If It’s Good For A Donkey
Luke 13:10-17 NKJV
10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, andwas bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”
15 The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” 17 And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.
I love the fact that Jesus seemed to do His best healing work on the Sabbath, where it irritated His adversaries to no end. And I love that Jesus did not shrink back from healing concerned that it would stir up trouble. He was all about helping the people, and the religious authorities would just have to deal with it and answer Him.
In our passage for today, we can also see some healing principles. A woman who was bent over for eighteen years has a spirit of infirmity. The NLT says she was crippled by an evil spirit. In any case, the woman’s problem was not from God. When Jesus saw her and called her, He laid hands on her, and she immediately was healed and made straight. And when she was healed, she glorified God. Her sickness was not from God. If it had been, then Jesus would have been operating against His Father’s will, and He never did that. Jesus said she was loosed from the crippled condition. To be loosed, you have to be first bound. And it was Satan that bound her. Jesus said so in verse sixteen. When the woman was able to stand up straight, she glorified God. Her crippled condition did not glorify God; only when she was loosed from the bondage of being bent over for eighteen years was God glorified.
The ruler of the synagogue was angry that Jesus had healed a woman on the Sabbath. Imagine that. This man was so steeped in religion that he could not rejoice that a woman in his congregation was healed of a terrible condition. And when the ruler referenced not coming for healing on the Sabbath, Jesus let him have it with both barrels. First, Jesus called this ruler a hypocrite. Because he would loose an animal so that the animal could drink water on the Sabbath. Jesus called this woman a daughter of Abraham, basically a daughter of the covenant. Shouldn’t a daughter with a covenant with God be loosed from horrible bondage on the Sabbath? If a man would do what was best for his animal that had value. How much more does a person have value with God? If it’s good for a donkey, it should be better for a person.
Making the parallel between the work animal being loosed, and the woman being loosed shut down the ruler of the synagogue. The Scriptures tell us that the group criticizing Jesus was put to shame. As they should have been. These religious leaders were a constant source of irritation for Jesus, but even more of a problem to the people under their care. Their portrayal of God was a hindrance to the people of Israel. Jesus was and still is the best picture of the Heavenly Father. He healed. He set free. He never put anyone in bondage or took advantage of them. He was and still is the greatest ever.
Application
I cannot understand why anyone would have a problem with healing. Some people are so adamant that it passed away that they get angry if you mention believing for God’s healing. Some people came against Joy when she was so sick, for trusting God to receive healing for a condition that could have been fatal. I just simply do not understand. If you believe that healing passed away, fine, but don’t stop someone from believing they can be loosed from a condition that causes pain and heartache. We know to be good to animals. Animal cruelty is a crime. How much more can we be for people being helped?
Prayer
Thank You, Lord, for healing the sick when You walked the earth. And thank You for healing today. I am all for people being helped and You being glorified.