Women

WOMEN IN LUKE PART 6

by GLENN PEASE
02/27/21
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LUKE 10:38-42
38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and
a woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's
feet and listened to his teaching.
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she
went to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister
has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me."
41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are
anxious and troubled about many things;
42 one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion,
which shall not be taken away from her."
THERE WILL BE ENTIRE MESSAGES ON MARY AND
MARTHA, AND SO NO MORE IS ADDED ON THEM
HERE.

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 spirit of
infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not
fully straighten herself.
12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her,
"Woman, you are freed from your infirmity."
13 And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she
was made straight, and she praised God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus
had healed on the sabbath, said to the people, "There are six
days on 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 ass 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 this, all his adversaries were put to shame;
and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were
done by him.

Here is a case where Jesus showed public compassion for a
woman in a context where women were to be inferior and
unnoticed. If Jesus had healed a lamb that had broken its
leg they probably would not have objected, but to heal a
woman in the synagogue, and on the Sabbath, was just too
radical. When Jesus does something for someone unasked, it
is usually a woman He is helping, and so it was with this
woman with severe curvature of the spine. Here we see the
value system of Jesus in contrast with the value system of the
Jewish leaders. They said tradition is the key value, but
Jesus said people are. Jesus was not asked by her or anyone
else to heal her. He just chose to respond out of compassion.
She had resigned herself to live with her problem, and did
not even come with the hope of being healed. The presence
of misery prompts His mercy. It did not make any difference
to Him what day of the week it was. His mercy was in
operation 7 days a week, and He had no day off from doing
good.

It is possible that her problem was psychosomatic, for
Satan can bind us by negative and obsessive thoughts. She
had a spirit of infirmity, and this does imply her problem
could be psychosomatic. Frank Lauback said, "Every
thought tends to become true in proportion as it is intense
and as it is long dwelt upon." Dr. David Morton of the
University of Southern California said, "You are not what
you think you are. What you think, you are."

Luke alone records this healing on the Sabbath. Barclay
points out that this is the last time we ever hear of Jesus
being in a synagogue. The authorities were watching His
every move, and waiting to ensnare Him. Jesus was
concerned that the Sabbath be not just a time of teaching but
of action. It is a Christian duty for doctors and nurses and
others to work on Sunday just as Jesus did. Jesus
deliberately broke the traditions to make clear that people
and their needs are more important than traditions and
religious rituals. He was not trying to secularize the Sabbath,
but to make it truly sacred by making it a day for person
centered activity.

This woman was bent over like a hunchback, and must
have been a pathetic sight. Jesus called this distortion of the
body a work of Satan and not the will of God. This woman
was apparently faithful in attendance at the synagogue, but
had been ill for 18 years. The faithful often must suffer long
the afflictions of Satan before being delivered. Jesus was
giving first class attention to what others considered second
class people. She would be in a segregated part of the
synagogue. If anyone had good reason to stay away from the
worship service it was this woman. She had every right to
stay home as a shut in, but had she not been there this day,
she would have missed her miracle. Every time we miss a
service we risk missing a blessing God has for us.

We see here that Satan can be responsible, not just for
mental problems, but for physical problems, and he can keep
even godly people bound by these problems. This is why the
ministry of healing is a part of the Christian church. God's
people can become bound by Satan, and only the power of
Christ can set them free, and the gift of healing is the means
by which many are set free. Jesus did not lay hands on all He
healed, but here He did, for the power of touch was essential
to convey true acceptance. For Jesus to walk over to a
woman in the synagogue and touch her would be shocking to
the Pharisees. It just was not done, but Jesus did it and
taught the need for physical expression of acceptance. Words
are often too easy and cheap. We need to express love and
acceptance by touch.

Her response of praise was as immediate as her healing.
This, no doubt, disturbed the Pharisees who did not like the
outburst of a woman in the synagogue. Doing the will of God
and sharing love to others will not always please everyone.
The rulers were more concerned about the system than about
people. Religious people can put the highest value on their
ritual even if it ignores the needs of people. Barclay writes,
"It is all too tragically true that more trouble and strife arises
in churches over legalistic details of procedure than for any
other reason. In the world, and in the church, we are
constantly in peril of loving systems more than we love God
and more than we love men."

