Released from this bond on the Sabbath day

And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who for eighteen years had a sickness caused by a spirit, and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. But when Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God. But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus healed on the Sabbath, answered and was saying to the crowd, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath release his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it? And this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for—behold—eighteen years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” And as He said this, all His opponents were being put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.

Luke 13:10-17

Introduction

The relationship of a Christian to the Sabbath day can often be very confusing. Should we refrain from working? What is the point of the Sabbath? What counts as rest? Why did Jesus choose to heal specifically on the Sabbath, and why was it so controversial?

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy

The fourth commandment handed to Moses on Mount Sinai was to remember the Sabbath day and to keep it holy. No work was to be done on the Sabbath, and this was to honor the six days God worked in the creation of the world while resting on the seventh. “Sabbath” literally means “seventh.” In order to define the boundaries of this commandment, the pharisees constructed rules about what constitutes “work” which is now forbidden on the Sabbath. Doing this, they looked elsewhere in scripture where “work” is described, and they found it in the description beginning in Exodus 36 of the “work” that went into building the tabernacle. They identified things like carrying objects in and out of the home, creative endeavors like painting or sculpting, and food preparation as “work.”

In the midst of all this rule setting, though, they forgot the heart of the command: that it was to be a day of rest. And maintaining a long list of dos and don’ts is not particularly restful. Neither, of course, is enduring a chronic condition like the woman experienced in the story.

Enter My rest

In Hebrews 4, we read a warning against unbelief: that it will result in a failure to enter God’s rest. And we know this is the ultimate fulfillment of the Sabbath rest, since the author of Hebrews states “For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:8-9). This eternal reality we long for with Christ is a rest that is itself a deliverance from oppression. When we enter that rest, we will be entirely and completely free from the enemies that assault us: sin, Satan, and death. That is the kind of rest Jesus brought to this woman. She was not merely afflicted with disease (a sort of precursor to death), but with one that was “caused by a spirit”. Jesus’ choice to heal on the Sabbath was not a violation of the command not to work. On the contrary: His healing of the woman allowed her to properly observe the Sabbath by her freedom from demonic oppression.

She was bent double, and could not straighten up at all

In C.S. Lewis’ Ransom Trilogy (also known as the Space Trilogy), the character of the devil has a particular name among the people of the post-redemption world of Malacandra: “The Bent One.” All those who follow after him are then also called bent ones. Why did he choose this term to describe evil? When one is bent over, that person cannot look up. The best that person can do is look around or down, but never toward heaven. Praise can only, then, be directed toward unworthy objects; such is the bent nature of an evil man’s heart.

This bent posture held by the woman in the story was a sickness caused by a spirit. She was made into a slave by that spirit, forced to do its will rather than God’s. Not everyone enslaved to sin has such outward signs, though. Most of them, in fact, look just like you and me. The bending is in their hearts. When you encounter unbelievers, know they are enslaved to their passions. Have compassion on them. They may scoff at you, assault you, or even kill you. But our calling is not to fight back or to take revenge. Our calling is to offer them the rest only Christ can give. He alone can free them from their bondage and give them everlasting rest. He did it for you. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Consider it a blessing, then, that when you share the gospel with someone who hates you, you are participating in the very act of healing Jesus performed for this woman on the Sabbath day.

May the Lord bless you and conform you into the image of His Son.