Luke 13:10-11 (ESV) Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself.
A woman in the synagogue had a problem for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten herself up. You might think she had arthritis, a bad back or scoliosis as the cause, but that was not the ultimate cause. The cause was a demon, called a disabling spirit. The root cause of her disability was not physical, but spiritual. We have no idea what caused the demon to afflict her for the last eighteen years.
Luke 13:12-13 (ESV) When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.
Jesus seeing the woman, immediately knew what the cause was. He commanded her to be freed from her disability and laid his hands on her. Immediately, she straightened up and began to praise God. The power of the demon over her life for 18 years had been instantly broken
Luke 13:14-16 (ESV) But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, … then the Lord answered him, … And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”
The Jewish leaders were all up in a tizzy because Jesus had healed another person on the Sabbath. In the passage, Jesus responds that the Jews loosed their animals on the Sabbath to lead them to water. How much more could this woman, a believer, a daughter of Abraham be loosed from Satan. As in the other examples today of Satan’s destructive power, sometimes demonic activity can be the result of sin in a person’s life. That does not seem to be the case here.
Demons can latch onto a person for many reasons, that we don’t have time to go into this morning. This demonic power was causing the bondage in her back and Jesus loosed it and set her free. Jesus breaks demonic power and so can we as believers.
The Bible teaches us that Satan is ultimately behind all kinds of sicknesses, disabilities, and diseases. Some diseases can be healed through modern medicine, others cannot. Medicine could never heal this woman of the disability that was caused solely by an evil spirit. Healing of all kinds, including deliverance from evil spirits, is something that we as believers can do in Jesus’ name.
The spiritual gift of discerning of spirits can help us tell if the root cause of something is of demonic origin. We need not be afraid of Satan’s demons, for in the name of Jesus we have power over them. Demons are much more prevalent than most people realize. We know that because delivering people from demons was one of the main things that Jesus did. And all those demons that Jesus dealt with are still around today. May God help us to believe that Jesus can break demonic power through us and set people free.
What does repentance mean? Repentance is changing your thinking about sin, turning away from it and turning to Jesus. Without repentance, no one can be saved. Without repentance, no believer can grow in their spiritual walk.
Violence, disasters, epidemics should focus our eyes on eternity and lead us to repent. As believers, we should look for opportunities to encourage others to repent in the difficult times in which we live. God is patient and does not bring immediate judgement for He is patient waiting for people to repent. But God’s patience does not last forever.
Those who do not repent in this life will spend eternity without God. Satan seeks to steal, kill and destroy, but as believers we have power over him. May God use us to set people free from sin, sickness and demonic powers.