A Spirit of Infirmity

If you had lived during that day in time you may have seen her; the little old lady making her way through the market square. Every Tuesday for the past eighteen years she would come down to get what few groceries she could afford. She was not the only little old lady shopping that day but there was something about her that caught your attention every time you saw her. She was all drawn over, almost double. Holding to her cane and trying to carry her basket with her goods you could tell it was a struggle for her to even walk. You felt sorry for her and wished there was something you could do to help but in that society it was not common place for a stranger to help such a one as her. Under the Law of Moses you could end up being defiled if she had some sort of disease and you touched her. You asked God to help her and then went your way.

The Sabbath finds you in the synagogue. It is your custom to be there ever since you were a child. The Scribes would take out the large scrolls and give it to the Rabbis to read from. Sometimes a fellow citizen would be offered the opportunity to read from it and comment on what he read. This day was different however as you looked behind you into the courtyard there she was, leaning on her cane, all bent over. Then it happened: Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God (Luke 13:11-13, NKJV). Right there in the synagogue on the Sabbath this Fellow that was teaching did something marvelous! He did what you wished you could have done for her, He healed her. Of course the head Rabbi told the crowd He broke the Law because Jesus had done such a thing on the Sabbath. Jesus answered him just as you would have had you had the guts. Calling him a hypocrite because he and others cared more about their animals then they did people. You cheered with the rest of the people at His answer and all of you began to glorify God!

Many people today are in the same shape she was in, not just physically but spiritually. We see them in the market places or at church. They smile with their face to hide the infirmity in their hearts. Worries, fears, anger, disappointments, frustrations, grief, grudges and the like, cause their spirits to be bent. Many of them, like her, have been hurting for years. If only they would hear as Jesus calls out to them; “Come to Me, let Me heal your broken spirit.” Are you one of them? Feel all bent out of shape? The Master is calling out to you; go to Him.