“On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,  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.  When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.” Luke 13:10-13

On many prior occasions, Jesus has rebuked and cast out devils and unclean spirits, and men and women are healed. On this occasion it wasn’t a matter or healing. It was a matter of liberating.

These things jump out at me:

1. The Sabbath.  The Lord Jesus is Our Sabbath Rest – even before He was glorified. Yet Our Sabbath Rest doesn’t rest on The Sabbath. He honors Shabbat, AND works on our behalf; giving us instruction, defeating enemy agents, and reversing paralyzing conditions …
2. The crippled woman afflicted by what The King James refers to as “a spirit of infirmity,” was in Jesus’ orbit. She was present at synagogue. In fact the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) recounts that “A woman came up who had a spirit which had crippled her for eighteen years…” In which case she would not only have been present, but would apparently have approached The Master (anytime we approach The Most Holy One, we’re in a process of coming up, elevating, transcending). Because this is what naturally (or super-naturally) happens in the liberation/transformation/transcendence process:
3. “…Jesus saw her.”
4. Whether she was merely present or approaching, immediately upon seeing her, Jesus does two things a) He calls her forward and b) He speaks liberty to her. And what he speaks is freedom from infirmity. The King James reads, “And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him (not just forward, but to Him) and said unto her woman thou art loosed from thine infirmity.” Or as the CJB says, “Lady, you have been set free from your weakness.”
5. He releases her from the Spirit (of Infirmity) and from the crippling condition without even acknowledging/addressing the spirit!  (Yeshua You are too almighty. Too fierce!!!)
6. Then He lays hands on the woman “and immediately she was made straight…” (KJV)
7. And of course we can’t come away from a work of the mighty hand of God without praising Him. And that’s just what she did. “And at once she stood upright and began to glorify God.” (CJB). Our thanksgiving is like the expression of, and catalyst for, forward and upward momentum in Christ and in The Kingdom – especially in this situation.

If these thoughts resonate with you, please consider sharing this post. More importantly if this scripture ministers to you, would you be willing to stand with me in prayer now? Father, we do earnestly thank you for Your Son and for Your Word, How it does so richly feed us – like manna from Heaven.  How you do so sweetly minister to us. Father we approach you now as You bid us come.  And we thank you for liberating us where we are bound by weakness or infirmity. We do also earnestly pray that You would in this moment of mass sickness and disease release those who are trapped by a spirit of infirmity manifesting as a physical ailment. We especially thank You for freeing our brothers and sisters in Christ – known by You, who may be suffering in this area. We thank you Master, and we count it done by the most high Name of Yeshua – Jesus the Christ. The only One Who Saves. Amen.

Photo by M.Nonhassi