“YOU ARE SET FREE FROM YOUR INFIRMITY”
Luke 13:10-21
Key Verse: 13:12
“When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.’”
Do you know that it is just 160 years ago that President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring “that all persons held as slaves are… henceforward and forever free.” After the end of the Civil War, the House passed the “Thirteenth Amendment” to abolish slavery in the United States in January 1865. At that time, 4.8 million people were enslaved. Since then, American is called “the land of the free.”
Over the Halloween weekend, there are multiple mass-shootings at Halloween gathering across the country – in Texas, Indiana, Kansas, Florida, and Chicago, Ohio. At least 11 people were killed and more than 70 others injured. Though we are living in this land of the free, it seems like we are not free at all. Instead of enjoying freedom, so many people, especially the young, are bounded by many things such as anxieties, depressions, bitterness, fatalistic worldviews, jealousy, hatred, pride and all kinds of addictions. Our precious freedom, bought by the blood of our forefathers, seems squandered on self-indulgence.
How can we have true freedom? We need Jesus, the son of God who set us free from the power of sin. In today’s passage, we learn how Jesus sets us free. By listening to and holding onto his words, we may be set free by His word of truth. The kingdom of God may come and grow in our hearts.
First, Jesus sets us free from our infirmities (10-13).
Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, where suffering and death awaited him. What was Jesus doing on his way? On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues. Teaching the word of God had been the one thing Jesus never ceased doing, even until his death on the cross. Jesus knew that the word of God is the word of eternal life. As a farmer plants seeds, Jesus planted the seeds of the word, believing that those who hear the words, accept it, and retain it in their hearts, will
produce the fruits of eternal life.
In the synagogue, there was a woman who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. Seeing her body bent over was sad, but even more heartbreaking was the fact that she had been bounded by Satan for 18 long years. I can imagine that when she was a girl, she skipped like a deer and her face radiated the brightness and beauty of youth like Angela or Margaret. She walked and ran upright, gazing up at the sun by day and the sparkling stars at night, rejoicing in everything around her. But, one day she likely began to experience weakness in her spine or muscle, causing her body to gradually droop forward, more and more, and then she became bent over. Since then, she was marginalized by all her friends one after another and eventually she became alone isolated. For 18 years, she had on gaze upon the sun nor stars of night. Her physical infirmity also caused her spiritual infirmity. It was unbearable for her that she became useless and burdensome. She lost all her brightness. A long-lasting sense of shame and isolation brought her deep sorrow, and despair. Just as her body was bent over, her mind too become bowed down by the sense of condemnation, being unloved, ignored, abandoned and rejected. A spiritual infirmity is as real as a physical one.
When she entered the synagogue, no one paid attention to her. Since she did not want to be noticed, she hid herself behind others and always sat in the back corner. She was the least noticed among all the people. She might have been there every Sabbath, but no one noticed her or cared for her. The worst aspect of this poor woman’s case was that she had borne her suffering for 18 long years. 18 years of happiness might fly like a fleeting moment, but enduring 18 years of pains, 18 years of being bent to the ground; 18 years under the bondage of the devil would feel like an eternity. That was the condition of this poor woman.
Look at verse 12. “When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Though no one noticed her, Jesus saw her. In fact, Jesus found her, the lost one. Not only found her, but also Jesus knew and understood how she came to be bound, what she had suffered, and how hopeless and power she had been under bondage of the Satan, though nobody told him. Jesus found her. Jesus, the Son of God, came to seek and find the lost. (Lk19:10)
Our Lord Jesus is a good shepherd who looks for the lost sheep until he finds it. He has truly tender and gracious eyes, which fall upon this poor woman. Some of us may think that no one knows you; no one cares for you; your sufferings are unknown. However, Jesus seeks you and finds you. You might consider yourself to be the last, but Jesus put you upon the first. He is willing to take all risks for this woman, and for you.
Then, what did Jesus do for her? “He called for forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Jesus set her free. To her, it was like the Emancipation Proclamation. Not only that, Jesus also put his hands on her. Then, immediately she straightened up and praised God. Healing her spiritual and also physical infirmity, Jesus restored her as a precious child of God and enabled her to live a new life for the glory of God.
