And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
Some of us feel weighted down by oppression, others by the circumstances of our lives. We feel unable to act with the full dignity that should be ours as women and men made in the image of God. This is not merely an aesthetic difficulty. The problem is not merely that we look a little off and would present a more natural appearance if we could stand up straight. Rather, the problem manifests as a hindrance in everything we attempt, making it more awkward and more difficult. It is not that we are choosing the sink under the weight of life, as though we ought simply to focus on better posture as a solution. But although it is a real problem it does not seem to be a problem about which others always seem particularly concerned. The leaders of the synagogue had other priorities than this woman's infirmity. So too for us. People suggest coming back later, at a better time, once a long list of more important things are finished. But not Jesus. Jesus saw this woman and deeply understood what she had been through. He knew that she had already been waiting for eighteen years to experience this freedom and would not tolerate it being put off for another day.
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
There were two related problems that resulted in the hypocritical behavior of the leader of the synagogue. One was that he didn't care, that he failed to love this daughter of Abraham as he loved himself. Even a basic level of concern would have made him rejoice to see her healed by Jesus. The second was that he was content not caring since there was nothing he could do. Keeping the woman from coming to the foreground of public attention would help conceal his own impotence in the face of the suffering of the world. To be honest, none of us like to be made aware of how little control we have in the face of life's difficulties. But if we are too proud of the things that we can seem to control we might actually begrudge Jesus for stepping in to do what we were powerless to do. If we have narrowed our focus to a small realm where we seem to be in charge it might by upsetting when Jesus steps in and overturns our illusions. The leader of the synagogue thought that at least the synagogue was a place under his control, where things happened according to his schedule, unhampered by the wider world. But this attitude had in fact closed him off to the influence of God for whose sake the synagogue existed. But it could not close off the synagogue itself to that influence, since Jesus himself had come among them, and since there was a daughter of Abraham in need of freedom.
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?
The sabbath was meant to be a celebration of freedom from servile work, a day to enjoy relationship, especially relationship with God. Therefore it was fitting for Jesus to do whatever would help facilitate that goal in the lives of others. Far from an excuse to ignore the needs of others, it was a reason to specifically see to it that those needs were met. Her joy on that sabbath, at which the Gospel only hinted, no doubt marked the rest of her life.
she at once stood up straight and glorified God
If we are burdened beneath a weight that no one else seems to notice, or if they do notice, to which they seem indifferent, we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus is not indifferent. He does not have more important priorities keeping him busy. He wants us too to stand erect with nothing to hinder us from giving glory to God from the depths of our hearts. He wants us to live free from fear in the knowledge that we are adopted sons and daughters of God. He continues to make this revelation available to us through the Spirit which he never ceases to give.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a spirit of adoption,
through which we cry, "Abba, Father!"
Newsboys - I Am Free (Who The Son Sets Free)
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