Be Set Free - The Disabled Woman

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 I'm that girl who gets the random, weird sickness...often.  I had mono when I was 7 which left me sick for 2 months before finally being diagnosed.  When I was 9 I had to have my appendix removed after an appendicitis attack.  I successfully made it all the way through preschool, elementary, and middle school completely immune to chicken-pox, only to be struck down my freshman year of high school.  My senior year I suffered with some undiagnosed respiratory illness that plagued me the last half of the year.  In college I tore my ACL and had to have reconstructive surgery the summer before my senior year.  I have been hospitalized with kidney stones at 32, had a hysterectomy at 34, and have had a chronic stomach issue for the past 7 years that has yet to be diagnosed.  And then there's that one time I was rushed to the ER for stroke-like symptoms that were actually just a migraine and the other time the doctor thought I had pancreatitis...we're still paying off that ER bill...

I'm a hot mess!  There is no doubt about that!

And a long-term illness can be extremely isolating resulting in feeling not only lonely, but also binding - like you can't get out from under your symptoms.

For 18 years this woman in the Book of Luke had lived bent over - unable to straighten up.  The NIV text note says that the bones in her spine were "rigidly fused together."

I have a dear friend who has terrible back problems, and it is debilitating and isolating and depressing and excruciatingly painful.

My guess is that most people in the synagogue that Sabbath day did not see this woman.  With her back bent over, she probably tired quickly of lifting her head to look into the eyes of others and had just become accustomed to looking at the ground.

But Luke points out that "Jesus saw her" (Luke 13:12).

Even when she was not looking at Him.  Even when she was not looking for Him.

Jesus saw her.

And He didn't glance her way and continue teaching.  He saw her and He saw her need - even when she wasn't asking for anything.

Jesus stopped what He was doing and called her to Him.  Then He tells her that she has been set free from her infirmity (Luke 13:12).  He proceeds to lay His hands on her and heal her body completely.  And I love her response!

"...immediately she straightened up and Praised God!" (Luke 13:13)

For 18 years this woman had lived in bondage to her illness - she was a slave to her crippled body - unable to perform simple tasks - relying on others to care for her.  But when Jesus saw her, she was healed and set free!

Jesus came to set us free!

You can read more about the Disabled Woman's story at She Reads Truth.  Also read Luke 13:10 - 17.