Luk 13:10-16 | KingComments | STEP | Although the Lord has announced the fate that threatens the Jews because they cover the ground uselessly, He still goes into their synagogues to teach the people. So also on this Sabbath. It is still the time of patience, and grace will not let itself be prevented from helping some. The double bent woman is a picture of people full of spiritual weakness who are weighed down by the law and are therefore in spiritual need. They have no power to erect themselves and look up. The woman constantly sees only herself. That is exactly what the law characterizes. The law requires man to meet certain obligations, but he cannot meet them. If someone is taking it seriously, he is increasingly burdened by the unbearable burden of the law. He is constantly occupied with himself in order to escape the judgment of the law in case of disobedience. It is like with the man in Romans 7 who sinks further and further into the swamp of his own efforts to keep the law of God. More than forty times the word ‘I’ appears in that chapter. There is only a looking at himself, until he finally sees the Lord Jesus. Because of this he is drawn out of the swamp ( ). That’s how it is with this woman who is bent double by a spirit of sickness. We can apply the spirit of sickness to the wrong education, which keeps people weighed down. The only One Who can free a man from it, is Christ when He speaks His delivering words. Without the woman asking for it, the Lord calls her to Himself. He sees her and knows her. He knows how long she has been living so double bent. His grace flows to her because she needs it. He knows that need. He speaks His delivering words. First He frees her from the spirit of sickness. Then He lays hands on her to give His power to her to erect herself. After His words that have freed her heart, He gives her strength for her body. The first one she sees is the Lord Jesus. The result is that she glorifies God. There are many believers who are bent toward earth and therefore do not get around to glorifying God. Whoever is truly delivered, give thanks to God.

‏ Luke 13:10-16

Healing of a Double Bent Woman

Although the Lord has announced the fate that threatens the Jews because they cover the ground uselessly, He still goes into their synagogues to teach the people. So also on this Sabbath. It is still the time of patience, and grace will not let itself be prevented from helping some. The double bent woman is a picture of people full of spiritual weakness who are weighed down by the law and are therefore in spiritual need. They have no power to erect themselves and look up. The woman constantly sees only herself.

That is exactly what the law characterizes. The law requires man to meet certain obligations, but he cannot meet them. If someone is taking it seriously, he is increasingly burdened by the unbearable burden of the law. He is constantly occupied with himself in order to escape the judgment of the law in case of disobedience.

It is like with the man in Romans 7 who sinks further and further into the swamp of his own efforts to keep the law of God. More than forty times the word ‘I’ appears in that chapter. There is only a looking at himself, until he finally sees the Lord Jesus. Because of this he is drawn out of the swamp (Rom 7:25). That’s how it is with this woman who is bent double by a spirit of sickness. We can apply the spirit of sickness to the wrong education, which keeps people weighed down. The only One Who can free a man from it, is Christ when He speaks His delivering words.

Without the woman asking for it, the Lord calls her to Himself. He sees her and knows her. He knows how long she has been living so double bent. His grace flows to her because she needs it. He knows that need. He speaks His delivering words. First He frees her from the spirit of sickness. Then He lays hands on her to give His power to her to erect herself. After His words that have freed her heart, He gives her strength for her body. The first one she sees is the Lord Jesus. The result is that she glorifies God. There are many believers who are bent toward earth and therefore do not get around to glorifying God. Whoever is truly delivered, give thanks to God.

Opponents Rebuked

An arrogant man, full of legal own righteousness, moderates to prescribe the law to God! God should not work on His own Sabbath day! What folly it is to suppose that God would keep the Sabbath day in a world full of misery by sin and in a land of Israel that has so turned its back on Him (Jn 5:17).

In His answer, the Lord points to what people think is normal, and what every natural conscience will approve, despite all legal reasoning. It would be cruel and not God’s thought to withhold necessary food or drink from a poor animal because it is the Sabbath day. If one is not so cruel, how can one dare to challenge the grace of God to give freedom to a victim of satan?

Because the synagogue official and his colleagues take care of their cattle, but criticize God’s care for a man, the Lord calls them “hypocrites”. They are kind to their animals and blame God for being kind to a human being. As an extra teaching to these legal hypocrites, the Lord gives two reasons for the healing of the woman. First, she is a real daughter of Abraham. He saw the faith in her that Abraham also had. The hypocrites may claim to be Abraham’s offspring, but in reality they spiritually have the devil as father (Jn 8:37 ; 44).

Secondly, the woman was bound by satan for eighteen years. The woman was a believer (Gal 3:7), but in her state of weakness satan had found an opportunity to bind her even further and prevent her from finding healing. The religion of religious leaders also made sure she wouldn’t be healed. The law does not set free, but leads to greater slavery. Only Christ in grace can change this situation.

It is therefore clear that the official does act as if he has great respect for God’s teachings, but that in reality he is an accomplice of satan. If he really had respect for the law, he would have rejoiced that the Lord had delivered the woman from that spirit of sickness that had bound her for such a long time. Surely he would also have asked if the Lord would also release him from his bondage to the law which he too could not keep and by which he was condemned.

Genuine respect for the law is reflected in its acceptance. Whoever takes the law seriously and is honest, will admit that he is not able to keep to the law and therefore cannot come to terms with God in that way. He becomes aware of the judgment that must strike him because he cannot keep the law. Then he is ready to appeal to the grace of God that appeared in Christ.

The teaching of Divine grace humiliates the opponents and fills many with great joy. Those who rejoice acknowledge the clear and good hand of God and feel the difference between Christ and the inanimate theology of the synagogue official, however little they see Who the Lord Jesus really is.