Luke 13:10 – 17

Two primary schools combined to one in an old country town, so they auctioned off the surplus equipment. At the end of long day’s sale program the auctioneer was down to the last and cheapest item. It was battered and scarred, and the auctioneer felt it was hardly worth his to waste much time on the old violin. But he held it up with a smile…”It sure ain’t much but it’s all we got left, I guess we ought to sell it too. Now who’ll start the bid on this old violin, just one more and we’ll be through.” And then he cried, “One! Give me one dollar! Who’ll make it two? Only two dollars! Who’ ll make it three? Three dollars twice! Now that’s a good price…now who’s got a bid for me. Raise your hand and don’t wait any longer. The auction’s about to end, “Who’s got four?” Just one dollar more… to bid on this old violin.” “Play us a song” they called to the auctioneer in jest, and he screeched out a dreadful note or two which caused the audience to block its ears. As the sun was setting low, from the back of the crowd a gray-haired man came forward, picked up the bow. He wiped the dust from the old violin, and tightened up the strings… Then he played out a melody pure and sweet…sweeter than the angels sing. Some say that day that the music went around the world.

And then the music stopped… followed by the auctioneer’s voice that was quiet and low, He said, “What am I to bid for this old violin? One thousand! Who’ll make it two? Only two thousand! Who’ll make it three? Three thousand twice! Now that’s a good price… but who’s got a bid for me. The people cried out, “What made the change? We don’t understand” Auctioneer stops, looks at the old man respectfully and says, “It was the Touch of A Master’s Hand”

I’m sure you know many a person with their life out of tune, battered and scarred with sin. You watch them auctioned cheap to a thankless world, much like that old violin. Knocked down to people who don’t take care of them. Then the Master comes, and the jeering crowd know that something special has happened . They never understand- the worth of a soul and the change that is wrought, Just by one touch of THE MASTER’S HAND.

In verse 11 it says that she was crippled, bent over and could not straighten up at all, that she had been this way for 18 years. The writer of this text Dr. Lucas diagnoses the condition of this woman: she had a spirit of infirmity, had bent bowed and could not lift herself up. We’re not talking about someone with a sore throat or taking panadol for the 24-hour flu. Nor was she a woman with an allergic reaction to something. She had battled and wrestled with this life-threatening problem for 18 depressing, bone-crushing years. Medically, this condition is what physicians today call Marie-Str ¼mpell Disease, a fusion of the spinal bones. Early in the course of the disease, sufferers often find that the pain is temporarily relieved when they lean forward. So they often go through the day leaning looking down, and gradually their spine begins to fuse. The more they lean in order to relieve the pain, the greater the angle, until a patient might be bent almost double, as the lady in our story. What a terrible disease! Wreaking havoc on every aspect of her life: physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually. She’s running on empty.

Then in verse 12 it says “When Jesus saw the woman.” That’s an important line. Don’t miss it. Jesus saw the woman’s hurt and knew it was real, and had been real for a long time. He has an eye for the hurting. He noticed and called to her, for there is no record that she ever approached him. He reached out to her in the midst of her pain because He was aware and concerned with her hurts. And with all of our hurts.

This was not a typical way to conduct the synagogue service! Jesus response to her was not politically correct, in fact you could warm your hands on the heat Jesus comment generates. Women in that culture were mere possessions and ignored. Why then did Jesus take notice of her and make a point to respond to her need immediately, publicly? Because Jesus notices and cares for hurting people! He has great compassion on those who are burdened, depressed, overwhelmed. In New Testament times women, lepers, prostitutes, tax collectors, and widows were slime. Consequently they were the most oppressed, exploited, ignored, hurting, and hopeless of people. Yet these are the very ones to whom Jesus ministered most often. The Masters Touch played a tune in their lives nobody ever thought possible.

