Pastor Scott Andrews | January 18, 2026
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Luke 13:10-17
As supporters of Hope Pregnancy Center for over 25 years, my wife and I are deeply thankful for all the work they do in the name of Christ to give people an opportunity to choose life. You see, those facing frightening unplanned pregnancies need to know there are options, there is support, there is care, there is hope available. Thank you for doing that.
You know, whether people realize it or not, our God, the Creator, is the author of all life, both physical and spiritual. In Acts 17, Paul is on Mars Hill, the Areopagus, with the Acropolis right behind him. I’ve had the privilege to teach Acts 17 on Mars Hill with the Acropolis behind, upon which sits the Parthenon and lots of other amazing Greek ruins – but at the end of the day, they are all temples of false gods – even the amazing Parthenon is a temple of Athena, the patron goddess of Athens. So, Paul, speaking to a bunch of idolatrous Athenians, says,
24 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; (a couple verses later in the same sermon he says, “in Him we live and move and exist”)
Without Him, we would not live nor move – why, we wouldn’t even exist – He is the author of all life – physical life. Of course, as Christians we believe that physical life begins at conception. It’s what the Scripture clearly teaches. Even medical science doesn’t typically bother to refute that anymore. It’s not a clump of cells – it’s a developing, growing, preborn baby.
But, as this world was plunged into sin, sinful brokenness, while physical life begins at conception, we are born spiritually dead. That’s difficult to wrap our minds around – we were born alive physically but born dead spiritually. That’s what Ephesians 2 tells us when Paul writes,
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
2 in which you formerly walked [yes – you walked physically, but you were dead spiritually – a dead man walking, walking around] according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit [the rebellious spirit] that is now working in the sons of disobedience. [Listen, we had our own rebellious spirits, but the demonic spirits guide us to destruction – in fact, as enemies of God and those created in His image, demonic forces seek to make life miserable]
3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. [that is, the rest of humanity]
We were born dead. So…while physical life begins at conception, spiritual life begins when we are born again. He’s the author of that life, spiritual life, too. We are born again – that is, made alive, Ephesians 2 says, to express faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It isn’t our faith that causes us to be born again – it is being born again that enables our faith. Look at it:
4 But God, [when we were zombies walking around] being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Notice, this is all to make much of the surpassing riches of His grace in Christ. In the ages to come. Do you see that – for all eternity – in the ages to come, we will be praising God for the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us, undeserving recipients of His grace, in Christ Jesus. I believe we will never stop being overwhelmed by His surpassing riches of grace.
God is the author and sustainer – the giver of all life, physical and spiritual. That is amazing. Think about it. After creating humankind alive – physically and spiritually – when they fell into sin – chose sin and died spiritually – He could have washed His hands of the whole thing. Destroyed it, started over. But the truth is, this was plan – so that He might show the surpassing riches of His grace toward us forever. How humbling.
So, what I am suggesting is this: God gives life to you, both physical and spiritual. He notices you, He knows you, He cares about you, He provides for you, He loves you – because of His great love with which He loved us. God notices you, knows you, and loves you.
With all that a groundwork, Jesus has just finished a sermon, a long talk that went from Luke 12 through the first nine verses of Luke 13. I looked it up – it took us 10 sermons to cover. Some time has now passed – we don’t know if it was the same day – probably not – or the next day or days later. Jesus is in a synagogue teaching, as was His custom. Let’s read the text – and as we do, I want you to see how Jesus notices broken people and moves toward them. Read it with me – Luke 13:10-17.
Did Jesus come to just throw some healing around to irritate Jewish leadership? Or did He come to give eternal spiritual healing and life? Let me give you the outline as we jump into the text:
- The Setting (10-11)
- The Healing (12-13)
- The Response to the Healing (14-17)
This is actually the last time in the gospel of Luke we see Jesus in a synagogue. After the Temple was destroyed in the 6th Century BC by the Babylonians, synagogues or worship gathering places for Jews sprung up across the land. It took ten Jewish men to form a synagogue, and it’s estimated there were hundreds across Israel, especially in Judea to the south. The synagogue and its worship, to include Bible reading and teaching, were administrated or overseen by the local synagogue ruler. He was not necessarily the teacher or a member of a particular religious sect, although many were Pharisees. He was seen as the local authority over the synagogue.