God created human beings in his own image to be stewards of his world. Human beings have tremendous capacity and possibility to do great work to please and glorify God. We are fearfully and wonderfully made to live with dignity, crowned in glory and honor (Ps 8:5; 139:14). However, the power of sin has disfigured the image of God and corrupted and degraded people in many ways. Paul describes fallen man like this: “[they] live…in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed” (Eph 4:17-19). Though they look okay physically, their minds, thoughts, hearts are bent or crooked by the power of sin. We are supposed to love each other, but we hate and hurt each other. We supposed to be obedient children, but we become rebellious and stubborn ones; we are supposed to be compassionate and merciful parents, but we become selfish and indifferent; we are supposed to be kind and understanding wives or husbands, but we become ignorant and foolish.
This is what Paul testify his struggle in Romans 7. “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me… What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” (Rom7:15-24) It is because our hearts and even emotions have been damaged and distorted. We all need healing and restoration from the power of sin.
Then, who can heal and restore us? Who can set us free from Satan’s bondage? Here, Jesus uses the figure of an ox and donkey tied up. As ox or donkey cannot get to the trough to drink, we are strained and cannot set ourselves free. We need a savior more powerful and strong than Satan. “Woman, you are set free!” Here, Jesus demonstrated his power and authority as the Son of God, by declaring the emancipation of this poor woman; by restoring her crippled body completely. “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity!” Jesus is the son of God who set us free from all bondage of sin. We are free indeed for the Son sets us free. (Jn8:36)
In order to set us free from the power of sin and death, Jesus paid the price through his death on the cross. That is why Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. Peter testified how Jesus set us free, saying “‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed’” (1Pe 2:24). Peter also boldly declared, “But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (Ac 2:24). In this way Jesus defeated the power of death through his resurrection. So anyone who comes to Jesus can be healed from their wounds, set free from all the powers of sin and Satan. They can freely live a meaningful and fruitful life. By Jesus’ word – “Woman, you are set free!” she was set free indeed.
Look how she responded to Jesus’ grace. She praised God. What she said was not recorded. We can imagine it was something like this – “I have been 18 years among you as a poor miserable wretched object. But Jesus set me free from all my infirmity.” She spoke with her eyes, with her hands, with every part of her body. She moved about to see if she was really straight and to make sure that it was not all a delusion. By every movement, she praised God. Jesus seeks, finds and sets us free from our infirmities and restores the image of God in us. So, we need not be bound any longer. Trust him; Believe him; Be made straight; and then tell what the Lord has done for you like the woman!
Second, Jesus sets us free from legalism (14-17).
When people saw the wonderful things Jesus had done for the woman, the synagogue leader was indignant. It was because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath (14a). He could not rebuke Jesus. So he rebuked the people, saying, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” (14b) Why was he so indignant? They considered healing a kind of work on the Sabbath. To him, Jesus had broken the Sabbath rule by healing the woman. But, in fact, the Sabbath rule he was referring to was a man-made interpretation, not God’s word. Jesus was not breaking the law of God, but only the rules made by men.
Just like the woman, actually the synagogue ruler and other leaders were bounded by legalism. How he understood the Bible and how he viewed others was restrained by legalism. So, he could not see the wonderful thing Jesus had done; he could not see the poor woman’s long sufferings. As a result, he could not have compassion on her and became very legalistic and judgmental. This is why the synagogue ruler was indignant.
How did Jesus help the synagogue ruler? Look at verses 15. The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Calling him “You, hypocrites!” Jesus shamed the synagogue leader and the other leaders. It was because they freely broke their Sabbath rules to care of their animals, yet they accused Jesus of breaking the rules to heal the poor woman. Let us read verse 16. Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” What Jesus said clearly shows how their value system was crooked; how they were spiritually crippled by legalism, pride, and self-righteousness. At the same time, it tells his compassion and love for the poor woman.
Even though they treated her less than an ox or donkey, Jesus called her “a daughter of Abraham,” He saw her as one of God’s precious child who is worthy of God’s blessings and promises of the kingdom of God. To Jesus, this poor woman was very precious, beyond compare to an animal. As a father loves his daughter, Jesus loved her as his own whom God gave to him; he love her with an everlasting love as the one whom he bought with his blood. That is how and what Jesus saw each of us.
