A Straight-Up Answer
Luke 13:10-17
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Key Text: Luke 13:13
“When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.”
Take a minute to remember what it is like to be burdened by some obligation or duty or task, and to relive the joy that resulted from seeing it come to an end. Graduation ceremonies come to mind: after years of study and toil, writing papers and cramming for tests, living under the stress of deadlines and high expectations, there comes a day that feels like release from captivity.
Consider the weight of financial debts. Perhaps you can remember the joy of sending in a final car payment, or student loan payment, or mortgage payment. You may have celebrated the joy of being free of the debt.
Some of us have also known the oppression of pain due to deteriorating joints. I’ve had both hips replaced, nine years apart. As the cartilage lining the joints wore out, the constant pain of bone rubbing against raw bone made it difficult to walk, to sit, or to sleep. After each surgery, I felt liberated. The pain from the incision paled in comparison to what I had known before. I could stand up straight and walk gladly into a new day.
Today’s text deals with a bent-over woman who was gifted with a straight-up life, and no surgery was required.
A crooked spine (vv. 10-13)
We have been following Jesus on the road to Jerusalem, in which the gospel writer Luke pulled together a variety of source materials, including some stories that appear in different places in the other gospels, as well as stories that don’t appear elsewhere. This is one of those found only in Luke.
Our study text also begins a new section that stretches from Luke 13:10 to 14:35. [DD]
The story involves an unnamed woman in an unnamed town, where Jesus was teaching in the local synagogue. During the first century, each village or town with a significant Jewish population had at least one synagogue, presided over by an archisunagogos – the “ruler/chief of the synagogue.” [DD]
It was not unusual for visiting rabbis to speak during the service, and the statement that Jesus was teaching there suggests that the synagogue’s leader had allowed it. He was not ready, however, for what happened next.
A woman in attendance stood out by standing low, with such a cramped posture that her pain was obvious to all. She had been that way for 18 years, Luke says, constantly bent over with “a spirit that had crippled her.” Later, Jesus would speak of her having been bound by Satan (v. 16).
As noted in previous lessons, ancient people typically attributed mental illnesses to demon possession, and by Jesus’ day the idea of Satan as the lord of the demons was widespread. Physical ailments could also be attributed to Satan and or his minions, for everything harmful was thought to be related to evil that was so pervasive in the world.
So, it’s not necessary to imagine that the woman had a psychological issue that caused her to hunch over: degenerative arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis that causes vertebrae to fuse in a bent position is a more likely candidate.
Whatever the cause, the woman was locked into a painful stooped posture, unable to look at the sky or even see straight ahead without considerable effort. For 18 years she had suffered, Luke wrote, until Jesus took note of her. She did not seek him, but he sought her. He called her to come over and said “Woman, you are set free from your ailment” (v. 12).
Jesus could heal with a word, but also used touch when he thought it would be helpful to the person’s faith or as a way of showing his willingness to touch persons that others would shy away from.
He laid his hands on her, according to v. 13, and “immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.” Can you imagine the relief of finally standing erect after so many years of living with a hunched and aching back?
The woman praised God. Of course she did! And for good reason.
A crooked critique (v. 14)
How would others in the synagogue have reacted? Luke does not say, but surely friends and neighbors of the woman would have rejoiced with her, and no doubt other people who suffered from illness or physical handicaps would have surrounded Jesus, hoping they could be healed, too.
This would have created quite a ruckus amid the normally sedate service. The synagogue ruler angrily tried to bring it under control. As one who closely followed the law and encouraged others to do the same, he took offense at the idea of seeking to be healed on the Sabbath.
Trying to restore order, he did not address either the woman or Jesus, but “kept saying 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” (v. 14). This suggests that others had come forward, and he was shooing them away.
The Jews of Jesus’ day followed not only the written law in the Torah, but also an elaborate “oral law” developed by the rabbis. [DD] The Old Testament taught that Hebrews should keep the sabbath as holy to God by refraining from all work on the sabbath (Exod. 20:8-11, Deut. 5:12-15) – but what is work?
