Simple Events with Eternal Significance

All of creation has fallen. Our bodies are fallen.

Our fallen world brings nothing but ruins, ruins everything. But the King is here now. And this is a taste of the King's power. This is a taste of the coming Kingdom. When all of us will have glorified bodies. This is a little foretaste of that. When everything that has been ruined is restored. Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey.

Today Stephen continues his series through a portion of Luke, a series called Ministering to the Multitudes. Often the hinge moments in history aren't noticed in real time. It takes hindsight to understand what moments in history will have lasting significance.

And which ones may seem important in real time but don't really matter in the long term. As Jesus prepared to give a final sermon in the Jewish synagogues, the weekly gathering seemed ordinary. We know now that it wasn't. This message is called Simple Events with Eternal Significance. If we had been living 2000 years ago, the front page news would have been all about the rise of Tiberius to the throne of the Roman Empire. He would be given the title Caesar Augustus. He would adopt as his favorite title in all humility. The savior of the world.

He liked that one more than any other. In fact when he died he was deified as a son of the gods. The news when he died would have been all about his heir to the throne. Nobody would take any interest in a little backwater village like Nazareth and at his death a 13 year old boy named Jesus. They would have never imagined that he was in fact the son of God.

So while the world was looking in the wrong direction, and by the way the world is always usually looking in the wrong direction. Jesus delivers his first sermon in a synagogue. If you've been with us in this gospel exposition we covered that. It was a shocking sermon because what Jesus did was claimed to be the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. And he read it to the synagogue and they were all stunned and upset and they said, is not this the carpenter's son?

Who does he think he is? In fact they led him to a cliff to try to throw him off it. Kill him for his blasphemy. And with that the ministry of Jesus officially began. Didn't make any headlines really outside little Nazareth. From the outside looking in he wasn't anything messianic. He was the son of a poor migrant worker. No story there.

No front page material there. You fast forward a few years later and Jesus is about to preach his last sermon in a synagogue according to the record of scripture. Not his last sermon but his last visit in preaching in a synagogue. And that's the scene we arrive at now in Luke's gospel at chapter 13.

Let's pick it up where we left off and it begins, Now, verse 10, he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath and behold there was a woman who had a disabling spirit for 18 years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. Now Luke, if you remember as a medical doctor he's pulling terminology out of his bag here in the original text. To describe someone, it's hard to determine which, but either someone with a severe curvature of the spine or perhaps a fusion of the bones. He uses however language that clearly indicates that she was doubled over. She's literally bent at the waist doubled over and unable to bend back. Perhaps you've seen people as I have in that condition and to walk is to shuffle along face down all the while.

Even a minor curvature of the spine produces pain and discomfort. It's hard to imagine her suffering for 18 years. Now you might notice that Luke attributes this disability to a spirit, a disabling spirit. In fact the Lord confirms it's deeper than that. Look down at verse 16 where he says, and ought not this woman a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for 18 years be loosed from this bond. So he uses language for her that lets us know she's a believer, a true daughter of Abraham.

That is a true worshipper of God by faith in him. But this is the work of an evil spirit. She was not demon possessed, a demon never speaks, Jesus never demands a demon leave her. But this is attributed to Satan's work in the world. While it wasn't demon possession we could call it a demon oppression. We need to be careful though, not every illness is directly caused by demons.

So if you're stifling your cough you can go ahead feel free. We don't blame everything on the devil. We live in a fallen world.

All of creation is fallen, our bodies are fallen. There are enough viruses and pathogens and bacteria that doesn't need any help from the devil. Whether Satan is directly or indirectly behind an illness however you can be sure of this.

His desire is always the same. To discourage you, to defeat you, to distract you. And the Lord always has his purpose which is to develop you and deepen you. And remind you of the good news that one day he will deliver you. But let's not forget for a moment here that this woman is suffering. I mean even if the mature and physically disabled and yet spiritually minded apostle Paul could pray three times and he did with great intensity that God take away his thorn in the flesh. God said no my grace will be sufficient for you. If he could pray that surely this woman here has prayed often for God to heal her.

In 18 years is a long time to get through life bent completely over. Just don't forget that she's in the synagogue. She's in the synagogue worshiping God.

I love the way Warren Wiersbe provoked my thinking on that when he wrote rather transparently on this text. If I had been crippled for 18 years I wonder if I would be there. She had prayed and God had not delivered her. The evidence indicates that God is unconcerned with her. Yet still by faith in him she did not grow bitter or resentful.

