In this story of Jesus healing a woman who had been bent over for 18 years, we see a picture of dead religion and a living relationship. Dead religion results in bondage, anger, callousness, and hypocrisy, while a living relationship is marked by freedom, joy, compassion, and genuineness.
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Dead Religion Vs. a Living Relationship
Luke 13:10-17
We come this morning to a wonderful story, displaying the wonder of Christ’s power, love, and compassion toward those suffering and in bondage. As we come to Luke 13:10, we are entering a new scene. No longer is Jesus teaching in the outdoors to tens of thousands of people. Now, we find Him teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath day.
As He is teaching, He notices a poor, crippled woman. This woman had an illness brought on her by an evil spirit which caused her to be bent double for the last 18 years. Now, here is a wonderful example for us, saints! Where was this poor suffering woman to be found on the Sabbath? In the synagogue, meeting with God’s people! If I were bent double for 18 years, would I faithfully attend the worship of God week after week? Would you? No doubt, she had prayed and asked God for healing, but her illness persisted. She must have been very self-conscious of her disfigurement. She bore a permanent hunched back, that never went away. She was probably in constant pain, which would have made it difficult to concentrate on what was happening in the service. It would have been difficult for her to walk the distance to the synagogue. Once she got there, it would have been difficult or impossible to actually see what was going on in the service. Many in this situation, would become angry at God, and say, “Lord, if this is the way You treat those who worship You, then no thanks! I want nothing to do with you any more!” However, she didn’t respond that way. Even after 18 years of continual suffering, she was still worshiping in the synagogue week after week.
Then we find our Lord in marvelous sovereign grace, freeing her from this evil spirit, and healing her body. Often, we see strong parallels between the miracles of Christ and the salvation of a sinner. In the raising of Lazarus to life, we see Christ causing people to be born again. In His cleansing the leper, we see him washing away the awful defilement of sin in a person’s life. So too here, there are many striking parallels between this woman’s healing, and the saving of a person’s soul.
- Satan had held her captive in bondage for many years. So too, the Bible says in 2 Tim. 2:26 that a lost person is “held captive by Satan to do his will.” In Ephesians 2 the Bible refers to him as the “prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.”
- She was bent double, and could only see the ground. She had no ability to look people in the eyes, or look her Savior in the face. So too, the lost person is spiritually crippled, helpless to do anything to save himself, and has eyes only for the vain things of this world. He can’t see the beauty of Christ.
- Jesus took the initiative to heal her. Jesus is doing all of the action here. He saw her, called her, spoke to her, and laid His hands on her. She didn’t cry out, asking Him to heal her. He was moved by compassion toward a poor suffering woman. And this is true in the case of everyone God saves. He takes the initiative, not us. We love Him, because He first loved us. When we were dead in our transgressions, He made us alive together with Christ.
- Jesus heals her by touching her. He laid His hands on her. So too, Jesus saves us by bringing us into a vital union with Himself. The Spirit of God baptizes us into Christ and His body, and we now experience Christ in us, the hope of glory! We were dead branches lying on the ground that the Holy Spirit picked up and grafted into the living Christ. Union brings life!
- Jesus healed her instantly. The text says “immediately she was made erect again.” Now that is a miracle, because all of her back and neck muscles would have atrophied over those 18 years when they were not being used. Normally, it would take a long period of time of therapy for a person in her condition to be able to use her muscles to stand erect again. So too, though we may not know exactly when it took place in our life, there was an instant in which Jesus saved us. We went from death to life, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. There was one moment when we were dead, and the next moment He brought us spiritual life.
This wonderful miracle is described in verses 10-13. However, when we get to verse 14, the sentence starts with “But”. Now, we are going to see a very strong contrast to Christ and His compassionate grace. At this point we are introduced to the synagogue official and get a real good idea of the difference between dead religion and a living relationship with Christ. This official is a very strong and accurate picture of dead religion. The healed woman is a wonderful picture of someone brought into a living relationship with Christ.