Well, Jesus is teaching in this synagogue – we don’t know where – perhaps somewhere in Judea as He makes His way to Jerusalem. Luke doesn’t tell us what Jesus is teaching – very likely on the kingdom of God. But we do see it was the Sabbath. Most of you know the Sabbath was the seventh day and extended from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. The fourth commandment of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 said to “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. [why?] For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.”
Notice in the list of people who weren’t supposed to work, he didn’t say wives – I guess somebody has to make lunch. I’m kidding. No one was to do any work – they were to rest on the seventh day, which God blessed and made holy. It was a day to cease from work and rest in the day God made and we know from other passages to worship the LORD their God.
But notice, there is no definition of what work was, and what exceptions, if any might be made. Not to worry, the Pharisees came up with an entire list of what could and could not be done. Sabbath observance became one of their favorite commandments. Later, they had entire chapters of rules in the Talmud on what constituted sabbath observance, and what broke it. For example, they came up with the distance that could be traveled – a Sabbath Day’s journey, which was about 1000 yards, a little over half a mile. There were actually 39 categories of work that were prohibited. I’m not going to read them all, nor the commentary that goes with them, but they could be grouped in the following list:
- Concerning agriculture and food prep, there could be no plowing, sowing harvesting, reaping, binding, threshing, winnowing, selecting, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking, cooking. All of that was to be done before sundown on Friday. By they way, plowing and reaping are listed in the Bible as prohibited.
- Regarding clothing, textiles, leatherwork, there could be no trapping, slaughtering, skinning, salting, tanning, scraping, marking, cutting, shearing, washing, combing, dyeing, spinning, weaving, making loops, separating threads, tying, untying, sewing, tearing.
- Concerning construction, no building, demolishing, extinguishing fire, kindling fire (which is actually mentioned in the Bible), hammering, transferring items.
- As it relates to writing, there was to be no writing, erasing, marking.
- As for carrying, there could be no moving items from one domain to another. For example, there was to be no gathering of manna or sticks or carrying of burdens on the Sabbath.
Here’s the point – the Jews, especially Jewish leadership, were fastidious about Sabbath observance, and even had this list – codified later in the Talmud, but clearly observed when Jesus walked the earth.
Well, while Jesus was in the synagogue that day, we’re told a woman was there – women were allowed in the synagogues, and religious women seeking to learn, grow, be holy, were there. Now, society at that time was rather static – that is, you didn’t move around – you were born, raised, worked and died in the same place. It’s very likely this woman attended this synagogue as she had done many, many time before – for years.
But notice, this woman had a sickness caused by a spirit. Don’t miss that – her sickness was caused, either by possession or oppression of a demonic spirit. Because remember, demons are avowed enemies of God and those created in His image. Their desire, like their ruler, is simply to steal, kill and destroy. This spirit had oppressed this woman for 18 years, by which she was bent double and could not straighten at all. I don’t know when it says bent double if she was bent over ninety degrees, or all the way over to her knees. People much smarter that I suggest it was a spinal illness called spondylitis deformans by which her spine was fused together and she was unable to straighten. For 18 years. When she walked, when she sat, when she ate, when she slept. We don’t know how old she was, but for 18 years, this was her lot in life.
She is in a miserable state of literal, physical brokenness. Now, remember the prevailing thought of the day was she no doubt was an awful sinner – or else, why would she have this horrible malady. She got what she deserved. I don’t know – maybe she was a horrible sinner in her past. But here she was, in the synagogue to worship. Very likely, she had been there many times before in this miserable state, and no one was able to do anything about her condition. They likely avoided her. Her physical deformity no doubt affected her relationships – probably with few or none left. Who would want to be around this kind of woman who “wore” her sin this way? But here she was, in the synagogue, on the Sabbath.