Jesus also taught them God’s compassion for the lost. Just as they had pity for their ox and donkey tied up to the manger without water, God certainly has pity for his poor, tried, tempted, afflicted children. God will remember their sorrowful state and hear their groaning. Since she had been 18 years bound, she shall not wait a minute; she shall be set free at once. So, Jesus asked “Should not this woman… be set free on the Sabbath?” Yes. She should be set free. So, immediately Jesus proclaimed her emancipation and empowered her to straighten up. In this way, Jesus demonstrated God’s compassion and love for a powerless and hopeless woman.
At Jesus’ words, all of his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing (17). Here we learn that Jesus, the son of God, set us free indeed from all infirmities by His words of Truth. Jesus said in John 8:34-36. “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin…So, if the Son set you free, you will be free indeed.” Since Jesus, the Son of God set us free, we are free indeed to live as sons of Abraham and daughters of Abraham. We freely live to display the glory of God in our life of giving, life of serving, and life of mission. No longer have we lived in fear, but we live by faith in God, live by the hope of the kingdom of God. I freely serve the living God, praise God, freely and joyfully worship God, and make living sacrifice to God with my life, for I am free indeed in Jesus.
Third, What the kingdom of God is like(18-21).
When Jesus demonstrated his compassion and love by healing the woman, the people were delighted. Then, Jesus wanted to help people open their eyes to see and understand what the kingdom of God is like by telling two parables.
First, the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches” (18-19). The mustard seed is the smallest of all garden seeds. It is easy to ignore or dismiss it. But this one seed has life in it. It has the potential to grow into a giant garden tree twelve feet tall and provide perches for many birds. In the same way the kingdom of God starts out small like teaching the Bible to one person. It may seem insignificant, but in God’s eyes it is the beginning of new life which will grow to become a big tree which will be a blessing for many. God began his work of salvation for all sinners with one man like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David. Though each of them was small like mustard seed, they had grown to be a blessing for many. 12 disciples were really like mustard seed. When they grown and became bible teachers and shepherds like Jesus, all nations over the world have been blessed through them. That is how God works.
How could healing a woman make any change against such powerful and well-established religious leaders? What change could the 12 disciples make against the Roman Empire? Economically, socially, mathematically, politically it does not make sense at all. If you want to do great work, you should work with powerful and influential people in the world. But the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. Jesus’ teaching and healing one crippled woman seemed insignificant. But the kingdom of God started when one person received Jesus’ words and was restored in God’s image. The work of God in one person is more important than all the businesses of the world. God’s salvation work goes on in this way. So we may not overlook or ignore small mustard seed- one bible study, one bible student. But we may value highly the work of God in one person through his word. Each of them are like a mustard seed. They will grow to be great tree, so that many Rutgers students will find rest and find gospel through their bible studies.
Next, the kingdom of God is like yeast. “Again he asked, ‘What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough’” (20-21). Sixty pounds of flour can produce enough bread to feed 100 people. A minute quantity of yeast can permeate such a large amount of dough and have a profound effect on it. This illustrates the power of influence. One man/woman of God who believes in Jesus, teaches his word, and loves others with a compassionate heart can influence a whole community. Influence is invisible; we cannot see or touch it. So, it can be ignored or unnoticed. However, such good influence makes profound effect and change in all our relationships. When we have faith in Jesus and help even one needy person with the word of God until they are restored, we can be a good influence. Then the kingdom of God permeates our bible students, and Rutgers campus.
Thank God for allowing us to have NBTS to worship. We are like small amount yeast in the middle of Rutgers campus, big dough. We may live by the word of God, practicing and teaching the Bible. Our 1:1 Bible study may effect and change RU to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. God may not need 100 or 1000 Pharisees and teachers of the law. God may need one true man of God, servant of God who serves one sheep with the love of Jesus. That will change this campus into a kingdom of priest. Jesus sets us free from our infirmities. When we hold onto the word of truth, God will make us and use us as a mustard seed or yeast, so that this campus become a the kingdom of priests and a holy nation. America may be a holy nation through 1:1 Bible Study and disciple making ministry.