Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture Reading

Introduction

As we continue in our study in the Gospel of Luke, we come to an account that Luke includes that is not included in any of the other Gospel accounts.

This is unique to Luke.

There’s been some debate over Luke’s reason for including this account where he does within his gospel.

I think the most likely scenario is that Luke includes this to highlight or emphasize the fact that the religious leaders were failing to respond appropriately to Christ.

Keep in mind that in the preceding passages Luke has included the words of Jesus calling his followers to respond appropriately to who he was.

He spoke about the fact that he did not come to bring peace, but division, and a sword.

He called upon the crowds following him to repent or perish.

He spoke about the fig tree in the vineyard that failed to bear fruit, and that if this continued, the tree would be cut down.

So, all of these are speaking about the urgency and the necessity of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

In that context, this passage would fit well in terms of demonstrating that there was an ongoing failure to heed the calls of Jesus.

Irrespective of the fact that Jesus had clearly demonstrated himself to be God’s chosen Messiah come into the world, we find in our passage this morning that the synagogue ruler accused Jesus wrongly, instead of learning from him.

He also failed to demonstrate the fruit in keeping with repentance, a humble attitude towards those around him.

So that is the context of our present study, and with that in mind let us consider firstly from our passage:

1.

The Compassionate Saviour (vv.10-13)

We read in verse ten of our passage:

This verse sets the context of what is about to unfold.

Jesus is in a synagogue, on the Sabbath day, with the Jewish people present with him in this synagogue.

We also find that Jesus was busy teaching the people in the synagogue.

Just one point worth noting in the context of the Gospel of Luke is the fact that this is the last time that Luke will note that Jesus is teaching within the context of a synagogue.

At least that is according to the way that Luke records events.

But as Jesus is teaching the synagogue, he notices a woman that is there was crippled.

Look with me at verse eleven:

There are a few things that we should note from this verse concerning the woman.

Firstly, she was crippled in the sense that she was bent over and could not straighten up at all.

Some translations state that she was bent over double.

This immediately reminded me of a recent video of a particular Chinese man who had a rare spinal condition, and lived bent over for many, many years.

It took four very carefully planned operations to break his bones and reconnect them to help him to stand up straight.

And I simply mention this to compare Christ’s powerful ability to heal people, as opposed to man’s efforts to help.

We certainly are thankful for medical interventions, and grateful for our doctors and specialists that assist in helping people with all kinds of conditions.

But Christ performed miracles – genuine, undeniable miracles in an instant, with perfect success.

We see also from our passage that this was her condition for the past eighteen years.

It was not a condition that was temporary or that had suddenly come upon her.

Rather, she had a genuine condition which resulted in her being unable to stand up straight for eighteen long years.

She had probably been coming to the synagogue for the past 18 years, and the people there would have been aware of her condition.

We must not miss the significance of the difficult state in which this lady found herself.

This must’ve been an immensely difficult time for the lady as she was afflicted.

It must’ve been an immensely difficult time for her family; for everyone who was caring for her.

It’s evident that no help was able to be provided to this woman.

We also read in this verse that the condition was caused by a spirit.

It’s always interesting to note how the Scriptures distinguish between these afflictions that were caused by the Spirit or by a plain medical condition.

In this case, it was a spirit.

There was a question that came up in Bible Study this past week regarding sickness, and whether it’s caused by physical things, or if there is always a spiritual dimension behind them.

And this is a worldview issue that we need to keep in mind, particularly for us who are more influenced by Western thinking where everything is physical in nature and has an answer in science.

And essentially, the answer to that question was that there can be either physical or spiritual causes for sickness and afflictions.

We then read in verse twelve:

It’s during this time that Jesus is preaching that he sees this woman that is doubled over and so he calls her forward to the place where he is teaching and says the words “woman, you are set free from your infirmity.”

This was a declaration from Jesus that she would be freed from this affliction from this time forward.

Interestingly, it is only following this declaration that he put his hands on her and actually heals her.

Verse thirteen says,

Jesus not only tells the woman that she has been set free, but he demonstrates his love and compassion through touching her and healing her.