Some point out she is picture of what sin does to all of us. It bends us over, it creates a miserable life, and there is nothing we or anyone else can do about it. We are consigned to a life of suffering the consequences of sin. Nothing we or anyone else can do, except one, which brings us to our second point, the healing.
I’m deeply moved by this part of the story. When Jesus saw her. Will you let those words sink in. She didn’t see Him – at least Luke doesn’t say she did. It doesn’t appear she came because He was there. She was bent over – she couldn’t see Him. But Jesus saw her. Hear those words. Why are they here? The Word of God is not just a book to be studied to make us smarter – even spiritually smarter. It is living and active – it is God’s Word to you.
It speaks to you. Maybe you’re here this morning and you feel broken. You feel invisible. Unseen. Unnoticed. Uncared for. Unloved. To be sure, sometimes the church may let you down. She may let you come and go, without care and notice. But Jesus will never do that. He will never let you down. He saw her, and He sees you. He sees your limp; He sees that you wear; He sees your need. Do you believe that? I’ve said this before, but I haven’t said it in a while. Christianity is not built on Christians – we haven’t shortened the word enough. Christianity is built on Christ. The people in the synagogue that day? They’d seen her before. Now they simply ignore her, hardly even notice her.
Listen, we have people who come and go, hardly noticed. People who are hurting – and hurt people, hurt people. People who are critical of the church – this church. They don’t like the music, they don’t like the worship, they don’t like the size, they don’t like the lights, they don’t like the production. They don’t like the theology, they don’t like the preaching – I get all that. Tana and I had dinner with a family this week who talked about people hurt by the church. Who would quote, never darken the door of a church, ever again. I know they exist. It is also true that people go from church to church, here one day, down the street the next. No commitment, simply consumers. But I don’t ever want the reason people leave the church – this church – because they are not cared for, they are ignored, they are unseen. I know they exist too, but above all else, I want you to know, Jesus sees you.
Jesus saw this woman. I mean, she’s bent double – who could miss her? But His seeing was more than curious fascination. It was more than trying to look without being caught staring. It a seeing of love and care – a seeing that He could do something about. Which began a series of events that you did not do. Not if you were a Jewish man in public. Certainly, if you were in a synagogue. And especially if you were the rabbi teaching in the synagogue. Everything Jesus did was against societal and cultural expectations, even acceptance.
First, He spoke to her. You didn’t do that – but He called her over. You didn’t do that either – not to women. They were to be seen but not heard, nor addressed. Have I said recently that Jesus elevated women in a culture that demeaned them? He called her over and spoke to her. Like a conversation – you didn’t do that either. The impropriety. And he said, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” What did He just say? No one ever said that to her, because no one ever had the authority or power to do something about her sickness. Woman, you are freed.
Put yourself in her shoes. For 18 years, she was bent double, a slave to this demonic malady. No doubt she had faced deep discouragement and despondent despair. Nothing she or anyone else could do about it. Could it be? But Jesus wasn’t finished. He laid His hands on her. That was clearly over the line. You didn’t do that – you didn’t touch a woman in public, especially a sick one. Certainly a woman who wasn’t your mother, your wife, or your daughter. He touched her – and as the old song says, He made her whole. And immediately she was made erect again.
What was that like? Had she tried to stand erect through the past 18 years? Maybe, in the first year or two – she’d wake up in the morning and try. But for 18 miserable years, she was bent over. Jesus saw her, called her over, spoke to her, touched her – and she stood up. The medical miracle is beyond explanation. If indeed her spine was fused – which seems likely – He restored every facet joint, every vertebrae, intervertebral disc, and sacroiliac joint – be impressed, I looked it up. The muscles in her back that had fully atrophied – the erector spinae, the latissimus dorsi – good as new. This was a miracle beyond natural explanation – He healed her completely.
