Scripture: Luke 13:10-17 [p. 673] October 11, 2026
Sermon: “Saved from Her Infirmity!” Pastor John Young

In the passage before us this morning, Jesus moves from teaching in the open air (vv. 1-9) to teaching in the Synagogue (a Jewish building for sabbath day services – much like our church services), and I’d like for you to notice two specific things regarding this passage of scripture.
I. The Woman & The Ruler – vv. 11-13.
A. While teaching, Jesus notices a woman bent over at the waist and it appears she cannot stand upright.
1. Moved with compassion, Jesus walks over and places His hands on her and then says (v. 12), “Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.”
2. Of course, almost everyone in the synagogue breaks into praise as they watch this lady stand upright, who for eighteen years has endured this infirmity!
3. I say, almost everyone, because in v. 14, we are told the “ruler of the synagogue” was filled with “indignation!”
a. A ruler of a synagogue was like a trustee of the building, the administrative arm of all the business and the spiritual leader, if you would, of that local synagogue.
b. He would be the one, you would expect, who would have been the happiest this woman was healed, but sadly he was not.
c. Rather than rejoicing in her healing, he was disturbed that Jesus healed her on the sabbath and accused them both (Jesus and the woman) of things that were not true.
1) First, the ruler of the synagogue made the statement in v. 14, “There are six days in which MEN ought to work,” but her healing wasn’t the work of man. It was the work of God! God healed her!
2) Secondly, the ruler said (v. 14), “in them” [the six days] “therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.” But there is nothing that suggests this woman came to the synagogue to be healed. Instead, we are given the understanding that she’d been dutifully coming to the synagogue for eighteen years without any hopes of being healed.
a) In fact, Jesus didn’t even come to the synagogue to perform healings; He came to teach. Notice the text again in v. 12, “And WHEN Jesus saw her, he called her to him…”
d. This is why Jesus’ reply to the ruler of the synagogue was so sharp.
1) Notice His response in v. 15, “Thou hypocrite!” And after Jesus was finished admonishing this ruler, even his buddies were ashamed (v. 17), and for good reason!
a) They no more cared about the condition of this woman that the man in the moon! Their whole purpose in life was wrapped up in finding fault!
b) They have no principles but their own misguided lies and they would rather this woman continued in her infirmity than be healed! They only cared about themselves; not the woman!
c) These, we’re told, were filled with “indignation,” while the common people (v. 13b) “glorified God.”
f) Hypocrites always find fault; they do not rejoice in the work of God!
g) The woman had “a spirit of infirmity,” and was healed. The ruler had a spirit of “indignation” and was not healed! The hypocrite seldom gets healed, because they don’t want the healing! They are happy with their self-righteous bigoted self!
[Make no mistake, this is the point of the story that is before us this morning! But, hidden within this literal event, is also a wonderful spiritual picture:]
II. The Spiritual Picture!
A. Although the woman of this story received a literal healing of the body, her literal healing pictures the spiritual healing everyone receives through salvation. Let me explain:
1. First of all, notice this woman was ‘BENT.’
a. Everyone who is born into this world comes in bent and twisted spiritually.
1) All of us have a sin nature and no amount of religion or church attendance can straighten it up!
2. Secondly, she was ‘BOWED.’
a. Her eyes were downward on this sin-cursed earth.
b. That’s how animals are: they are built so they naturally look down.
c. God made man so he could look up to Heaven, to the Lord!
d. The problem is, sin weighs the sinner down to where he is only comfortable looking in on direction: down! But that’s not all! Not only was she bent and bowed:
3. Thirdly, she was ‘BOUND.’
a. Satan had her tied hand and foot! Listen how Solomon puts this in Proverbs 5:22, regarding the sinner, “His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.”
b. There are at least four things that, if they ever get ahold of you, will bind you good and tight. Alcohol, drugs, pornography and talebearing.
c. You’ll have a hard time escaping the slimy tentacles of those sins!
4. Fourthly, notice this woman, in type, is ‘BORN AGAIN’ (She gets a second chance)!
a. The Lord straightens her up and gives her a new life free from her ailment.
b. She’s loosed from her bonds by Jesus Christ!
c. She’s no longer walking around bent over, bowing to the ground. She’s been delivered, set free!
d. As a Christian, if you and I have passed “from darkness to night, and from the power of Satan unto God” and if we’ve become a “new creature” ”in Christ,” then there ought to be a moral change in the way we live!
e. Think with me, don’t you think it would have been strange for this woman to be healed physically by Jesus, to have stood upright for a few moments, if after a few moments she went back to walking around bent over, like before?
f. Of course it would! God’s touch on our life should change us!
5. Fifthly, notice this woman considered her healing a ‘BLESSING.’
a. Our text says (and we would be surprised at any less of a response), that she, and others, “glorified God” (v. 13)!
b. I know that we all came to God under different circumstances and backgrounds, but all of us, no matter the differences, can recognized the miracle that occurred when God saved us. We should be vocal and jubilant that we are blessed, beyond all measure!
6. Finally, this woman was ‘BELIEVED!’
a. Everybody could see that a change had taken place in her life, and, according to v. 17b, all those who were there, “rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.” This is what happens when God changes our lives! Others believe too!
b. Years ago, I witnessed a young family torn apart by the sin of the husband. He dumped his family for boos and drugs. His estranged wife nurtured their baby daughter and prayed for her wayward husband. Years went by and the struggles of all were obvious and painful to observe. Then one day, God got ahold of that father’s heart and he got saved. It was a miracle of the Lord! He played the guitar and sometime later, at church, he and his daughter sang a song together. He sang the verses, as if it was his own testimony of sin and debauchery (it was so hard to listen to) and then his daughter, with her little high-pitched voice, sang the chorus, “Something’s happened to Daddy
He’s not the same anymore
Things are different at our house, like never before
Mommy says he met Jesus and He washed him white as snow
Something’s happened to Daddy, I know”
c. That whole church erupted in shouts of praise and thanksgiving! Tears were flowing down faces and joy flooded the building!
d. That daddy became a preacher and that little girl, now a full-grown adult, is still singing, “Something happened to daddy, he’s not the same anymore!”
e. With a testimony like that, many people came to Christ! They believed!
Conclusion: The physical healing of the woman in this passage of scripture is a picture of our great salvation! We were hopeless in our condition, but Jesus “saw us” (v. 12), [Oh, hallelujah right there!] and healed our broken heart, broke the shackles of bondage and saved our soul! The Psalmist put it this way, “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD!!” [Psalm 40:1-2]. Is this your testimony? If so, bless the Lord! Declare His goodness to everyone! Shout it from the rooftop! Share it with everyone to whom you come in contact! The scriptures say, ‘Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!” Let’s pray.