Luke 13:10-17
Jesus Met Three
Jesus was on the road to Jerusalem and as He traveled, He met
people. In this text, you can easily see two that He met, but He
actually met three. Let’s see who they are and what Jesus did for
them.
I. \\#10-13\\ Jesus Healed A Sick Woman.
A. Actually, not much is said about the woman. She never spoke
and no specific action is attributed to her.
B. \\#12\\ Jesus SAW a woman in distress.
Luke 13:12 And when Jesus saw her…
1. The woman had a physical problem which was quite obvious.
Luke 13:11 …and was bowed together…
a. We are not told the disease but it had "bowed" her
"together".
(1) The result was that she could not raise herself
up.
(2) It would seem that she had some kind of extreme
bone or muscle disease.
b. She had been with the ailment for 18 years.
c. Whether it had been progressive or not, we are not
told, but this is the condition she was enduring when
our Lord saw her.
2. I am sure this problem caused the woman shame,
aggravation, and perhaps pain; but she did not let it
cause her to quit.
a. She continued to do what she had to do.
b. In fact, it was that very thing which put her in
Jesus’ sight that day and gave her the opportunity to
be healed.
C. Then Jesus called to her.
Luke 13:12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her
to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art
loosed from thine infirmity.
13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately
she was made straight, and glorified God.
1. The Bible gives us the progression of this event.
a. Jesus saw her.
b. Jesus called her to Him.
c. Jesus pronounced her healed.
d. \\#13\\ Jesus laid His hands on her.
e. She was healed.
2. This woman’s healing came about not only because of her
persistence, but because of Jesus’ compassion.
3. In a world that frequently bad-mouth’s God, let’s not
forget that He shows mercy to everyone every day.
a. I know someone somewhere will say, "If God is so
compassionate, why doesn’t He heal everyone?"
b. My answer would be that God gives problems so that He
can help some and so that we can help some.
c. If we will make sure we are doing our part, I am sure
He will make certain He does His.
II. Jesus Defeated A Devil.
A. The woman’s affliction had a spiritual source.
Luke 13:11 And, behold, there was a woman which
had a spirit of infirmity….
1. The word "spirit" is the word "spirit."
2. It means breathe, air, breeze, and can be used of an angel
or a demon.
3. Notice that the Bible never said the woman had a disease.
a. It said she had a "spirit of infirmity" and then
described the effect of that presence.
b. The effect of having this spirit was that she had been
bowed together for 18 years.
4. I do not know of anything else to say of this affliction
except that it’s source was not physical.
5. It was a demonic affliction.
B. Demons afflicted many people in Jesus’ day.
1. \\#Matt 9:32-33\\ A man could not speak
2. \\#Matt 12:22\\ A man who could not see or speak
3. \\#Mark 9:25\\ A youth who could not hear or speak
4. \\#Luke 11:14\\ A man who could not speak
5. Interestingly, a common affliction caused by demons
was muteness, the inability to speak; but others were
suicidal, what we might call "mad," and this woman
was bowed together.
6. They are still afflicting people today.
C. No mere medical doctor is going to heal a person with a
spiritual infirmity.
1. Our scientific world scoffs at that notion.
2. Science has made great strides.
a. They have realized that not all sickness is of the
body but can be of the mind as well.
b. However, if physicians knew everything about the body
and the mind they would only be 2/3s of the way there
for there is still the spirit.
3. Thankfully, you do not need a medical degree to deal with
spiritual infirmities. You need a Savior and a Lord.
D. By the way, while you and I may need the help of a medical
doctor to help our bodies heal from a physical disease, we
do not need one to help us heal from a spiritual infirmity.
E. Don’t forget, we may have spiritual bodies but we are engaged
in spiritual warfare.
1. The Bible describes demons as being searching for a home.
Matt 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out
of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking
rest, and findeth none.
2. When he finds one, he fills it with himself and his
buddies.
