Luke 13:10-17
10 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. 11 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 Can’t Wait until Tomorrow
At the start of our gospel reading, Jesus is holding an audience. “Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.” All the usual suspects were there, the every-Sabbath worshipers, the synagogue ruler, the upstanding members of the community. But then, in walks a woman. We read she “had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.” She’s so bent over, her spine so curved and so damaged that she can’t even straighten up. She has no companions with her, no one to notice her—who would want to? In some way or another, she had been afflicted by a demon! And Jesus? Well, he’s busy—maybe she should just come back tomorrow.
But then this: behold! In other words, the Holy Spirit is saying, “Look!” Notice this woman. Her? Why? Because otherwise we wouldn’t. Sitting in the back pew—feeling she doesn’t belong like the others. Ready to duck out at a moment’s notice.
Behold! What?! Who sees her? Not the synagogue ruler—he would prefer she comes back tomorrow. Not the pious listeners—they’re studiously ignoring her “But when Jesus saw her, he called her to him.” And think about that. Jesus is in the middle of his sermon. But he doesn’t ignore her like the other people are tempted to do. He doesn’t hold up a finger and ask her to wait until he’s done. When he saw her, he called her, because what he wanted to do for her couldn’t wait for tomorrow. It couldn’t wait for another minute. He declared to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.”
Imagine receiving such good news after 18 years of being hunched over. Sometimes after setting my baby down in his crib (or even tying my shoes) I forget what it feels like to stand up straight again. Imagine what this sudden relief must have felt like for her. Would she even remember? So, Jesus guides her: And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
And did you notice what happened next? It reminds me of Peter’s mother-in-law, whom we read about last week. Until this moment, she has done nothing. We’ve heard nothing from her. She was just there—hunched over, unseen, uncared for. But what do we see immediately after Jesus preaches this living sermon? Immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. Not only is her body made straight. Through Jesus’ power and love her soul is raised up, and just as quickly as Jesus had compassion on her, she responds in praise to her God.
You step into church, maybe stepping into the back pew, not because it’s where you always sit, but because you don’t want to be noticed. Or you come to your normal pew and try to look normal, but inside you are hunched over with the demands and demons of this life, fighting against a soul that is curved in on itself because of sin and the devil. You are helpless. You don’t deserve to be here, not in the presence of Jesus, not with all these other people who look like they have it put together.
Behold. For a moment, don’t look at your Sunday morning through your eyes, or the eyes of the other people here, or your pastor’s eyes. Look through Jesus’ eyes. Behold. He sees you—all of you, every last part of you. Every last crack and creak of spine and soul. Look at your weekday morning through Jesus’ eyes. You open your Bible—the coffee hasn’t kicked in yet, you can barely see the words on the page. Behold. In every devotion, you have more of Jesus’ attention than he has of yours. You gather the family for a devotion; you feel self-conscious, “we’re not that family, we’re not put-together enough.” See yourself with his eyes. He sees how helpless you are without him, how you can in no way raise yourself up. So he doesn’t wait, he speaks! He has to—this can’t wait until tomorrow! He speaks with the living and active Word of God: “Woman, man, child, you are loosed from your infirmity!” And once again, from that moment on—you, yes you, even you, are free!
That’s always what the Sabbath was all about. That was the day when God led the Israelites to enjoy the rest only he can provide. That’s still what our worship is about, because in these things God gives us rest from our sin and infirmities. Jesus knows our every weakness, and so he knows that this can never wait until tomorrow—we need his presence every passing hour.
And if you want even more proof of that, look no further than the rest of the account here. Jesus does this incredible miracle, giving further testimony to the fact that he is the one everyone needs—the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the world!
But how does the synagogue ruler react? He’s indignant! “Why didn’t you come to be healed tomorrow!” Wherever Jesus’ word is; there is opposition. Wherever Jesus’ does something wonderful, the devil is working hard, and the sinful nature is working hard to ignore it, to avoid it, to put it off.
And Jesus calls him out for it: “Hypocrite, does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”
The synagogue ruler resented Jesus and the woman, and he tried to rebuke them, but he failed to see his own hypocrisy – that he was so caught up in obeying his own rules for life that he was ignoring God’s rules for his life. But he isn’t the only one who comes with sorry excuses to tell Jesus that he should come back tomorrow. We do that too…
You wake up on your day off, and you want to sleep in, but your dog needs to go for a walk. That dog won’t wait until tomorrow! Don’t you get up and let it out and give it water and food? So, Jesus says, why should I wait, when I see not a dog but a person who needs to be led away from Satan? This woman was bound by Satan for 18 years—this can’t wait until tomorrow!”
How many times have you treated your dog better than your Saviour? How many times have you elevated your child’s sporting career over their spiritual life? How often have you prioritized physical rest and recreation over spiritual rest in Jesus through worship and devotion? We’re often better at tending to our pets’ needs than to our soul’s needs.
But today, behold, look through Jesus’ eyes. He sees your heart, and how Satan wants to bind you again. He sees how much difficulty you are facing in this world that threatens to focus your attention on your many problems but to forget his Solution. He sees the sin at work in your heart bending your gaze inward, until you’re incapable of seeing anything else but yourself, and he does for you what he did for this woman. He doesn’t wait for the right time or circumstance. He reaches out right away and touches your heart with his Word of promise and raises your soul through his salvation.
Sometimes it can feel inconvenient to set aside time to be with Jesus. You’re too busy. You’ll have more time later in the day or later in your life to figure it out. But when Jesus interrupts your routine and intercedes for you like he did for this woman, you’ll find that not only was it at just the right time for him to help you, but also just the right time for you to glorify him.
Jesus didn’t wait until it was convenient. Jesus didn’t check his schedule to see if he was busy. He promised to save you from your sin and he kept his appointment on the cross. He died to forgive your failure to give him your full attention. He rose from the dead so that you could spend eternity at his side. He speaks to you in His Word so that he can be at your side every day. So come back to him every day, day after day, weekend after weekend. Pause and seek the rest that only he can give—and as you see opportunities to glorify him in return you, too, will say, “This can’t wait until tomorrow! I want to praise my God today.” God give you the strength. Amen.