Speech by Jessica John
Glory be The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, Amen.
Respected Achen and my dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Today’s Lenten Sermon comes from St. Luke 13: 10-17, otherwise known as the story of the crippled women. Many of us have heard of this miracle whether it was through Sunday school or a retreat. A women who was crippled for many years was healed by Jesus Christ and that’s it right? Wrong! This is a miracle that put many of the Pharisees to shame and gathered many people to rejoice in God’s love. This is a miracle that promoted hope to everyone facing physical and emotional distress, especially to women.
To get a full understanding of the importance of this healing, let us first understand what had really happened. Luke 13: 10-13 says, “Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a women 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 ‘Women you are loosed from your infirmity.’ And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. ” This unnamed women has been bound to an infirmity for 18 years by Satan. An infirmity is a weakness or ailment that can be classified as a physical disability, declining mental stability or spiritual weakness. In her case, her infirmity was having a back so bent forward that she couldn’t stand up nor lift herself up. This was caused by her spiritual weakness, for all of the sins and burdens she bore for the past 18 years had weakened her body to the point where it started to affect her back and it began to bow forward. She was sitting in the synagogue when Christ had called and healed her, without her even asking! She was not only cured of her physical disabilities but also her soul was strengthened spiritually and her sins were forgiven. The women then got up and glorified God in the synagogue. How amazing is it that He restored a human’s ability to stand straight, especially on a religious day like the Sabbath!
Unfortunately the Pharisees didn’t find it so amazing. Luke 13:14 says “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 ruler of the synagogue was being too technical with the concept of preserving the Sabbath as a day of rest. He indicated that Christ healing the crippled women was a job rather than an act of human kindness. This is an indirect insult on what type of being Jesus Christ really is. Healing the sick and possessed was not his job nor was it an obligation, but it was through the pure kindness and mercy in his heart that he healed them. Christ boldly responds in Luke 13: 15 by saying “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?” Only a few people actually fully preserved the Sabbath as a day of rest. Many however secretly still did work and took this day of rest as an opportunity to enrich their animals and crops, which would put them ahead of everyone else. See how willing the synagogue leader was to allow this women to be crippled for another day, but yet he couldn’t bear not loosening up his animals to take them for water! Society, during this time, has put women so low that an animal was more important than a woman’s sickness.
Jesus then further proceeds to defend this woman in Luke 13:16 by saying “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 Sabbath?” Christ titled this woman as the daughter of Abraham, meaning she was of the chosen people, amongst people who would not even dare to be seen with her. This is the only time in the Bible where any woman has ever been referred to as the “Daughter of Abraham”. His title to her shows that she was a promising child who was more important in His eyes than any ox or donkey. These words uplifted her from all the hatred and prejudice that she probably received for not only being crippled but being a crippled woman. This title praises her for her bravery and courage to come to the synagogue, despite her physical ailment, and still pray to God. These words put the Pharisees to shame and the members at the synagogue also glorified God.
There are 2 points I would like to make about this woman, which I think we should all use in our daily lives. My first point is that she came to the synagogue. Imagine how difficult it must have been for her to walk all the way over there without even being able to look up properly. And I bet that having a back in such poor shape must have caused her a lot of pain. Also imagine the amount of insults she had to face. During that time, lepers and people that were either crippled or possessed were ridiculed for their problems. Many had insults thrown at them, were isolated and at certain times they were physically abused. No one wanted to help them and no one bothered to try. Their theory was, if you have a disease or disability then its God punishing you for your sins. Despite the ridicule she faced and the pain in her back, she still put the effort into coming to the synagogue to worship God. Most of us try to find excuses so we don’t have to show up to church like getting a little fever, working overtime to make more money, procrastinating until Sunday to do a major project or just using the excuse “I’m too tired”. But if this woman can go to the synagogue in all her suffering to worship God, then we should all be able to do the same because our problems are nowhere nearly as bad as hers.
My final point is how strongly she held onto God. She came to the temple to praise God during the midst of her problems. She could’ve kept herself isolated to avoid the prejudice, but her faith in the Lord kept her coming back. Her faith was so strong that she didn’t care about what anyone thought, because she was determined to praise God. The faith she had is what kept her going during her suffering and it’s the same faith that bought her out of it.
In a way we’re all like the crippled woman. Each one of us here has a story that includes happy moments, losses, beautiful memories and sorrowful burdens. Just like the crippled woman we carry these burdens every day and bring them everywhere with us. Sometimes we even get ridiculed for the burdens we have. But we must realize that the more we continuously carry these burdens, the further we will bend down, sinking into the sorrow it causes. We must have faith that God will bring us out of the problems in our lives. He will lay down His hands on us, straighten up our lives and give us the courage to hold our heads up and face the world confidently.
Before I wrap up this sermon let me just take the time to make us realize that God preforms miracles every day. A miracle doesn’t need to be something as elaborate as healing a crippled woman, curing a leper or restoring a man’s sight. Miracles are also the simple things in life. It’s a miracle that we all have food, clothing and a place to sleep when people in Third World Nations don’t. It’s a miracle that we have good health when many are in hospitals. During this Lent, let us all take the time to appreciate everything Jesus Christ has done for us. Let us hold on to God, not just in our darkest moments but even in our brightest. Let us praise him not just during Lent, but even after.
Thank you and May God bless us and strengthen us all during this Lent.
