Luke 13:10-17 ~ And there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself

Luke 13:10-17

¹⁰ Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. ¹¹ And there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your disability." ¹³ And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.

¹⁴ But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, "There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day." ¹⁵ Then the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? ¹⁶ And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?" ¹⁷ As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

Recently a FB friend, having knee surgery, said his doctor told him "that pain is fear leaving the body." His comment back was a 3 letter text abbreviation. It was pretty amusing.

When the Scripture is picked for this blog, it is chosen, in prayer from several Ecumenical sites before the Scripture is known. That way we travel through all the Scriptures, easy and difficult. Today it came from The Methodist Church in Britain. And the questions were given:

"How do you react to the thought that the woman's illness was caused by Satan?

What do you think people today, including yourself, need to be 'set free' from?"

So many times we are putting ourselves at a distance from the Word of the Lord by subconsciously inserting "the golden days of yesteryear." Today - we still live in a world where illness still exists. The faithful are still looking to the Lord for a touch of His favor. Today, there are scoffers.

Perhaps we are the hypocrites not to realize spirit and body touch one another. We err when we don't realize this isn't necessarily lack of vitamin C or calcium. Or adversity is always from the evil one. Jesus says this time it was from evil.

What we can Safely Say about illness and suffering -

Today, there are still Churches and ministers with very active healing ministries. Glorious things that were done by him still continue. We can still be freed by Jesus today. Free to let Him be the Judge. Free to hope in Him. Free to know in adversity, in miracle, in suffering - He reigns. Free not to judge for others if prayers will be answered in the way we hope and pray. Free to know He does answer. Jesus cut through all the 'noise' of all the wondering and judging - and, today, people still rejoice. In Him.

Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

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