Luke 13:10-17 The Healing Power of Christ (Short Version)

The Healing Power of Christ

Scripture Reading:

Luke 13:10–14“And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “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. 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.””

Be seated

Prayer

Introduction:

When Abraham was called out of Ur, in Chaldea, he and His family were pagans; they believed that the gods were capricious, vengeful beings that needed to be appeased. It is a concept that led to practices like idolatry, human sacrifice and temple prostitution. From it, people got the notion that they were victims of god or gods. This belief persists among many to this day. For this reason, when people see others who are suffering and afflicted, they assume they must have done something to anger god. This idea was implicit in what most Jews believed at the time of Jesus. It was also similar to Roman beliefs. This woman bore her handicap in this kind of culture.

God separated Abraham out of that culture to correct those beliefs. God wanted His children to know He loved them always. Make no mistake, Abraham was a sinner like the rest of us, but God had chosen Him regardless of his sin, to redeem a people for Himself.

Our God, the true God of Abraham, is the opposite of the vengeful, legalistic, proud gods of the Pagans and He has wonderful attributes - He is gracious, loving, merciful, just, holy, righteous to name a few, but in this passage, we see His grace and loving mercy demonstrated.

To provide some context, this event takes place during Jesus Galilean ministry, as He is enroute to Jerusalem - He knows that He must go there to suffer and die for the sins of His people. He is going to die for this woman.

this encounter, Jesus addresses both the pain and sin of this woman, as well the sin of a Jewish Leader (though we will leave much of that discussion for another time).

Jesus heals and saves this woman, glorifying His father. He also rebukes Satan by correcting the legalistic and ungodly attitude of a Jewish official.

To properly understand this text, we need to go back a bit. Luke 13:1–3 “Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

All are equally guilty before God, but if we turn to Jesus in faith/repent of our sins, we can follow Him into eternal life.

In the account before us, Jesus heals a woman who had been afflicted eighteen years. What Jesus will show us is that she was not being punished for her sin, rather the affliction led her to the Saviour. Rest assured, such providence is designed to draw us closer to God

It is our nature to be prone to sin, and its the curse of sin that makes this world a difficult place. Romans 5:8 tells us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

None of us deserves God’s blessings, but He bestows them on us anyway, because He is a loving God. This is grace.

Interrogative: How does the Lord save His people?

By grace:

1) calls them to righteousness,

2) leads them to faith, leading to repentance from sin.

3) saves them to for eternal life rather than damnation.

Point 1: He calls us to conviction of sin.

Why did this woman come to the synagogue?

She had a need and was compelled by God, the Holy Spirit –

Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

John 6:37 ““All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

Note she came to church in spite of being sick. She needed healing: for eighteen years, she has been horribly crippled by an unspecified spirit of infirmity. How does this happen?

Job 2:7 “Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.”

She is helpless to heal herself, likely others have failed. We know from the healing of the woman in Luke 8:2, that women who suffered from these types of illnesses regularly sought remedies from so-called “doctors”, quacks and “healers” who had no idea what they were doing, or who were only interested in getting her money. They often did more damage than good. This is common, even today.

Word had gotten around. She may have heard about other women, like Mary Magdalene, being healed. Word of mouth spread because of all the healing Jesus did in the early part of His Galilean ministry.

The HS has led her to this place for comfort and possibly something more.

The lesson here is about healing spiritual weakness, though physical weakness is intertwined with spiritual weakness. Her physical weakness is like man’s spiritual weakness, caused by original sin. Romans 3:23. Because of the fall of man, we all suffer all sickness as the result of sin.

Sin cripples us.

Suffering from guilt.

Doomed to eternal punishment.

Laboring under the burden of the guilt for the offenses against our God, parents, siblings, co-workers and others.

We try all manner of worldly cures for our ills, to no avail – search in vain for answers.

Materialism/consumerism

False religions/prosperity gospel

Sensuous sins

We, too are hopeless – cannot elevate our condition, unless we respond to God’s call and turn to Christ.

God’s call.

Explanation

She was led to synagogue where the Lord was teaching. Luke 4:15 “And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.”

We all need spiritual healing, every day. We need to be in church every Sunday

The Lord called out to her. Luke 13:12 “When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.””

