‘Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.
When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said “Woman, you are set free from your ailment”. When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.
(Read Luke 13:10-17)
This is a passage that I have been reading and meditating on for quite sometime. The physical aliment of this women was life debilitating. She could not look up. Could you imagine not being able to see people's smiling faces or the beautiful sky? Could you imagine living a life where you only saw peoples feet and the dirt of the ground? What a tragic life, for 18 years Satan had robed joy from her and replaced it with pain and anguish. I can also assume that the people shunned her, that she was unwanted wherever she went. She was a castaway, seen as cursed and one not to be associated with. She was with out hope until one day she saw Jesus! What a glorious day that was!
An important part of the ministry of Jesus was that of healing. He gave people who where disabled physically, mentally and emotionally a way. This story of the crippled woman deals with physical healing, but it has a larger dimension. Her twisted body, permanently bent downwards, was a symbol of those who lost hope. This story is illustrating that with Jesus's help we can raise ourselves so that our vision is upwards to God.
I have been meditating on this passage for over a month now and I have finally realized that this passage has great meaning for the followers of Christ as well. We the Body of Christ are privileged enough to be His hands and feet! We are blessed enough to be a part of His mission. As Christ followers we have an awesome responsibility to bring hope to the hopeless, to bring relationships to the lonely, to touch the untouchable. To be encourages to others even when its uncomfortable or worse inconvenient. Jesus's ministry was relational, it was close and personal. He got in peoples faces, and He reached down to their level. I can't remember who said this but I once heard that the difference between pity and compassion was a person feeling pity would feel sorry for the person in the mud pit and a person who felt compassion would climb down in the mud with them. Do you think Jesus got muddy during His time on earth? I sure do. And my prayer is that when I leave this earth I am beaten, bruised and as muddied up as possible. We are called to be close and personal. And that my friends is hard.
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