Jesus Heals the Crippled Woman

If the evil spirits around you have ever brought you to a place of fear, anxiety, loneliness, or pain, then we can relate to the woman who was crippled by spirits in Luke 13.

Luke 13:10-17

"10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 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. 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.”

Another word for crippled, depending on the translation you use, is ‘infirmed’ which broadens our understanding of crippled from being a physical weakness to a mental weakness as well. Whether it was physical or mental, the woman was debilitated by the spirit. For 18 years.

If you have ever fought against Satan in something that brings you to your knees, you know that 18 years is a long time. However, she still was showing up to the synagogue, which tells us that she was still fighting and had not given up. She turned to God to help her in her battle, and she had wisdom and knew that her human capabilities could not help her entirely escape from the spirit. She turned to God, who was bigger than any situation she faced.

When Jesus saw her in the synagogue, He released her from the spirits that were fighting her. Immediately, she was freed, and her response was to praise God. Instead of being overjoyed with the miracle that was performed right before their eyes, the synagogue leader got upset because Jesus was “working” on the Sabbath. Some people were happy with the miracles that Jesus was performing, and some people were upset.

When God performs a miracle in our life, how do we react? Do we rejoice, stand a little taller, and praise Him for His ways? Or, are we skeptical? Do we miss the daily miracles that He is performing because we live in a state of disbelief?

Here are 3 takeaways from the healing of the crippled woman:

1. God does not discriminate between Monday or Sunday. He is always at work in our lives.

2. God does not discriminate between men and women; He performs miracles in lives no matter the gender.

3. We cannot give up hope, especially when we are facing things that are beyond our capabilities to fix. Like the woman, we must continue to show up and present our difficulties to God. He is present, and He is healing.