We notice the immediacy of the healing for this woman.

There is no further need for any action on her part, but she was instantaneously healed of her infirmity with which she had struggled for eighteen long years.

We must think about the extent of the joy and jubilation that must’ve filled the heart of this woman and those who knew her he loved her as they saw what it is taken place.

Let me ask… probably mainly those who are elderly… because it’s as we get older that the aches and pains in the body increase.

But think about your greatest affliction today, your greatest physical limitation, and how it impacts your life.

We have people that struggle with body aches and pains; arthritis; at our men’s meetings, a few of our older men are struggling with hearing; struggling with eye sight problems; back pains and injuries;….

now, imagine that you are instantly healed of your greatest physical ailment.

And perfectly so!!!

The longer you’ve had to put up with the struggle, the greater sense of delight and joy it would have brought.

This lady would no doubt have been overwhelmed with emotions of joy and gratitude for what it just happened.

And the reason I’m emphasizing this is that we can so quickly skim through this, and maybe delve into theological truths, without recognising the extent of Christ’s compassion and love being shown, and in contrast to that, the extent of the mercilessness of the synagogue ruler.

So, let us keep that in mind.

Before we go on to the next section, I do want to pause and emphasize the reality of this compassion of Christ, and the fact that this compassion is in fact a demonstration of the compassion of God the Father.

What Christ is demonstrating here through His compassionate care of this crippled woman is merely a demonstration or reflection of the compassion of God.

And so many struggle with this.

They see God as harsh, vengeful, angry, etc.

And while it’s certainly true that there are times where God is rightly angry, and He does take vengeance, we must understand that He is at the same time loving and compassionate.

In fact, this is how He reveals Himself.

When Christ came into the world, we are told that in Him, all the fullness of the godhead dwelt bodily (Col.2:9).

In Hebrews 1:3 we’re told that Jesus is “…the radiance of God’s glory, and the exact representation of His being.”

What Christ is doing as He comes into this synagogue and calls the woman forward to be healed, is that He’s putting on display for all to see, the mercies, the compassion, and the kindness of God.

But notice also the response of the lady as she’s set free.

She praised God.

If anyone understood the implications of what just happened, it was her.

Prior to being healed, she probably cried out and sought help from every place she could find.

Eventually she’s set free from her infirmity.

And immediately she professes that what has happened is the free gift of God.

He has done the healing.

An appropriate response!

With that in mind let’s consider secondly:

2. The Callous Ruler (v.14)

Christ was compassionate, we’ve seen, but we now come to consider the religious leader, the Ruler of the synagogue.

And keep in mind the context that I mentioned from the outset – the religious leaders failing to submit to Christ, and bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

We read in verse fourteen:

The first thing that I want us to note from this verse is the immediate response of the synagogue ruler.

Within the context of a woman that has been set free from a debilitating condition for the past eighteen years, a lady who’s praising God for his goodness, the immediate response from synagogue ruler is indignation.

The word speaks of horror or a sense of anger at something that is believed to be unrighteous or unholy.

Instead of rejoicing with this lady because of her freedom, the synagogue ruler is upset about the matter.

Notice the reason that he’s upset.

He’s upset because Jesus has healed on the Sabbath.

In other words, this synagogue ruler was concerned that work had been done on the Sabbath day.

Obviously, he is considering the concept of work in terms of the religious constructs of his day.

He is thinking about the definition of work in terms of what the Jewish leaders had developed in terms of their own ideas about what work is.

I discussed this in a past sermon on this series showing you how of the Jewish people consider the idea of what work is a what constitutes work (see Luke 6:1-11).

But essentially it was all man-made doctrine.

In other words, there was nothing specific within the law of Moses that disallowed healingto take place on a Sabbath day.

Rather, it was the man-made ideas that developed from the law that they try to keep in order to please God through their righteousness.

The important point to note here is the fact that the religious leader has no compassion on this lady, and cares very little for the fact that she’s just been delivered from an 18-year long debilitating condition.