Read Luke 13:10-17. Imagine being bent over for 18 years! If you got a prison sentence for 18 years, it would be for a most serious crime. But even then, in some ways, you would have more freedom than this woman. She couldn’t stand up straight. She couldn’t look out and up. Mostly, she could only look down.
But this was a faithful woman. She came to the synagogue. Maybe it took her most of the morning to get there. It’s not easy to walk a long way when your body is bent over. You could say it was hard work!
Did she expect to be healed by Jesus? Nothing says so. Jesus saw her arrive. He was preaching, but she came in and he saw a chance to show God’s grace.
Did Jesus do much? No! He said some words, and he put his hands on her. That’s all. It wasn’t hard work. The woman was there because of her faith in God.
Who was responsible for this healing? Jesus said the words before he did anything. He said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment” (Lk 13:12). He didn’t say that he was going to heal her. He said it was already done. God’s power was already at work. But the woman was trusting. She had faith. This is so important for healing.
We have a healer among us – Pastor Paul. He practises traditional Chinese medicine. It doesn’t matter what kind of medicine we receive, we know it’s true: the people who do best are the ones who trust the treatment. If they have confidence in the healer, the healing is more likely to work.
Do we come to God with confidence? Do we pray with the belief that we will receive? It’s so important to start with trust. The woman today trusted Jesus. We can remember many other stories in the Bible where Jesus told the sick person, “Your faith has made you well” (Lk 17:19, Lk 18:42, Mt 9:22 or Mk 5:34). There is no doubt that believing is important.
Already the woman was healed. Then Jesus laid his hands on her. She felt the truth of his power. She was free! What happened next?
She praised God! This was why she came to the synagogue. And now there was something extra to say. She was free! She was able to stand tall, thanks to God’s power. Jesus didn’t need to finish his sermon that day. The woman was speaking. She was healthy again, and she was telling people about what God had done.
Doctors don’t really advertise. But successful healers do get more people coming to them. Why? Because patients who come to them are happy, and they tell other people. As Christians, that’s our job, too. Share what we know. Get people to taste and see how good the Lord is.
The grumpy Pharisee in today’s story was wrong in so many ways. He suggested that the woman came on the Sabbath to get healed. But it was Jesus who decided to reach out and free her. He suggested that this was business that broke the holiness of the seventh day. But Jesus showed how wrong that was. It was OK to untie an ox and lead it to water. For Jesus, it was less work to free this woman. He called on God’s power. And she did her part: she trusted and told. Let’s trust in God’s leading! Let’s tell what he’s done! The Sabbath is holy if our eyes are on God, and not the works of man.
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