He Touched Her

I was reading recently and came upon one of my favorite stories as told by Luke:

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.

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.”

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? 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?”

When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing (Luke 13:10-17).

Here are ten lessons I see in this story.

1. Jesus touched a woman, a direct violation of Jewish custom for He risked becoming "unclean." 2. He knew how long she had been bound. He called her to come forward; she didn't come on her own. 3. Her problem was a devilish one: "Satan had bound her." 4. The religious leader was 'indignant.' 5. The religious leader was, according to Jesus, a hypocrite. In fact, the leader was more bound than the woman. 6. Jesus was courageous and initiated this healing on the Sabbath, knowing it was going to cause trouble. 7. Jesus worked on the Sabbath doing good deeds. We should do the same. 8. The people knew what Jesus was doing, the leaders did not. Leadership is no guarantee of a superior spirituality. 9. Jesus did 'wonderful things'; we should be doing the same. 10. Jesus used simple logic to justify what He did; we should also use Holy Spirit logic to act on God's behalf.

If you see more than these, feel free to post them. Thank you! - John Stanko