The Mishnah defined 39 main classes of work in tractate Shabbat 7.2, but none of them directly involved healing. Some rabbis taught that it was permissible to help ill or injured persons if their lives were thought to be in danger, but only then: lesser ailments could wait for another day. One could eat or drink medicinal foods only if they were also considered normal foods, not as a treatment. Childbirth was one of the few exceptions because it couldn’t wait: a midwife could deliver a baby and tie the umbilical cord – but a healer could not set a broken bone unless the victim’s life depended on it.
The synagogue leader assumed that other ailing folk could wait until the following day – but who could say if Jesus would still be around? Those who had suffered long wouldn’t have wanted to take the chance.
An upright response (vv. 15-17)
Jesus – whom Luke refers to as “the Lord” – responded sharply: “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” (vv. 15-16). [DD]
Jesus used a typical “from the lesser to the greater” rabbinic argument to counteract the synagogue ruler’s criticism. It was common for village households to have domestic animals, which were often tethered rather than corralled in a fence. The oral law allowed one to untie such animals and lead them to water so long as the knot could be untied and retied with one hand, and the beast carried no burden. One could not pour water in a trough or ask someone else to do it, but if a Gentile had poured water for his or her own animals a Jew could also use it (Mishnah Shabbat 15:1, 16:8)
To give more consideration to a thirsty donkey than to a crippled daughter of Abraham was not only illogical, but hypocritical, and Jesus did not hesitate to label the ruler and his ilk as hypocrites for their legalistic and self-serving attitudes.
Jesus took pains to describe the woman as a fellow Jew who should be cherished and cared for. They had watched her struggle for 18 long years, faithfully dragging her complaining body to the synagogue every sabbath. Did they not have any compassion for her? Was a ritual rule more important than a righteous woman’s health?
Jesus’ comment that she had been bound by Satan for those 18 years should not be taken as an endorsement that she had been singled out by a conscious evil entity. Rather, it reflected a common belief that all bad things were due to the power of evil in the world.
The crowd saw how Jesus demonstrated power over harmful things, and so they were “rejoicing greatly at all the wonderful things that he was doing” (v. 17), implying that he healed others, as well.
In contrast, the ruler of the synagogue and his allies opposing Jesus “were put to shame.” They could not see beyond the legalistic lens of tradition to recognize that Jesus had brought something new: the kingdom of God was breaking through as the blessing and hope of all people.
Perhaps this is why Luke has Jesus follow up with two short parables about the coming reign or realm of God. It is like a tiny mustard seed that grows large enough for birds to nest in it (vv. 18-19), or like a bit of yeast mixed into a large amount of flour that will ultimately work its way through the entire mass of dough (vv. 20-21). [DD]
The kingdom had come in Jesus and was working its way through the world: those who claimed to be spiritually perceptive should have recognized that.
And what might this story suggest to us? The “bent-over woman” provides a metaphor for the plight of all people. Our tendency is to look after ourselves, focusing on what is in front of us rather than those around us, spiritually bent by the deforming power of sin and selfishness. Jesus’ liberation of the bent-over woman offers hope that we, too, will not only stand up straight, but live a more upright life.
Adult Teaching Resources
Download the PDF of teaching resources for this lesson.
This PDF contains the Teaching Guide, Digging Deeper, and Hardest Question pages.
Read Scripture online: Luke 13:10-17
Youth Teaching Resources
Parent Prep
There are binds that our students will get themselves into. The relief that they feel when they have gotten in these situations is one of the greatest feelings of their life. There are times that we can help our students, but there are other times that they can only get themselves out of situations. Then there are times when they have to turn to God and accept the liberation that Christ brings. It’s hard to watch our students suffer, but joy comes when the liberation occurs.
Additional Links/Resources
Read Scripture online: Luke 13:10-17
Download the PDF for youth teaching resources using the button below. This PDF contains the Teaching Guide for this lesson:
Video
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