Most of you boys and girls can stand up straight and tall, but this poor lady in our Bible story couldn’t. She had a serious problem with her back, and she had not been able to stand up straight for eighteen years. That was a long time to be bent over!
If you had seen her, you would have said, “Poor lady!” She could not look up as you and I do and see the sky and the tops of the trees and the birds flying. All she could see was the ground in front of her feet. Maybe nobody wanted to be bothered with her, but I’ll tell you a secret, or maybe two secrets. If you had seen her that day, there were two secrets that did not show at all.
You probably have secrets like that too. If I looked at you, I might see how you look today, but God sees all your yesterdays. He sees things you have forgotten and things you can’t forget. And He knows all your tomorrows too. He loves you right now, and He cares a lot about you.
The first secret is that this poor lady was in that bent-over position for all those long years because Satan, the evil one, had done this to her. Her back must have ached and hurt a lot, but there was nothing she could do about it. She could not straighten herself up.
The other secret is that this lady was a daughter of Abraham. Maybe you remember hearing about Abraham and Sarah, that when they were very, very old God promised them they would have a son. Instead of saying, No! We are too old, Abraham believed God. That’s what faith is—believing God when He speaks, even if it seems impossible. That’s why many of us are sure we are going to be with Jesus someday. God has given us the faith to believe Him, even if it means that we will have to come right out of our graves when He calls us home!
Jesus saw this bent-over lady and called to her and put His hands on her and said, Woman, you are loosed from your disability, and she immediately stood up straight! You may be sure the first person she saw was Jesus! She was standing up straight, and everybody could see that!
Her back was as good as new for the first time in eighteen years, and she glorified God. But wasn’t it Jesus who healed her? Yes, but Jesus is God.
Now you might think that everybody would be glad that she was healed, but not all of them were. The ruler of the synagogue was angry because Jesus had healed on the sabbath day. The ruler said, Come some other day of the week and not on the sabbath day! You see, God said that the sabbath was to be a holy day, but the ruler did not know the heart of God. He did not know that God cares enough to heal, whatever day it is. And He cares enough to save you from your sins right now, whatever day it is.
Jesus reminded the ruler that if he had a donkey or an ox tied up, he would certainly untie it and lead it somewhere to drink water, no matter what day it was. Any man cares for his farm animals, and maybe you care for your dog, but Jesus cares even more for you. He cares so much that He gave His precious life for you. Will you trust Him right now, without waiting for another day? Jesus wants you now, and He is the only One who can loose you from Satan’s power. “I will trust and not be afraid” (Isaiah 12:22Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. (Isaiah 12:2)).
You may read this story for yourself in Luke 13:10-1710And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. 12And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 13And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. 14And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. 15The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? 16And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? 17And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. (Luke 13:10‑17).
ML-04/10/2011