That Which Cripples

Look with me at our Gospel text…Luke 13:10-17. First we need to remember that our author, Luke, was a physician. Luke’s profession – his job was to be a doctor, to care for the sick and those suffering from diseases and crippling disorders. Luke understood the sick. He saw them every day.

In this text Dr. Luke is writing about a woman he probably knew well. He describes her as having been crippled for 18 years. There is no name given to the disease she is dealing with but he writes that she was bent over and unable to stand up straight. It could be that Dr. Luke had been working with this woman for 18 years, trying to help her and find a cure. He knew the pain she was enduring and frustrations she must have had, as she walked bent over. Looking up from her stance took every effort and probably caused shooting pains up and down her spine. Luke knew she is in the synagogue that day, it was her normal practice.
No matter the pain she was in, the difficulty of walking to the synagogue or the embarrassment she might have felt walking bent and not straight as others did, nothing kept her from participating in worshiping God. Luke shares this story as an insider – even more so than normal.

Luke begins this account of her healing by telling us that Jesus was teaching in the synagogue. It seems that in the midst of his teaching Jesus notices this woman. Maybe she had tried to lift her head so she could see him as he spoke. Maybe he noticed that she winced as her head came up ever so slightly. Whatever the reason, Jesus notices her and calls her to him.

We have to wonder, was she embarrassed to think that Jesus noticed her? Was she concerned that maybe he would have her put out of the synagogue because she obviously had so kind of disease? We all know how fast thoughts run through our minds when our name is called.

She must have moved toward him because as she came closer to him he said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” Then he laid his hands on her, and she immediately stood up straight and began praising God from an upright position…something she had not been able to do in years!! Dr. Luke is in awe…the whole assembly is awe…wait, no not all of them. The leader of the synagogue is upset that Jesus cured her on the Sabbath. The leader says to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day!” Wait a minute. This woman didn’t come to be heal. She did not cry out to Jesus. Jesus saw her, called her and healed her all on his own. Jesus doesn’t let the leaders go on too much before he says them, “Are you trying to fool someone? Won’t any one of you untie your ox or donkey and lead it out to drink on a Sabbath? 16 This woman belongs to the family of Abraham, but Satan has kept her bound for eighteen years. Isn’t it right to set her free on the Sabbath?”

Once again Jesus has hushed his adversaries and even put them to shame. The crowd loved it and the rejoicing began – not because he had squashed his opponent but because of all the wonderful things he was doing – especially this day as this woman who had been crippled for 18 years was healed and praising God.

So why does Luke include this event?

Is it because of the healing? He had to be amazed at what Jesus had done. Dr. Luke had tried for so long to help her and he could do nothing but Jesus – Jesus was able to completely heal her! The disease that had crippled her was gone and Jesus had done it!

Is it to show how Jesus had the upper hand over the synagogue leaders? It is obvious that Jesus was often doing things that upset them. They were growing more and more concerned about his lack of following the rules….rules they were in charge of keeping.

Rules aren’t bad. We have rules too. Rules keep us from living in total chaos.

But the leaders were so focused on the rules that they had become blind to the needs and care of the people. In a way we could say the leaders were crippled too – they just didn’t know it.

It was much more obvious that the woman was crippled, everyone could see she was physically bent over – unable to stand up straight. But the leaders of the synagogue, they too were crippled but it just showed in a different way.

Did you know that the definition of crippled is “something flawed or imperfect”? The use of the word cripple as a verb means “to make something much less effective; to damage.”

If this is so, in the eyes of Jesus we are all crippled. Our sins have crippled us.

Let’s think about it…what is sin? Sin is acting or speaking against what God has commanded. Let’s make this simple – Jesus said the greatest commandment is

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. 38 This is the first and most important commandment. 39 The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, “Love others as much as you love yourself.”

So when we don’t put God above all else…we are sinning. When we don’t put God first we are crippling ourselves. How? When we make anything more important than God we are not going to be as effective in living a Godly life.

What about when we don’t love others – or even treat them with respect or kindness? We are certainly not going to be effective in showing God’s love as we were commanded.

This doesn’t even touch on the everyday sins we commit.

The alcoholic who is crippled by one drink. The husband or wife who is crippled by committing adultery. The person who is crippled by envying and stealing from others.

I hate to be the one to admit and point this out but…We are all crippled in some manner. Like the woman who was physically bent or the leader who was crippled by so rigidly following the law, we come into this place of worship crippled – flawed – damaged. Jesus sees us and knows we are crippled but just as he called the woman – he calls to us. He wants to heal us and make us whole again. He wants us to no longer be bent by our sins but to be able to stand tall and praise God.

What is it that is crippling you? What is it that is keeping you from being effective? What is it that is holding you back from being the person God created you to be? Come to Jesus and let him heal you.