Luke 13:10-17 (NRSV)
Read Luke 13:10-17 on biblegateway.com
Verse 10Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. Verse 11And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. Verse 12When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." Verse 13When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. Verse 14But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." Verse 15But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? Verse 16And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" Verse 17When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.
Devotion
Osteoporosis is common today, as it seems to have been in Jesus’ day. But we do not attribute it to demons. We would send such a woman to a specialist physician. Maybe he/she could help her, maybe not.
Would a faith-healer do better? Since the apostolic age there have been some, but not many now, who claim to have Jesus’ healing power. Yet, he clearly passed it on to his early disciples.
What has happened in the interim? Obviously medical science has come a long way. Skepticism and secularism have grown proportionately to undermine faith in our Lord’s hands-on healing. Have many of us really tried it? In any case, no sufferer is beyond the Lord’s help and presence. Many are available to witness this if we ask them.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you know and share all our infirmities. As people did long ago, we come to you for healing. Free us. Lead us to find the help we need. Amen.