Which brings us to the responses to this amazing, undeniable miracle. There were three: from the woman, from the synagogue ruler and his cronies, and from the crowd. Of course, the woman began glorifying God. She knew what had happened to her was beyond explanation and was of divine origin. Don’t miss that. Remember, the Pharisees had accused Jesus of being in league with Beelzebul – He was satanically empowered. But this woman rightly knew God had done something for her. She was crippled by Satan’s cruelty, but cured by Christ’s compassion. And she began glorifying God.
Listen, if this is indeed a picture of what God does in every life every time He raise a dead person from spiritual death to spiritual life, the only response can be to praise and glorify God. Notice, this woman didn’t do anything – Jesus did it all. Just like us – we didn’t do anything – He did it all. He made us alive; He caused us to be born again. 1 Peter 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
Do you see how our eternal salvation makes everything of God the Father, through Jesus the Son, by the power of the Spirit. It is all of Him, none of us. We are the recipients of divine grace.
Well, not everyone had that response. The religious, who often think they have it all together, who don’t even really need God, rather, God needs them, were not impressed. The religious often stand in the way of God and His work. You see, if they think they deserve God’s attention by their religious superiority, then others certainly don’t measure up. It is those who don’t measure up who feel slighted, hurt by the church.
The synagogue official – the ruler was indignant. He was superficially and righteously irritated because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. Now remember that list I read earlier? Where does it say you cannot heal on the Sabbath? Where does it say you cannot do a necessary good on the Sabbath? Understand, Jesus decided 18 years, and not one day longer, was enough. The synagogue ruler disagreed. Of course, he didn’t have the guts to address Jesus, so he spoke to the crowd, in response to an amazing healing, “There are six days in which work should be done [that’s true, by the way]; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”
Not true. It’s nowhere prohibited in the Scripture. Jesus healed over and over on the Sabbath, which always irritated the religious, but they never seemed to get it. Here’s a list:
He drove out a demon on the Sabbath (Luke 4:31-37)
He healed Peter’s mother-in-law on the Sabbath (Luke 4:38-39)
He healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath (Luke 6:6-11)
He healed this bent over woman on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10-17)
He healed a man with dropsy on the Sabbath (Luke 14:1-6)
He healed a man lame for 38 years on the Sabbath (John 5:1-18)
He healed a man born blind on the Sabbath (John 9:1-41)
He seemed to enjoy violating – not the Scripture – but their silly rules on the Sabbath. He told them the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. He told them He was the Lord of the Sabbath. And here, He questioned them, “You hypocrites (you’re inconsistent is the idea), does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him?” Later, the Mishna actually said you could lead him to water, you could even fill the trough with water, but you couldn’t hold the bucket for the animal to drink. Why? Who knows?
The point is, they allowed “works” of mercy and care for animals. But this woman? Nope. Hypocrites. Jesus went on, “this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is [which speaks of her national and even religious heritage], whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” What’s wrong with you? Works of mercy are permitted. You’ve created rules – made them up – to keep people from care. Again, the question for us is, have we made rules, erected hoops people must jump through in order to be accepted at the church?
Verse 17, “As He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated…” In other words, the synagogue ruler was not the only one opposing Him. As the official spoke to those gathered, many undoubtedly vigorously nodded their heads in agreement. Did they have chapter and verse? Nope – didn’t matter. They were the holy ones – this woman, clearly not.
Which brings us to the third response, our conclusion, at the end of verse 17, “and the entire crowd [those not opposing Jesus] was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.” Not just this particular healing – they had heard of many others, not to mention the exorcisms, the nature miracles, raising people from the dead, and His amazing, never-before-heard teaching. And they were rejoicing. This is the expected response when God does things in our midst. We are supposed to be impressed with Him; to praise Him and glorify His name. You see, while salvation, undeserved grace is for our benefit, our eternal good, it is for His glory – so that in the ages to come, we will praise Him for the surpassing riches of His glorious grace in Christ Jesus.