She heard his voice-

As we’ve noticed, Jesus saw her, she didn’t approach Him. In spite of the large crowd of people gathered together that day in the synagogue he picked her out. He not only saw her, he called her and she heard his voice. In those 18 years she had heard the voice of many doctors, of many family members, of friends. She had heard whispers as she walked through the neighborhood, even people praying for her. Yet while their sounds offered some comfort, their voice did not do for her what His voice did. His voice is no ordinary voice.

She felt his compassion

For 18 years she had seen the furnishings of every doctor’s office in the land. She had read every magazine on their tables. She had felt their hands run across her sickened body, but yet she remained the same. Just going through the lotions. There’s a message for us in this text. Jesus is saying, you can have your praise, worship, teaching and communion but never forget that hurting people matter to God. This text also teaches us that Jesus expects us to have the same attitude of compassion toward the hurting as He does. In these two verses we see that Jesus rebuked those who ignored hurting people. This synagogue leader was more focused on religious rules and maintaining the order of service than in ministering to hurting people. He had no joy, no praise, and no relief at this woman’s healing. Jesus went ballastic at this uncaring, indifferent response. If you are physically sick – He can heal you. If your marriage is troubled – He can restore it. If your ministry is a mess – He can repair it. There is nothing beyond Jesus power.

She saw victory-

She had heard his voice and she felt his compassion but now she sees victory Again, here was a woman who for 18 years battled with this infirmity. She had traveled to any place and to anyone trying to find a cure for this terrible disease. Now all of a sudden he does for her what no one was able to do. he called her, he touched her and know he healed her. Her crooked back was made straight, her weak knees had now received strength, her feeble hands gained dexterity, and all because of Jesus.

In Peter Wagner’s book “How To Have A Healing Ministry Without Making Your Church Sick” he tells the story of Kate Semmerling’s experience as a student nurse at a clinic in Haiti. A woman brought a small boy to her with crippled legs. He could not stand or walk. She tried to explain that there was nothing medical science could do, she wanted to get rid of the woman so, as she says, “I offered to pray for her – a God-bless-this woman-type of prayer that would send her on her way.” But there was a grain of faith that told her God could heal, although she expected nothing. She put her hands on the crippled legs and said, “Dear God, please come and do your work here.” In this case, that was enough. Over the next five minutes the legs pumped up as if they were small balloons, and they filled with new muscle. Kate said, “I thought I was in the Twilight Zone” The boy’s legs became normal, he stood up and walked around.

Many of us are very skeptical when it comes to healing services. If someone is healed – we rationalize it away . Like the story of the child coming home from SS to tell his father about Moses at the Red Sea. Dad, did you know the Israelites put down pontoon bridges for their jeeps to cross. Then, as Pharaoh approached and his army came over the bridges, they were dynamited and the whole Egyptian army sank in one fell swoop. Father calmly asked the excited son if that was really the way it happened. Child’s response was, “No, but if I told you what they really said at church, you wouldn’t believe it either.”

I’ve been to a Pentecostal church which teaches that healing can be provided by God for every physical ailment Christians have, that it is wrong not to be well, and that we do not have to ask God whether he wants to heal us or not. In fact, they say it is a lack of faith to pray, “If it be your will, heal me.” They say instead that we need to be bold and claim our healing, just demand that God heal us.

The reality is that not all prayer guarantees perfect health. When we pray for healing, we do not always see the response to our prayers. We have prayed for certain people who never got healed and perhaps died. This may make us cynical of God’s assurances. We need to see these promises in light of how good God is. Sometimes we seek immediate healings and we do not get them, but that does not mean that God hasn’t healed us. He heals in different ways. He may use our circumstances to help us grow as healing slowly takes place. Other times He may not give us physical healing but rather provide us with other miracles. Paul prayed about His infliction, his thorn in the flesh. He prayed for healing but never got it in the physical. Yet only a fair dinkum cynic would say a miracle wasn’t worked in Paul.

