Contemplative Bible Reading

Luke 13:10-16 (New International Version 2010)

¹⁰ On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, ¹¹ and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” ¹³ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

¹⁴ Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

¹⁵ The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? ¹⁶ Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

¹⁷ When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

This is a (hi)story of Jesus healing a woman near a synagogue (I don’t think women were allowed in the synagogue, but that is another discussion for another day). Most of the time when I read these verses I am thinking about the “crime” of healing or working on the Sabbath, i.e., the day of rest. This reading, however, pointed me to something else.

When Jesus healed her of her being “bent over and could not straighten up” (sounds like arthritis to me) He did not say, “you are healed.” Instead, Jesus said, “you are set free.”

Are infirmities some type of imprisonment or enslavement? This woman was “crippled by a spirit.” Was an evil spirit dwelling about her and causing her stoop? When Jesus healed her, was he chasing away the evil spirit? Then I wonder, are all infirmities a manifestation of an evil spirit?

I suppose these questions have been discussed for a few centuries without conclusion.

I could be reading too much into this. Maybe she was set free from the physical trials that came with the infirmity just as I am freed from the aches and pains of the flu. Either way, Jesus saw she was in need and He aided her. I suppose that is what I am to do every day as well – aid as I can to those I meet who have needs. God, help me to do so.