This leader was actually angry and put out with Jesus for
violating a tradition. The fact that a life was set free from
bondage to great joy did not touch him. All he cared about
was that a rule had been broken. He could not distinguish
between work and service. To work, in the sense of doing
labor to earn wages, is not wise behavior on the Sabbath, and
Jesus never once encouraged this. But to meet a need and
serve people for their benefit is what God wants to happen on
this day off from the routine of manual labor. Note how he
scolds the congregation, for he did not have the nerve to
attack Jesus, or this woman who was praising God. So he
launches an attack on the general principle that the crowd
should not come to the synagogue on the Sabbath expecting
any practical blessing from God, such as healing.

General Booth in his book In Darkest England tells of a
runaway girl who came to the Home For Fallen Women, and
applied for a nights lodging. The clerk took her name and
address and asked, "Are you a fallen woman?" The girl
blushed and looked down at the floor and explained that she
was not, but she had no money and needed a place to stay.
The clerk told her that this institution was for fallen women
only. She left and then came back later and said, "I am
qualified now, will you take me in now?" The rule was made
more important than the person. The rule made her do evil
in order to get help, and such a rule is evil in itself. When a
rule robs people of their dignity and value, the rule ought to
be violated. The purpose of rules is to avoid hurting people.
When the rule is going to hurt people it should be broken for
the sake of the person. If you were standing before a red
light and saw a little boy about to run his tricycle off the curb
into the street on the other side, you would be a fool not to
break the rule and run through the red light to save the
child.

The synagogue ruler was angry, and when you are angry
over the violation of a rule, even though it was of great
benefit to a person, your spiritual values are messed up.
Jesus only got angry at that which hurt people and degraded
them. He never got angry at rule violation, for rules tend to
put rulers and institutions above people. History is full of
stubborn anger that has injured people. Godly anger will
always be for the benefit of people. Benjamin Franklin said,
"People of action will make many mistakes, but they never
make the biggest mistake of all-doing nothing." That was the
mistake of the ruler.

Gilbert and Sullivan, the two talented music men who
wrote lite opera, were partners. Sullivan one day ordered a
new carpet for a theatre they bought. When Gilbert saw the
bill he blew his stack. One thing led to another until they
ended in court over it. They never spoke to one another
again. When Sullivan wrote music for a new production he
mailed it to Gilbert. When Gilbert wrote the words he
mailed it back to Sullivan. Once they had to make a curtain
call together. They stood as far apart on the stage as
possible. Here was stubborn anger that put their pride and
rules above the value of persons, and this was folly. Imagine
being mad at your own partner, but worse yet, imagine being
angry at Jesus for healing a poor woman who had been
bound for 18 years. Perverted values can make men angry
even at life's best values.

Jesus got angry at those who got angry because of His
compassion for people. The worst sins, from the point of view
of Jesus, were those of religious people who lacked
compassion. People who resist acts of love are the greatest
hindrance to the ministry of Christ. Jesus argues from the
less to the greater. If something is valid on a lower level, is it
not more valid on a higher level. If compassion for animals
leads to exceptions, how much more ought compassion for
people lead to exceptions in Sabbath observance? See 14:5.
It is hypocritical to pretend to be concerned about God's
law when you do not care about God's people. It is people
that really matter, and all we hold dear must be evaluated in
the light of how it affects people. It is a warped value system
that puts animals above people. They cared more for bound
and thirsty animals than they did about a bound and
suffering woman. It is not that their love for animals was
wrong, but that their love for people was so inadequate. The
lesser realms of life are to be a guide for conduct in the
higher realms. If people have great love and compassion for
their animals, even enough to break some of the rules for
their benefit, how much more should this apply to the needs
of people.

We hear of the sons of Abraham, but Jesus is the first to
call a woman the daughter of Abraham, and give women an
equality of inheritance. Jesus does not view all suffering as a
value. Here is a case where she was a victim and a prisoner
for 18 years, and what was good was her release, and not her
bondage. She had been in this condition for 18 years, and so
it was really no emergency. Jesus could have made an
appointment for the next day, but He healed her on the spot
because it was only right to meet her need as soon as He
became aware of it. Barclay refers to a Latin proverb that
says, "He gives twice who gives quickly." Barclay writes,
"Jesus' whole action in this matter makes it clear that it is
not God's will that any human being should suffer one
moment longer than is absolutely necessary." "No helpful
deed that we can do today should be postponed until
tomorrow."