Straightening the Crooked

Sermon Delivered October 9th, 2011 by Pastor Eric Ellis
Luke 13:10-17

I'm sure that all of you at some point have heard the words, “You need to get straightened out!” Perhaps you've been the one to say these words to another? A man spent many years as a pastor and then resigned and became a mortician. When asked why he made such a change of profession, he said, “Well, I spent many hours of my pastorate counseling people. I found that I wasn't really able to help them too much with their problems or get their issues straightened out. Well, now when I straighten someone out, they stay straight.”

These words most often are used in regard to trying to correct someone or change the way they are doing things. A parent to a child, “You need to get your grades straightened out.” An employer to an employee, “You need to get your work habits straightened out.” One boxer to another, “I'm going to straighten out that ugly, crooked nose of yours.”

As we continue to work through the gospel of Luke, we have been finding that Jesus Christ was into straightening people out. He did this in numerous ways. As we have been looking at in recent weeks, He spent a lot of time teaching and correcting inaccurate theology being promoted by the hypocritical religion of the day and false ideas of why things happen to people. He also straightened out people's physical life through healings and even raising a young man from the dead. He demonstrated His power by calming the wind and the waves. Indeed, we can summarize Jesus' mission on this earth as to straighten out this mess of a world that came about due to sin. In Luke 19:10, Jesus declares His mission, “...for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” He came to fix things...to straighten out the crooked, sinful world in which we live.

In the passage before us this morning, we have the privilege of seeing Jesus literally straighten out a woman's crooked back and then also address crooked thinking in the life of a synagogue ruler and perhaps others that were present at this time. We see Jesus straightening the crooked in more ways than one.

Please follow along as I read Luke 13:10-17:
Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 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. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” The Lord then answered him and said, “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?” And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.

So from this text this morning, lets see that...

Because by His Word and Power, Jesus does away with dead, crooked religiosity, we should embrace vibrant, grace-filled faith in Christ resulting in deep joy and praise.

Four Crooked Aspects of Life and Religion that Jesus came to Straighten out:

1. Jesus came to straighten out Satan's crooked power in the lives of people.

As we look at this passage initially, we are immediately drawn by Christ to look deeply at the source of this world's problems. Jesus is teaching in a synagogue and we don't know what the topic of the lesson is. We may be able to surmise that the content of His teaching may have been marked by continued exposition of the points made earlier about being able to ascertain the times and the seasons.

This is the last recorded instance of Christ teaching in a synagogue. If you recall the first instance back in Luke 4:16-30, you will remember that He told his listeners then that He is the promised Messiah and will fulfill the prophecy about the Messiah as declared by Isaiah. Tying this into the current message, He has been telling the people that they should be able to read the times and see that the Messiah...Himself...is among them. How can they know this? He is fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah as He teaches, performs miracles and heals people. This seems to be the general thrust of Jesus' entire ministry. He has come to declare that He is the promised One of the Old Testament prophecies and He continually proves it by His teachings and power. In the passage immediately following this one, Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God. Thus, we can probably accurately surmise that Jesus is declaring that the Kingdom of God is present and the need to respond rightly to this arrival. As Christ began His synagogue ministry, so His synagogue ministry ends.

But just to again reaffirm the coming of the Kingdom of God and to declare His own Messiahship, He performs this absolutely stunning miracle of healing on this woman. The indication from the text is that this miracle occurs at the end of His teaching time. Here is a woman who has been in bondage to this wicked disease for eighteen long years. Note in verse 16 that Satan “has bound” this daughter of Abraham. The verb “has bound” is active, meaning that Satan has been continually keeping this woman this way for this extended period.

But note also her faithfulness in the midst of such horrendous bondage. In the synagogues of that day, women and children sat on one side and men on the other. Recall that Jewish men looked down upon everyone else but themselves. Thus, this woman more than likely came in and sat, in her bent over state, in the back corner of the synagogue. And, although, no one intentionally embarrassed her, she felt the stares and probably heard the quiet whispers. And, although no one said as much, the assumption may have been, as discussed last week, that she did something to deserve this malady. The woman most likely has a disease called Spondylitis deformans, causing the bones of her spine to fuse into a rigid mass. R. Kent Hughes describes her this way, “She lived in a posture of forced humility, her face always toward the dust of the earth, unless she wrenched sideways and peered upward like an awkward animal. She seemed to sink lower and lower as the weight of years pressed upon her. Her gait was a lunging shuffle. 'She walked about as if she were searching for a grave.' At times she probably wished she could find one.” (Luke Vol. 2, Crossway 1998, p. 88). And yet, despite this horrendous condition, she faithfully attends synagogue worship and takes her place in the back row.