God may allow us to suffer so that we can encourage others. Who can really comfort you? Someone who has been there. That’s why support groups are so popular and powerful. My daughter Mel has had more prayer for healing from Chronic fatigue than anybody I know. So far God hasn’t healed her, but it’s led her to comfort hundreds of CFS sufferers through online counseling.

Let’s not get so focused on the issue of physical healing that we lose the point: that Jesus has the power to forgive sins. Like an antibiotic dissolving in the bloodstream and travelling throughout the body to eliminate every trace of infection, His grace is sufficient to remove every trace of guilt. He has already paid the price for sin, He satisfied God’s wrath by dying in our place on the cross. Not only can Christ remove the guilt of sin, He can also heal and repair the products of sin — broken relationships, anger, bitterness, addiction.

But let’s go back to the two cripples who met Jesus in our Gospel reading this morning, and ask “which one went away healed”? The Two cripples? Yeah two…. The two people that met with Jesus that morning were both crippled in their own way. The first cripple was the woman: physically crippled. The second cripple might surprise you. It was the ruler of the Synagogue: he too was crippled by a spirit – the spirit of legalism, and he could be a real killjoy. Instead of rejoicing that God had worked a wonderful miracle, he’s trash talkin it. The Synagogue ruler was the man who ran the services – in today’s parlance the vicar. The people looked up to him for spiritual guidance.

Why did he decide to take issue with Jesus? Part of the reason that he cracked it was that Jesus’ healing was an invasion of his turf. But the No 1 reason was because of what Jesus did – offended his understanding of the law of God. The issue wasn’t that Jesus had healed the woman. No one claimed that His healing was other than from God. Rather it was the day that Jesus chose to perform the healing that caused the furore. He did it on the Sabbath and the Pharisees had defined that as work. They believed that only by slavishly keeping the rules of that Covenant could they satisfy God. The issue for the Ruler of the Synagogue was that by healing on the Sabbath, Jesus was breaking the fourth commandment Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath. On it you shall not do any work. You might ask, what’s the issue? Jesus isn’t working on the Sabbath – is he? He’s not charging for his services! Indeed he is helping a human being.

Jesus takes to the ruler: “You hypocrite”. Hard words, but look at Jesus’ reasoning. “If on the Sabbath you untie your donkey and lead it to water, why should this woman, who has been bound 18 years not be set free?” Legalism had so crippled the ruler’s mind he couldnt see how inconsistent he was. He figures if you torture the law long enough, it’ll usually confess. He took the spirit of the law for animals & applied it to people. Instead of reacting that way the ruler should have celebrated the woman’s good fortune. Like the rooster who believed that the sun wouldn’t rise each morning unless he crowed, the ruler succumbs to the belief that the Synagogue will go down unless he controls it. Jesus reminds the ruler as He reminds us, that if you want your synagogue/church to be a gateway to heaven, you’d better fix the door. The woman went away with a high wattage smile, thrilled at her healing; the synagogue ruler missed out, because Jesus didn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Jesus said: I have come that you might have life, in all its fullness. Jesus gives us abundant life. Let’s not lose out by declining a generous offer. Suppose you were admitted the vault of bank and legally allowed to remove all the cash you could carry.. Is it the bank managers fault if you only come out with 5 cents? How much richer than filling our pockets with banknotes could we be by filling our bodies with healing, and our souls with life everlasting?

Jesus hasn’t lost interest in restoring the health of His sons and daughters. His eagerness to reward faith hasn’t diminished in 2000 years. He still heals bodies, brains and souls. If you can just get those you care about to touch Him, they too can be healed. If you can find a way for your nearest and dearest to seek a solution to their problem through Jesus, they too can feel His touch.. Do it today. Reach out and receive Jesus touch now. There is a suite of doctors at Fountain Gate open this morning to “treat” you. But you’re better off consulting the One at Heavens Gate, who offers to heal you. Of everything.

Kevin Gray.

St Martins Sermon Notes

October 6, 2002