants work on the day that was set aside for rest and learning about the Creator. Remember, God created the heavens and the earth in six days, that belongs to Him, and we should reflect upon that. The priest perform their duties in the temple on the Sabbath, the Rabbis teach in the synagogues, but when you hate someone you will grasp at air, invent a rule to hang them on. 

…5Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.… Matthew 12: 5-7

You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey and lead it to water - There is an act of mercy, imagine telling the poor animal, "no water today because it is the Sabbath", and he won't understand you, all he knows is that his mouth is dry. Even these legalist understood that, but they were the grossest sort of hypocrites because they could not apply to this woman what they understood for their donkey. 

“Thou hypocrite to pretend zeal for God’s glory, when it is only the workings of thy malicious, unfeeling, and uncharitable heart.” (Clarke) E Word

This woman - A fellow human being, a creature made in the image of God.

A daughter of Abraham - Kin to you at that, and you would think, as important as lineage was to them, that this would endear the poor woman to them. 

…38I speak of what I have seen in the presence of the Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” 39“Abraham is our father,” they replied. “If you were children of Abraham,” said Jesus, “you would do the works of Abraham. 40But now you are trying to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing.… John 8: 38-40

Whom Satan bound for 18 years - Just look at her state, do you feel nothing? Now that she's healed do you not feel her relief, share in her joy?

Be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath Day - What better day for God to show His favor, to show mercy, to give rest to this poor tormented body and soul. 

All his adversaries were put to shame - They should be, maybe think about this when your watering your donkey, but we know this just fueled their hate. They weren't of a mind to repent.