Submitted by Pastor David Wynn, Tarkio Christian Church

Scripture from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 13, Verses 10-17: On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,  and a woman was there who had been crippled by an evil spirit for 18 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.  Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

I wish the story here would have ended another way. The sabbath, always meant to be a beautiful day for God’s people! Yet even on the sabbath people become sick or continue to be sick. Jesus notices a woman, all hunched over, obviously one who had been ill for a long time. He is a merciful Lord, so he takes the initiative to call her over and lay his hands on her. In these gracious acts, the woman is healed on the spot. Her body is straightened again, and she praises God for God’s goodness.

Wouldn’t it have been nice if all the people standing around witnessing this touching scene could have joined the woman in praising God for God’s goodness? Indeed, the whole idea of worshiping a loving God on the sabbath could have been thus reinforced in a powerful way. But that is not what happened. As soon as Jesus finishes his lovely deed, the keepers of the sabbath, the religious leaders, become indignant, and let jealousy ruin the day. The ruler of the synagogue reminds everyone that there are six other days in the week when such deeds of healing could be done. They declared that even such a kind deed as healing was not allowable on the seventh day. Healing was considered work, and, as every good Jew knew (how could they forget it?), the sabbath means no work.

Jesus, of course, is stirred up by this heartless interpretation. He reminds the religious leaders of their double standard in this matter: how they regularly go about caring for their own animals on the sabbath by giving them water, but are seemingly unable to accept the more pressing need of caring for sick human beings on the sabbath. In the eyes of the crowd taking this all in, Jesus put the religious leaders to shame and gained the crowd’s admiration for what he had done and said.

Years later this woman would tell the story of how she had discovered God’s healing grace long ago. She had endured the suffering and torture and pain of her bad back for 18 unbearable years, with no hope for relief in sight. The bones of her spine were fused into a rigid mass. She was permanently stooped over. Can you imagine what life was like for her? She recognized people by their feet, the style of their sandals. She knew houses by their doorsteps. She recognized streets by the ditches alongside them. Now God is gracious. He put some wonderful things down low where she could see them . . . like little children and daffodils and bird dogs. But this woman was never able to look into adult faces, or gaze at the stars or glory in a blue sky. Now, a lot of people saw her, but didn’t see her.

I remember years ago when I was working at Katz Drug in their soda fountain in downtown Kansas City that there was a newsboy selling the latest edition of the Kansas City Star. Back then they printed off five editions of the latest news each day. He would be sliding down the street on the first skateboard I had ever seen, a piece of plywood about 30 inches square, with four wheels. There was just enough room for him and his stack of papers, He was only about two feet tall. The lower half of his body was missing just above his knees, just two feet with a pair of shoes. A lot of people saw him, but didn’t see him. And they all gave him a quarter for a 10 cent edition. Embarrassed, I guessed. Lots of people saw him, or the paralyzed woman, but not as Jesus did. They would step aside so as not to bump into her on the street, but because of her condition they didn’t even have to speak to her. She became for them like an object, like a tree, rather than a person. Have you ever been “treed” by another person? That is, treated like an object?

Have you ever been at a reception, talking with someone, and you become aware that he is glancing over your shoulder, scanning the crowd, not really giving his attention to you? In such a situation, you have been “treed.” It hurts to be “treed,” to be treated as second-class. “She’s just a waitress, so I can tree her.” “He is just a parking lot attendant, so I can tree him.” “He is of a different race, so I don’t even have to acknowledge him . . . I can “tree” him.

But Jesus really saw her. In a flash, he identified with her; he empathized with her pain, her downcast disposition. He said to himself, “Ah, here is my sister, utterly precious in God’s sight. What a shame it would be if she suffers even one additional moment if a cure can be had.” Jesus really saw her. Notice next that Jesus touched the woman. He is still doing that through the Holy Spirit who takes up residence in every person who claims Jesus as Savior and Lord. That Holy spirit can heal any hurt, change any disposition, and bestow any needed gift.

When the Holy Spirit touches you, He will change you. God wants you to stand up straight!

I want to close with these words of a woman who has been healed by Jesus, though she still walks with the aid of crutches. One day at the grocery store she had an encounter with a little girl. It went like this: “A little girl looked at me with innocent blue eyes. And she asked in childish innocence, ‘Are you crippled?’ I replied, ‘No dear, I only need crutches to help me walk.’ For to me, being crippled is a state of mind, not a state of health. You are crippled if you have lost your enthusiasm for tomorrow and live only in yesterdays, or if self-pity becomes a way of life instead of counting blessings. You are crippled if your own preoccupation with yourself blinds you to your brother’s burden. You are crippled if doubt causes your faith to waver instead of remembering that his eye is on the sparrow.”

“Are you crippled?” the little girl asked. “No dear, I only need crutches to help me walk.”

Jesus wants to liberate you, to touch you, and to send you forth from this place praising his name.

God wants you to stand up straight!