In Luke 13:10-17 we read about Jesus teaching in the synagogue on a certain Sabbath day when He saw a woman bowed over and had been in that position for 18 years and could not lift herself up.  He called her to Himself and said, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.”

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Apparently people knew this woman and her history. I get the idea that she was a regular attender.  Jesus was teaching and saw her in that state and was moved with compassion. He couldn’t keep teaching; He had to take the opportunity to heal her and it became a great example of what the rest should have been doing. (Matthew 4:14)

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Most religious leaders of that day didn’t get into such things. They had no compassion for the sick. Jesus then laid hands on her and she immediately lifted herself and was made straight, and glorified God. The power of God straightened her up. It glorifies God when we respond to Him and straighten up.

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Notice Jesus spoke and then He did. She heard Him say, “Woman you are loosed” and then He laid hands on her. It wasn’t enough that Jesus spoke the truth to her and then laid His hands on her imparting healing power into her, she had to respond. She responded by straightening up. All those times that she had been in that synagogue the ruler of the synagogue didn’t care enough to heal her by the power of God. There wasn’t any compassion in him for the sick.

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Verse 14;  “And 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.”

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This ruler of the synagogue didn’t think that healing the sick was a holy work. He viewed it as laborious work, as an everyday work that was not valuable enough for the sanctuary but only for a back room somewhere but certainly not in the main sanctuary in the synagogue and NOT on the holy Sabbath day.

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I think of my wonderful spiritual father Dr. Ed Dufresne when I read this event that took place over 2 thousands of years ago.  Dad got saved in a small Assembly of God church in California.  He was an alcoholic in his early 20’s. He was raised Catholic, however, he didn’t practice it, except for the part of drinking. Dad was a builder and one of his coworkers named Billy kept inviting him to church. Dad was cruel to him but Billy kept inviting. Finally Dad made a deal with him. He said that he would go to church with him once if he would stop bothering him about it. Billy agreed. 

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Sometime in the service a woman started speaking in tongues. Dad had never heard anything like that. He was intrigued. Then the woman’s husband interpreted it.  “Today is the day of salvation!” Dad found himself headed for the altar.  He gave his heart to the Lord that day and was delivered from alcohol.

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Now, that Assembly of God didn’t allow the gifts of the Spirit in the main sanctuary. There was an afterglow room for that. But this woman and her husband responded to the Holy Spirit and a man gave His life to the Lord, went into the ministry and thousands or even a million over his lifetime were added to the Kingdom and countless lives changed, were enriched and developed in spiritual things and trained in ministry. I am one of those. I have profited from that gift of the Spirit ‘Tongues and Interpretation from so many years ago.  (I Corinthians 12:7)

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Dad became passionate for God and the church and began to serve in the church. Revival burned in him. He got ahold of book by TL Osborn. In this book he learned about divine healing.  He worked with the Royal Rangers on Wednesday nights and started laying hands on the sick ones and they instantly got healed.  One little boy had a cast on. After Dad ministered healing to him the little guy took his own cast off and walked totally healed.

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The pastor, ruler of the synagogue, didn’t like it. He told Dad he didn’t want that going on there. Apparently the headquarters don’t care for these kinds of healings. They could get sued. But Dad couldn’t help himself he just kept it up. And he was literally given the left foot of fellowship out of that church. In other words, they kicked him out.  Now, another thing regarding this pastor, who may have been afraid of being sued for practicing medicine without a license, he also had a son who passed away with sickness in his body. The pastor seemed to be angry that God didn’t heal him. This pastor’s perspective was just that, that God didn’t heal his son; so he didn’t want anyone else’s sons getting healed, so it seemed. 

Healing wasn’t holy enough for this pastor’s sanctuary. (I Corinthians 12:9)

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Notice in verse 14 the ruler of the synagogue turned his back to Jesus and began to speak to the people. He said, “There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.” Well then, why didn’t the ruler of the synagogue heal her on one of those days? Nobody cared to heal her on any of those days. Again, we can see here that he didn’t value the healing power of God. Perhaps he would feel differently if he was diseased.

When we don’t value the divine work of healing, we leave ourselves wide open to fatal illness without hope of healing not even by the hands of doctors. Even doctors can’t help these. Our only hope is the healing power of God—His Word, but when we reject it, our only hope, we will die with the sickness in our body. (Hosea 4:6, Proverbs 4:22)

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15 The 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?

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The ruler of the synagogue valued animals over the sick. He had more compassion for animals than God’s people who were sick.

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16 And 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?

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Jesus nailed the ruler of the synagogue with the truth that day. He said, “Whom Satan hath bound.” When Jesus saw the woman, He saw the work of satan manifested in her body; satan is His enemy. He threw His enemy out of the church that day at least while He was there and because of that a woman was set free.

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17 And 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.

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When Jesus healed the woman, it glorified God. This lets us know that when we value the wonderful gift of healings, it glorifies God but if we do not value and deem holy this wonderful gift, we grieve Him. (I Corinthians 12:7, Ephesians 4:30) Without this wonderful gift flowing within our churches there is no profit for the sick in our churches.

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Jesus broke the rules. His compassion for the sick and possessed was greater than His desire to be permitted. I am so glad that the married couple who gave tongues and interpretation of tongues in that little Assembly of God where Dad got saved, obeyed the Holy Spirit and broke the rules. They broke the rules and a man got saved, went into the ministry and rescued countless lives, and trained many for the ministry. I am one of those. I also once broke the rules in a church for many years before they booted me out. In those years of me breaking the rules many lives were rescued, saved and changed by the message within me and the demonstration of the message I preached. When you break man’s rules to follow God that brings about eternal impact in many lives for generations to come.

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Have a great week and remember that Jesus is coming soon!