Lu 11:26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven
other spirits more wicked than himself; and they
enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of
that man is worse than the first.
3. There is no reason to think those seven can’t take seven
others too!
4. And there you have the world we are living in today, a
world possessed and afflicted with spiritual demons.
III. \\#14-17\\ Jesus Taught the Ignorant.
A. My first thought in studying this text was that Jesus was
again emphasizing truths to the Jews.
1. We have a Jewish Rabbi in a Jewish village indignant that
Jesus healed on the Jewish Sabbath.
2. Jesus had been emphasizing some Jewish truths.
a. For example, \\#Luke 12:42-46\\ Jesus warned the Jews
that if they were not looking for the Master when He
returns to the earth with His bride, they would be
appointed a place with the lost.
(1) And why?
(2) Because they would be lost!
b. And \\#Luke 12:54-56\\ Jesus was talking to the Jews
when He said they could read the weather but could
not read the signs of the times.
3. However, I realized I had the emphasis all wrong.
a. It is not that Jesus normally spoke to the Church and
occasionally emphasized some truth to the Jews; but
rather Jesus normally spoke to the Jews and
occasionally emphasized a truth to the church.
b. Remember, Jesus is the Jewish Messiah walking in the
Jewish nation traveling on Jewish roads between
Jewish cities teaching Jewish disciples who will be
apostles to the Jewish nation.
c. Of course, the reason we feel so at home claiming all
of Jesus’ teaching for ourselves is because so much
of His teaching was truth for both the Jews and the
church.
(1) Jesus is the Savior of all.
(2) Jesus died for all.
(3) Hell and heaven are open to all.
(4) Even in this miracle, the compassion that Jesus
showed the sick woman is available to all.
4. But Jesus was speaking to Jews about Jewish events and not
to the church about church events.
B. Here a Jewish synagogue leader rebuked Jesus for healing on
the Sabbath.
1. \\#Luke 6:1-5\\ Jesus had already addressed this
accusation.
a. This was when some disciples plucked corn on the
Sabbath.
b. Jesus answered:
Lu 6:5 And he said unto them, That the Son of
man is Lord also of the sabbath.
c. Did that mean that Jesus and the disciples had an
exemption and could break the Sabbath since Jesus was
God?
d. NO!
e. It meant instead of puny man thinking he knew what the
Law meant and condemning Jesus, he should be asking
Jesus what the Law meant—BECAUSE MAN
HAD IT WRONG.
2. Jesus will not use those words but He will teach that man
had the Sabbath wrong again.
Luke 13:15 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?
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?
a. It is interesting that the Jews always seemed to
accept that God would not have an animal to suffer
on the Sabbath Day.
(1) The example that Jesus gave here was of an animal
eating and drinking.
(2) No animal would die of either hunger or thirst
if he was not watered or fed on the Sabbath.
(3) Even so, good men felt like the animals should
not be made to do without and they "assumed"
caring for God’s creatures would not be a work
that God would condemn.
(4) They were correct.
(a) As far as I know, no one was ever struck by
God for taking care of his animals on the
Sabbath.
(b) Jesus using that as an example indicates
that feeding and watering your livestock
when they could not get to food or water on
their own was acceptable to God.
b. But they condemned Jesus for healing people on the
Sabbath.
(1) This is what scares me about me.
(a) I see the Pharisee’s argument.
(b) This woman had been in this condition for
18 years.
(c) What’s one more day? Indeed, the Jewish
day starts at sun down so it was really
just a few more hours.
(2) But Jesus’ rebuke tells me my heart is hard for
Jesus said she should be loosed right then!
(3) Thank God for His mercy!
C. So the lesson here is not only would God not want an animal to
suffer on the Sabbath Day, but God not want a human to suffer
on the Sabbath either.
Jesus met three that day. I guess we could call them all strangers
but even strangers need to be treated in the correct way. These in
need should receive help; those in ignorance should receive
education, and those serving the devil should be defeated.
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