Luke 13:10-13

Luke 13:10-13 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

John 8:31-36 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Have you been set free from your infirmity? This woman's infirmity was that she was bound by a spirit. This spirit had gained control of her body, so she was bent over and could not straighten up at all. Jesus called her forward and gave her a new life. He set her free from the damning spirit. We who are saved have also been set free from the spirit of infirmity, the crippling spirit of sin that leads to death. We who are free are now sons and daughters in the family of God. We have been placed there FOREVER. Jesus says, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (forever). We are no longer bound by the spirit of death; our souls have been set free. Now, that should make you shout, laugh, dance, and praise the Lord. You are no longer citizens of this world, bound to this earth; you are heaven bound with a passport stamped: ACCEPTED. YOU HAVE BEEN MADE WHOLE, COMPLETE, NEW.

The Bible says you will be a slave of either the devil or God. You will either be earth bound or heaven bound. You will either serve God or the devil. No one can serve both. The woman in the above passage was set free by the Grace of God from the oppression of the devil. Notice, Jesus gives her grace. He calls her over to him, not waiting for her to come to him first. He sets her free. This is an interesting fact. She was set free by the grace of God, not by her will or anything she had done. She was just there with an infirmity. Jesus was the answer: the way, the truth, and the life. He comes to all of us who are bound with the infirmity of sin to set us free from that oppressive spirit. Will we come when He calls us forward? If we will, He will set us free for the glory of God. He will make us complete, children of God with full privileges in the family, fulfilling the mission of creation from the beginning of time. This should make every Christian rejoice and be exceedingly glad.

This passage may trouble people if they focus in on the physical healing. If people look at their own lives, reflecting on their troubles, sicknesses, and infirmities, they might say to themselves, I am sick, why doesn't God heal me? Why does He not straighten my back? Why doesn't God call me out, come and rescue me from my troubles? I have earnestly asked God many times to heal me, relieve my stress, and He has not. Why? Well, God does heal, does rescue us from many of our trials. But the important story here is that He sets people free from the spirit of infirmity. If we cannot rejoice because of that, our focus is on the wrong place. We are fixated too much on this world. Jesus said that we would have trouble in this life: Paul, Peter, John, and Timothy all suffered, but they ALL REJOICED FOR THEY WERE FREE FROM THEIR SPIRITUAL INFIRMITIES. They all could not do enough for God because their minds, spirits, and souls were focused on the one who made them WHOLE, COMPLETE. He had completed the work in them, had made them sons, adopted into God's family. Regardless of our circumstances, my Christian friends, we are thankful to God. He has straightened us up so we can stand strong in him. He has placed a heavenly crown on our heads, and He has named us his beloved. Do we really understand what He has done for us? Do we really understand that without him, we were the bent over, uncomely figure pictured above? If we comprehend the grace of God that personally called us out, if we even get a glimpse of understanding this grace, we will do as the woman did, praise God from the depths of our beings.