John 6:37 ““All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

Application/Exhortation: Has God called you? He does it various ways: Illustrations -

Someone shares the Gospel and we are compelled to respond/learn more.

Internet media

We find the Gospel in a tract.

We are invited to a church or prayer meeting or go seeking.

None of these are “accidents”.

Point 2: She responds to His call.

Explanation:

He called her TO HIM and then, SHE CAME to Him.

She was obedient and responded – what choice did she have?

She could have ignored Him or she could have fled.

Here was possible relief for her suffering - so she came to Him.

Argumentation: How can we refuse the Lord’s call? Sin. Our sin blinds us, or holds us back from joining the Lord. As destructive as it may be, we don’t want to give up our sin. As we mentioned earlier, Satan is the father of sin.

Application: The Bible tells us that if we turn away from our sins and the world and run to the Lord Jesus, He will save us from our sins and we can join Him with the saints in heaven. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Exhortation: If you are without Jesus today, how will you respond to this call?

Point 3: The Lord healed her and transformed her life.

Explanation:

v. 12 “Woman, thou art loosed!” – literally set loose from her bond.

She was “made straight” (v.13), literally made upright.

Transformed from dust to glory - She was completely changed.

She glorified God. Our first duty.

The result is relief:

From social stigma - publicly God has declared His love for her

From a crippling disease

From a hopeless future.

She is completely healed, spiritually and physically..

Argumentation:

How does the Lord heal us from sin?

He died for our sins: 1 Corinthians 15:3 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,”

We talked earlier about why Jesus had to go to Jerusalem.

The cross work of Christ –the greatest blessing suffered for us. Took our just punishment.

He takes sin and gives righteousness

God raised Him from the dead – We are dead in our trespasses and sins. Only God can regenerate us. Only God could regenerate this woman.

God blesses us with the faith to believe in Him

1. The Holy Spirit, through His Word, shows us our condition and need, just like this woman saw her condition and need.

2. Because we see He is the cure, we come to Him, no, flee to Him in faith. Then our eyes are truly opened and we are able to see what He has done and understand His wonderful call – a call to new life, a call to righteousness, a call to life eternal.

This woman understood the gravity of her sickness and believed Christ was the answer.

She saw that the Lord Jesus was able to help – his reputation preceded Him.

She was made upright. Her life was changed.

Application/Exhortation:

The Lord changes the lives of those who turn to Him – Holy Spirit.

Lives are no longer characterized by sin and love for worldly pleasures.

We seek to glorify God.

This is what the woman does – example

This is true worship. He saved us from certain death and a devil’s Hell for eternity.

God is good in all things – give glory and honor regularly.

Point 4 - the shaming of Satan:

a. Christ faced opposition and so will His followers. Note the Synagogue official.

Any time the Lord performs a work of grace in His people, Satan will react. Usually, it is a legalistic complaint. This is a clear example of how Satan is wounded by the work of Christ, and how he expresses his anger.

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mk 2:27–28). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

c. Satan and his followers are shamed, the people rejoice, and the Word goes forth.

Conclusions

A few moments ago, I asked you how you would respond to Jesus call. If you don’t know Him as Lord, you can know the joy of a right relationship with Him. What does that mean? It means that like this woman, you would no longer be condemned to a life burdened by the guilt of past sins, and a sure future of death, the grave and hell, separated from God. The Bible says that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. If you turn and follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, and turn from your sins, He will save you from that death and you will have the sure hope of eternal life with Him in Heaven.

The Lord calls us a variety of ways: preaching, witness and testimony of friends. God makes no mistakes: you here today because God is calling.

The Lord must reaches out to us – through His death on the cross, he takes our sin and enables us to cut through it to see our fallen nature and need.

If and when that happens, we must respond – turn to Him, since He will raise us from our deadness in our sins.

We need not suffer and labor in our guilt – we need only to recognize our sin, our need and flee to the Lord. He will make us new creatures.

Salvation is a victory that defeats Satan and our adversaries and excites the saints and the heavenly host. V. 17

Christ has extended an invitation to you. You no longer labor and suffer under your burden of sin. You need not worry about suffering and death. The Lord will strengthen you to persevere

Turn to Christ: a bright future awaits you with Him and His people in eternal glory. Look at the way the Lord healed and saved this woman. It did not happen by chance. God’s love, mercy and grace are so compelling.

v. What will you do?