And here she comes the Sabbath day. I'm sure when she arrived she would have been an object of pity from this congregation. People would have felt sorry for her. They would have wondered why this happened to her. They would wish they could help her. Maybe friends I have no doubt would be in the synagogue assembly who were helping her get through the details of life that were so difficult for her. This may have been her favorite day of the week. When she would regather and demonstrate, don't miss it, demonstrate her faith in God even though it looks like she has been forgotten by God. Man you talk about faith.

This woman is quite an example. Verse 10 tells us that while Jesus was teaching that gives us the understanding he's in the middle of his sermon, that he sees her. But I want to tell you before we dig too deeply here that he has always seen her. He has always known her. In fact he'll indicate it's been 18 years and there's nothing in the text that tells us that he was told that. He knew that.

He knew that already. She has been known by the Lord from eternity past. And by the way he has reserved her healing for this moment which provides a rather stunning bookend to the Lord's synagogue ministry as I'll point out. Alright verse 12, so Jesus is teaching, he sees her. When Jesus saw her, he called her over, stop again, not so fast.

Get this picture. He interrupts himself and it's as if he's just seen her. Ma'am, yes, yes you. Would you come up here? Can you imagine? Everyone would have gotten silent and still.

The only sound would have been the shuffling of her feet as she walks forward, bent and looks up at Jesus sideways. Embarrassed? No doubt. Timid? No doubt. Confused?

No doubt. But not for long. Verse 12, when Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her woman, you could translate this dear lady or kind lady, you are freed from your disability. Then he laid his hands on her and immediately she was made straight and she glorified God. The word glorified gives us our word doxology. She just starts singing the doxology. Dear lady, you are freed from your disability.

The word for freed was the medical term in the Greek world from these days for being released suddenly from a disease. In our world that would mean the x-rays don't show anything anymore. We don't see anything. It was there.

That's not there. Your blood work came back from the lab and the disease is gone. She's released. The medical community today would call that a spontaneous remission. We call it a miracle. The incurable has been cured by the word of God.

And by the way, that's our future too. You are freed from your disability. But the indication is for the moment she doesn't move. She no doubt feels strength surging through her body. She no doubt in that moment thinks to herself, I don't have any more pain.

The discomfort is gone in my back and through my body. And she stands erect, gracefully looking. No doubt tears are in her eyes and the others who have this congregation.

And she's standing straight. I love that word Luke uses. It's a word used for the restoration of ruins. Sin, Satan, our fallen world brings nothing but ruins.

Ruins everything. But the king is here now. And this is a taste of the king's power. This is a taste of the coming kingdom. When all of us will have glorified bodies.

This is a little foretaste of that. When everything that has been ruined is restored. So she starts praising God. This audience, verse 17 says they begin rejoicing. This breaks out into a Pentecostal gathering of excited people. And everyone is thrilled. Well, everyone but the ruling elder and these religious leaders.

The leading elder now tries to get everybody to settle down. Hey wait, this is not in the bulletin, verse 14. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. Said to the people, he's not even getting on to Jesus, he knows better.

He's scolding the assembly. There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed. And not on the Sabbath day. Yeah right.

You come on Monday and Thursday and we'll heal you. How does that work for 18 years by the way for this lady? It's ridiculous. This man completely ignores what Jesus has just done. And the Lord answers him and says, you hypocrites.

He uses the plural form by the way because it isn't just the ruling elder. It's these other religious leaders that are gathered there scowling over what has just occurred. You hypocrites. Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it?

And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound for 18 years be loose? Same word, be untied from this bond on the Sabbath day. You untie your animals. Why can't she be untied? Are you more concerned with animal rights than human rights? Don't get me started.

I only get 30 minutes. See they had all these laws that had come out of the Mosaic law that had nothing to do with God's law. All these restrictions. They had come up with the idea that if you tied a knot it would be work and so you only tied certain ways that you could untie your animal and take him to water. But you can't travel. But so far on the Sabbath they had decided and they're thinking that you couldn't travel on the Sabbath more than 2,000 cubits. That's about a half a mile. Or it would be work or a journey. But you got to water the animals.

They're out in the field. So what they did is they built wooden huts around the well out in their field. And then they called that on the Sabbath their house, their home. So they wouldn't exceed the half a mile journey to water their animals. You hypocrites. Jesus says he knew.