At the conclusion of His message, Jesus called her to Himself and by His word, instantaneously heals her. He says, “Woman, you are loosed...” “Loosed” in this case is a perfect verb, clearly indicating that this healing was finished and permanent. He then lays His hands on her and she is straightened up to never be bent due to this disease in her natural life again. You can hear and feel the shock of the congregation who witness this. And, of course and naturally, her first and continual response is to praise and glorify God.

And, beloved, this is what Jesus came to do. He came to straighten out Satan's crooked power in the lives of people. This woman is a figurative picture of all of mankind apart from the saving touch of Christ. Paul states in Ephesians 2 that the lost are dead in sin and under Satan's power. He again states in 2 Corinthians 4 that the lost have been blinded to the gospel by the god of this world who is Satan.

But then God, through Christ, reaches into our world and sets us free from the bondage we are in. He, by His grace through faith in Christ, straightens us out and sets us free from Satan's bondage in our lives. Note that Paul states again in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. At the point of our embracing the gospel, we are set free from Satan's power and can worship God as He intended us to do.

Please note that, again, this event is a physical manifestation of a far deeper spiritual truth and need. This woman appears to be a believer...a “daughter of Abraham”...before this healing occurs. So we must note that following Christ doesn't mean that all of our physical infirmities will be automatically fixed. I've seen times when God releases a person from some sort of bondage, such as alcoholism, drug addiction or sickness, in immediate and powerful ways. But recall that Paul, as recorded in 2 Corinthians 12, begged God to remove a thorn in his flesh...a messenger of Satan...and God said “no” and told him to rest in God's all-sufficient grace.

The more important and eternal release is from sin and eternal condemnation. And even in this account before us, there are present some who have a far worse malady than this dear woman. And we'll see them in a moment. But please note that Jesus came to straighten out Satan's crooked power in the lives of people and when Jesus does this, the straightening out is instantaneous and permanent. “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (Jn. 8:36). Jesus came to do this. Let us rejoice as this woman does.

2. Jesus came to straighten out a crooked lack of compassion for people.

Next, take a look at how this synagogue ruler reacts to this awesome event. The word says that he “answered with indignation.” The indication is that he is furious...he is enraged. Now, I don't know about you, but seeing a woman healed from misery usually isn't an event that inspires rage. I guess if you are in a war and your enemy whom appeared to be defeated somehow miraculously regains strength and starts a new offensive against you, that might cause rage in you. But this woman is no enemy to the synagogue ruler nor, it appears, to anyone else. If she has enemies of whom rage at her healing would be an appropriate response, Luke doesn't point them out for us.

But this man's reason for indignation is bound up in a very clear and revolting lack of compassion for people. He, along with many of the religious leaders of that day, were much more concerned for their man-made rituals that really had nothing to do with true worship of God than they were concerned with loving people and caring for people's spiritual well-being. Listen to what R. Kent Hughes says in regard to the synagogue ruler, “What a slab of ecclesiastical granite! He had no heart to pity the poor bent woman's plight, no eye for the beauty of Christ's compassion, no soul to rejoice with the woman's deliverance, no ear for the music of her praise.” (Luke Vol. 2, Crossway 1998, p. 89).

And, dear friends, this attitude and action will always mark someone who loves legalism more than lives. The main issues that the religious leaders of the day had with Jesus was that He loved people so much that He didn't let their very stupid, man-made traditions keep Him away from true ministry. Jesus loved being with people and ministering to them. He ate and had fellowship with sinners and tax-collectors. He dressed like the common man and ministered at all times, feeding, teaching and healing anywhere. When his immature disciples thought that it would be a waste of His time to teach and minister to children, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me...” When the prevailing attitude was that Samaritans were less than fully human, Jesus spoke to and saw to the salvation of a Samaritan prostitute along with many of her townspeople. His bent was to love and to minister to people.

This non-compassionate legalist is much more concerned with maintaining his influence and position. He is much more concerned with performing ritual thinking he is pleasing God when in reality he is pleasing himself. He looks down his nose at others and generally carries himself as one who is above the common fray. He is a professional and, in his mind, people need to see him this way. And even in the face of great blessing, if it doesn't bless him, he is, at best, ambivalent, and, at worst, angry and enraged.

Does this not describe the man in the passage before us? He is angry in the face of great blessing because it didn't come to him...it drew attention away from him. He speaks down to the crowd...he rebukes them in the face of this great blessing. What should he have done? He should have joined with them as one of them in common praise and worship of God.

