This was a Sabbath-day incident, and is recorded by Luke only (13:10-17). Probably on no day in the week was our Lord so closely watched by His adversaries as on the Sabbath, in the hope that they might convict Him of some breach of the law concerning it. How little did they realize, in their unbelief and perverseness, that they were criticizing the very One who gave the law from the fiery mount! The sadness of it is heightened by the fact that these were not the ignorant of the land, but the religious leaders of God’s chosen people.
The present miracle was performed in a synagogue, most likely in Jerusalem. A woman was there who “was bowed together and could in no wise lift up herself.” Expressive picture of every man’s spiritual condition through sin―unable to look up into the face of his God, and without strength to remedy his evil plight (Psa. 40:12; Rom. 5:6). The woman had suffered in her deformity eighteen years. If Scripture numbers are significative, as we believe, eighteen, being the treble of six, is suggestive of the full manifestation of evil. Compare Revelation 13:18. She thus becomes the type of the worst of sinners. Her condition appealed at once to the sensitive spirit of the Saviour. He called her to Him, and said: “Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.” He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
Had there been a spark of spiritual discernment in the ruler of the synagogue, he would have at once called for Psalms 103. From every tongue present there might well have sounded forth the refrain: “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and All that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases.” Alas for the ruler! No such sentiments occurred to his spiritually darkened mind. Instead, he blazed forth with indignation, saying to 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.” This outburst suggests a serious question. When God prescribed the Sabbath for man, forbidding him to work therein, did He thereby intend to bind His own hands, and make it improper for Himself to work on that day, even to perform a deed of mercy? The very suggestion is profanity itself. So good is He, so compassionate in His love, nothing can stay Him in His ministry of grace to poor ruined man. The woman just healed was “a daughter of Abraham,” i.e., she was possessed of Abraham’s faith. Must faith wait for blessing because it is the Sabbath day? Impossible, seeing that faith, not works or ceremonial observances, is the standing principle of blessing with God. “To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness... Therefore it is of faith, that it might be of grace” (Rom. 4:5,16). Grace gives the blessing, and faith receives it. All the work necessary for man’s eternal good was wrought by the Son of God, when He died upon the cross of Calvary.
The Saviour did not hesitate to expose the hypocrisy of His heartless critic. He would loose his ox or his ass and lead it to the water on the Sabbath day, yet would deny God the right to relieve a suffering woman. Truly our God has no more malignant or unreasonable antagonists than those who oppose Him in the name of religion.