Luke has been showing the mounting tension between the Jewish religious leaders and Jesus. In 6:6-11, when Jesus healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, they were filled with rage and discussed together what they might do to Jesus. In 7:34 we discover that they were saying that Christ was a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and sinners. In 9:22 Jesus told them, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.” In 11:15 one of them accused him of casting out demons by the power of Satan. In chapter 11:37-54, Jesus pronounces 6 “woes” upon the Pharisees and lawyers. When He was done, they became very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say (11:53-54). In 13:6-9 He told them directly that if they didn’t repent and bear good fruit, God would cut them down and throw them into the fire. So, when we arrive at Luke 13:10-17, we are not surprised at this head on collision between Jesus and the synagogue official. We have come to expect these kinds of things.
This passage, then, is not simply about a woman being healed. It’s really a contrast between two kinds of people. Those freed from Satan’s tyranny, and those devoted to a dead religious observance. So, what’s the difference between dead religion and a living relationship?
1. Bondage or Freedom
Bondage. Notice what Jesus says in verse 16, “And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” He used the words “bound” and “bond”. This woman was bound by Satan. She was in bondage to the devil’s cruelty, and she couldn’t break free. Nothing she did brought her any relief from her suffering. No matter what she tried, she found it impossible to straighten up. She was in the grip of Satan who ruled over this situation. This is a picture of people who dutifully go through the rituals of religion for years, but are still held captive by Satan to do his will.
Friends, people who go through the motions of religion without being united to the living Lord Jesus Christ are in Satan’s bondage. The reason is very simple. Religious devotion can’t free anyone from Satan’s grip. It can’t free anyone from the power of sin. Only Christ can. But if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed!
Freedom. While dead religion is marked by bondage, a living union with Christ is marked by freedom. In verse 12 Jesus said, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God. As soon as Jesus laid His hands on her she was freed. Verse 16 says she was released from this bond. What this woman needed was a personal touch from the living Lord. As soon as Jesus touched her, the spirit left, and she was immediately healed.
That’s what all men need, religious or irreligious. They need a personal touch from Christ. They need to be united to the living Lord. They need Christ to dwell in them. They need the life of Christ coursing through their body. It’s not enough to be religious, to attend services, to go through the rituals of the church, or to strive to keep all the rules of the church. You’ll still remain in bondage if that’s all you have. You need the supernatural life of Christ to touch you and make you alive together with Him. If that happens, you will be freed from sin’s dominion, and Satan’s captivity, and will be able to enter into a living relationship with Jesus Christ.
2. Anger or Joy
Anger. Notice the response of the synagogue official when this woman was healed in verse 14, “But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Did you see what emotion this religious man was feeling? It was indignation! Indignation is righteous anger. This man was angry about this poor woman being healed! Was it because he hated the woman? No, it was because it was done on the wrong day! This man interpreted Jesus’ healing of this woman as work. Now, I confess, I just don’t understand that. It doesn’t seem to me that laying your hands on someone could be considered working. But that’s what happens when you are involved in dead religion. Legalism sets in, which causes you to put more stock in keeping the rules than people being set free from bondage.
This would really be funny, if it weren’t so sad. This guy should have been filled with joy, that this poor suffering woman had been set free from Satan’s grip. Instead he’s mad and angry about his rules being broken. It’s a very sad thing to see so many religious people’s lives void of God’s joy. Joy doesn’t come through religious observance. Joy comes through a living relationship with Jesus Christ. “Rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice.” Psalm 16 says, “In your presence is fullness of joy, in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”
Joy. It’s interesting to notice how this woman and the crowd responded to the very same event. Verse 13 says the woman “began glorifying God.” Verse 17 says “the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.” Now, these folks got it! They had the appropriate response to Jesus setting the captive free. They rejoiced. They glorified God!
When we hear of someone turning to the Lord and being set free from drugs or alcohol or pornography, our first response shouldn’t be, “Is he still smoking cigarettes? Has she started to dress modestly?” That would be to put our rules above this tremendous freedom from bondage which the Lord has granted them. Instead, we ought to be overjoyed at what the Lord has done, and confident, that in time, He will free them from other things in their lives as well.