And, friends, please take note of your own heart here. Please examine your own attitudes. If you really could care less what goes on in other people's lives and are much more concerned with your own position and influence, perhaps you need to see how your attitude matches up with Christ's? Listen to the words of the apostle John in his first letter, “If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.” (4:20-21). One of the key tests of genuine conversion and saving faith is growing love for others, especially the body of Christ. This man clearly demonstrated no love nor compassion for people. In the face of incredible blessing, he was filled with indignation. Jesus, as we'll see, calls him out and rebukes him.

Jesus came to straighten out a crooked lack of love and compassion for people.

3. Jesus came to straighten out crooked hypocrisy in religious people.

A third observation from this passage is how Jesus confronted hypocrisy in religious people. Please note that there are a couple of issues here that Jesus confronts in this man as well as other wrong thinkers in the group.

Note first of all that this man rebuked the crowd of people who were in the synagogue. He didn't come after Jesus which, we can suspect wouldn't and, didn't go well for him. For whatever reason, he doesn't address Jesus to His face. Now this is problematic in that the crowd had nothing to do with what has just happened. Regarding Jesus' presence in this synagogue, we are not told why He was there on this particular day. But regardless of why or how He came to this place, Jesus is the teacher and the one leading the services. Jesus is the one who initiates the healing with the woman. It is not her nor is there any indication that the crowd suggests that He heal her. He initiates the entire process. Thus, if the synagogue ruler had any right to rebuke someone, the person he should have rebuked would be Jesus. He hypocritically attacks the “innocent” in this event.

Note also that he states that the people should come on other days of the week to be healed. The impression one gets from reading this passage is that, well, healings occur here all the time. She didn't need to be healed today, but rather, come back at 8:00 A.M. sharp and well take care of it. Now I think it may be fair to assume that the woman who has just been healed is more than likely lost in glorious worship and revelry and probably doesn't hear or care about this ruler's statements. But think about her reaction to these words and the reaction of the others in the room. This woman has been bent over and crippled for eighteen years. There is every indication that she has been a faithful attendee of this synagogue for an extended period. If healing were available at other times, she would have taken it. More than likely she has sought the Lord's healing diligently through the years and not experienced it. How these words would have hurt and angered those who understood her pain and suffering. But the hypocrite here has no thought to needs and well-being of this woman or even this group of people.

Thirdly, note that Jesus very directly and strongly points out that this man and others love the creation more than the creator and His people. Jesus makes the classic argument of taking something less important and arguing to the more important. In order for an animal to be watered on the Sabbath, or any day for that matter, the owner had to either open stall or untie a beast and take it to water. The owner had to physically move something in order for this to happen. And the traditional Jewish laws allowed for this.

But note something here about this healing that Jesus performs. Jesus spoke on the Sabbath. There was no restriction against speaking. The woman walked to the front of the synagogue on the Sabbath. There was no restriction against walking. Jesus touched the woman on the Sabbath. There was no restriction against touching the woman. That is what He did and she was healed. Take a look at many of the healings of Jesus that He performs on the Sabbath. See how often He breaks one of their traditional laws. He really doesn't.

So Jesus confronts this man for his hypocrisy about the work, but also about loving the creation more than God's image-bearers, especially God's chosen people and this daughter of Abraham. In reality, Jesus is accusing this man of idolatry, of loving the creation more than the creator and worshipping in ways contrary to what God would have. And this pattern of sin started in the garden of Eden and repeats itself time and again. When God created the world, the order He established and Adam was to keep was God first, man second, the creation third. But when Adam and Eve fell, they listened to and obeyed the creation...the snake...and placed themselves in judgment over God and placed God third. It became creation first, man second and God third. And, generally, that is the pattern we see here. The creation is elevated to primacy where man and God are neglected. And tell me that we don't see this all over our world today. Jesus calls this hypocrisy. So the animals and the traditions of men are placed above loving worship of God.

Jesus confronts this crooked hypocrisy head on and calls it like it is.

4. Jesus came to straighten out crooked, man-centered glory.

Lastly, look at the result of this event in regards to praise and who gets the glory. The passage states in verse 17 that Jesus' adversaries were put to shame, but that the multitude rejoiced and, we can assume, worshipped God with the woman that was healed.

The religious leaders hated it when they didn't receive attention and affirmation from their crowds. They wanted the attention and glory. If you look at Luke 18, the Pharisee there prays to himself...he is directing his praise to himself.

Jesus came to make sure that worship is directed to the place it should be...to God and God alone. And, dear friends, the result that we see in this account is what the result will be in eternity. As this woman was released from bondage, we too are released from bondage. As God's enemies hated Jesus and what He did, so too today enemies of the gospel hate the message of the gospel and how it sets people free. As this woman and others worshipped God with glorious praise and Jesus' enemies were put to shame, one day all of God's children will worship Him in spirit and in truth and all of God's enemies will be forever put to shame.

The question of the day is which side will you be on? Will you be embarrassed in the presense of the Lord due to your hateful hypocrisy like this synagogue ruler? Or will you be rejoicing in the presense of the Lord due to your acknowledged release from bondage like this woman? Which will it be for you?

Jesus came to straighten out crooked, man-centered glory.

As we close this message, lets look at several applications that we can draw from it:
· Do you understand, first and foremost, that Satan is real and is wanting to keep people in bondage? For the non-Christian here this morning, this woman physically represents your spiritual condition without saving faith in Christ. You are chained and bent over in bondage to sin. Satan will do everything he can to keep you there. As he was active in keeping this woman in bondage, so he is active in keeping the lost in bondage. The Bible states as much in passages like Ephesians 2:1-3,

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”

Dear friends, please know that there is a very real spiritual battle going on in which Satan is active and is striving to keep people deceived and in bondage to sin and death.
· But please also know that Jesus Christ came to set men free from bondage to sin and Satan. As he spoke the Word and healed this woman, when a person recognizes their bondage to sin and then go to Christ in faith and believing that He accomplished all that is necessary for forgiveness and eternal life, Christ saves and heals that person. And it is a done deal. As when Christ spoke these words and the woman was healed, so too when we place our faith in Christ, we are set free from sin and death forever.
· Please also note that when we are rightly related to Christ, we will be people who are marked by a genuine love and compassion for others. This synagogue ruler, a religious man and leader, really didn't care for the people of this synagogue. He cared about his position and influence. But Jesus cared for people...Jesus loved people...Jesus blessed people. And, dear friends, if you are a follower of Christ today, you, too, will be marked by growing love and compassion for people. You will want to see them blessed and encouraged and made right with the Lord. Compassion and love with a desire to serve others will mark your life as it marked Christ's life.
· Please also note that one who is rightly related to God through faith in Christ will be marked by joy and rejoicing in God. Note that this woman and many in the multitudes who witnessed this miracle were filled with joy and worship toward God. When we are brought out of sin and darkness into the light of life in Christ, joy and rejoicing should mark our lives consistently. Yes, there may be difficulty and hardship, but even in those times we should be people of joy due to the freedom and life we have in Christ.
· On the flip side, one who is hypocritical and legalistic will be a pretty dour person. Note that this synagogue ruler became greatly angered in the face of incredible blessing. And anger and frustration as a common feature in a person's life indicates wrong theology and thinking. And especially if that anger is found in the face of great blessing, something is clearly amiss.
· Also note that one who is rightly related to God through faith in Christ will be keeping God-honoring priorities and not elevating things of this world to positions they shouldn't have. Loving God and loving and serving people will be prioritized over temporal issues of this world.
· Lastly, the one who is rightly related to God through faith in Christ will be pursuing God's glory in their own life and will rejoice when God's glory is manifested in the lives of others. His/her one driving passion will be to see God and Christ exalted at the expense, if necessary, of everything. A driving fear for the godly person will be to not degrade the name of the Lord in thought, word, or deed. Instead, the godly person will be giving constant glory to God and directing others to do the same.

Are you one today who has understood the person and work of Christ? Do you see that by dying on the cross for your sins, He enables you to be right with God and direct glory to Him? Do you understand that it is for this purpose that you are alive and were created? Run to the healing and freedom in Christ and rejoice in the life He freely gives.

Because by His Word and Power, Jesus does away dead, crooked religiosity, we should embrace vibrant, grace-filled faith in Christ resulting in deep joy and praise.

Discussion Questions:
· How would you explain the concept of spiritual bondage to someone?
· In our day of materialistic naturalism, how do we go about convincing others of supernatural realities, such as angels and demons?
· Are you primarily a biblically joyful person per 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18? If not, why not?
· How is your love and compassion for people? Is it growing and developing? How do you know?
· Anger seems to be a fairly common malady, even among believers. Why is this the case?The woman in this account was in physical bondage for 18 years. How should we respond to physical sickness or other weaknesses that God doesn't take away in our lives?