3. Hypocrisy or Genuineness
Hypocrisy. Jesus says in verse 15, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him?” Jesus, here, is nailing this guy to the wall! He was indignant because Jesus healed this poor woman on the Sabbath, but he would go out and untie his animals and lead them out and water them. He was doing the very thing that he was condemning Jesus for doing. The only difference was that he put more value on his animals than this woman, who was a daughter of Abraham!
It’s very easy for those who are involved in dead religion to be led into hypocrisy. In fact, this is what the Pharisees had done. In Matthew 23, Jesus called them hypocrites 7 times! Dead religion puts the emphasis on the external actions, and neglects the internal heart relationship, so it is easy to end up going through the motions, pretending to be someone that you’re not.
Genuineness. This is the character trait we see in Jesus always. Jesus never pretended to be someone that He wasn’t. He was always honest, genuine and sincere. Likewise, those that follow Him should be conformed into His likeness.
We, of all people, should be genuine, because our acceptance with God doesn’t depend on our performance at keeping the rules. We are loved by Him exactly the way we are, warts and all. We realize our sinfulness, and freely confess it, and are not threatened with the idea of His rejection, because He doesn’t love us because of who or what we are, but because we are in His Son. We are justified by Him, even though there is a whole lot of crud and garbage left in our lives. So, why would we go around pretending to be someone we aren’t. If God totally accepts me in Christ, why should I pretend to be someone I’m not, just so I can get you to accept me? That doesn’t make any sense, does it?
4. Callousness or Compassion
Callousness. This is brought out starkly in the anger the synagogue official displayed when this woman was healed. He really didn’t care about this woman. In fact, he cared much more for his own animals than he did for this woman made in the image of God. What he cared about was that the people that came to his synagogue kept the Sabbath rules. This man valued rules over relationships and even animals over people! They were uncaring, unfeeling, and indifferent to the sufferings of others.
It’s a sad truth that those who are devoted to their religion instead of to a relationship with Christ Himself, easily become calloused. The reason is because what counts in religion is keeping the rules and the rituals in order to find your acceptance with God and other people. For religious Jews, it was striving to keep all the OT laws. For religious Muslims it might be working hard to always pray on your prayer mat five times a day. For religious Jehovah’s Witnesses, it might be making sure they put in their quota of hours each week of going door to door. For a Mormon, it might be making sure they get married in the Temple, and never consume caffeine. It is so easy to elevate that particular “rule” or “law” and become so consumed with it, that we neglect loving Christ and loving people. When we become obsessed on rules, rituals, and laws, we become callous to the needs of hurting people.
Compassion. Notice what Jesus’ priority was. He is there in the synagogue teaching, and who does He notice? Is it the synagogue official? Is it the rich members? Is it the popular and good-looking that attend that day? No! It’s a poor, suffering woman who is bent over and can’t even look up! This is even more noticeable when you remember that since she was bent over double, she would have been hard to spot, being shorter than everyone else. But Jesus spotted her! Jesus was focused on the one person that most people would have completely overlooked without a thought. Jesus was concerned for the marginalized, the hurting, and the neglected. The British pastor, G. Campbell Morgan once wrote, “If there is a man or a woman in any assembly of human beings, more in need than any other, that is the man or the woman that Jesus is after.” When Jesus saw her, He called her over. He wasn’t content to allow her to go on living that hellish life. He was determined to do her good. For Jesus, people were more important than keeping man made rules! No wonder Jesus continually collided with the religious leaders of His day. They were consumed with their outward religious performance. He was consumed with His Father’s will, and needy people.
Folks, if we are followers of Christ, this is where our focus and priorities should be as well. Let’s make the Christian life really, really simple. Just love God and love people, and you will do well.
Conclusion
Now, let’s take a few moments to reflect on what we have seen here.
Dead religion is marked by Bondage, Joylessness, Hypocrisy, Callousness.
A Living relationship is marked by Freedom, Joy, Genuineness, and Compassion.
Take inventory of your life for a moment. Is your life marked by bondage or freedom?
Is your life marked by anger or joy?
Is your life marked by hypocrisy or genuineness?
Is your life marked by callousness or compassion?
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