They found a way around the restrictions they'd made up so they could free their animals. But they're not going to find a way around any restrictions to free this woman. See listen. Satan is still in the synagogue. He's still there. She's been freed. They're still bound. She's been liberated. They're still incarcerated. This happened right in front of their eyes. This woman is now free and they are willingly blind. And there's a reason for that.

It isn't just about this woman. This is about the king. This is about the kingdom he represents.

It happened the first time. Jesus back in Nazareth as he began his ministry. Went to the scroll of Isaiah as he was invited to read. And he read these words. Keep this in mind as you read these words or listen to them.

He said this. This is from Isaiah 42. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim what?

Freedom to the captives and to set at liberty those who are oppressed. So now in his last visit to a synagogue he literally fulfills what he read in his first visit. He sets this woman free.

I read it nearly three years ago. I said I'm the fulfillment of it. I've come to declare freedom to those who are captives of our enemy. And now watch this.

Woman you are freed of your disability. Which is why by the way Jesus immediately applies what they have just seen. He goes on.

This is all part of this event here. Verse 18 he said therefore what is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden. And it grew and became a tree and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.

Many in other words found shelter in it. You can't get any smaller or insignificant as it were than a mustard seed. It's one of the tiniest of garden seeds but in one season in this region it could grow 30 feet tall. See the opponents of Jesus are right now sitting in powerful seats.

They are what matters. Jesus says now we've got this little seed here. You can't stop it. And eventually the kingdom I represent will come and it will provide shelter for all those who believe. Just a little seed now but when it arrives it will cover the earth. I love the way my son Seth wrote on this text in his daily devotional on our wisdom magazine. As he went through the gospel of Luke a year or so ago he writes this on this text. This is no mere description of the coming kingdom.

This is a depiction of the king himself. This is his incarnate life in a nutshell. The sower sows himself as a seed unnoticed, ignored, rejected, trampled underfoot, then dying alone in the dark. But he will endure. He rises again through earth's dirt and depravity against cold winds and cold fists.

And in the end he will tower across time and space from lowest earth to highest heaven. I love that. I taught him that. Actually I didn't.

I love to hear what he has to say. It doesn't look like much now. But just wait. Notice again verse 20. Then he said, to what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened. In other words, the kingdom of God is working silently. It's unseen for the most part. It's going to work its way from the inside out like the king's work has done its work in you. From the inside out.

But one day it will affect everything. By the way, it's easy to miss this, but Jesus is describing a woman who's making an awful lot of bread. A lot of bread. She's taking a little sourdough, a little leaven.

But look what that little bit can do. We're told here she's working with three measures of flour. That's 16 five-pound bags of flour. By the time you add the water, the standard in this day would be 128 cups. You got over a hundred pounds of dough that could feed the entire village.

Again, that's part of his point that we miss. Something small is going to affect everybody's life around her. So what do we have happening here in the synagogue?

Something easy to ignore. Something that would probably never make the news at nine o'clock. A little synagogue service in the backwater of Nazareth he began. And now here in an unnamed village and nobody's going to give a rip about it. But Jesus says, therefore, in other words, this is to be expected. This is what the kingdom is like.

I'm at work. It's behind the scenes. It's not sensational news, but it's at work in the hearts of those who believe him and trust in him.

We're never going to be on the news unless we buck, you know, some politically correct nonsense of our culture and then maybe. But the first, for the most part, you know, at large, the world will ignore our message and our meeting today. For the believer, you just keep trusting him as you find reason to rejoice in him because you know he is the king.

And he will use you as you yield your life to him to influence others around you. What's happening in this synagogue is not all that significant. It's small, but it has eternal significance. What have you been alive, say, 200 years ago? What would have been headline news?

What would be earth shaking? What would be significant? Well, things that are not nearly as important in hindsight compared to what was occurring in the little corner of the globe. For instance, the conquering exploits of Napoleon would have been headline news in 1809. If there had been television and internet, we would all be glued to our sets and the news of this dictator who was sweeping through Europe. It looks like he's going to conquer it.

He's just now defeated Austria. If anything's happening, man, that's it. Nothing here in the States, early America, would be deemed worthy of much attention. Yet in that same year, in 1809, in the backwoods of Kentucky, a poor farmer and his wife deliver a baby boy they name Abraham Lincoln. Who cares?

What could that matter? Let me tell you, as you know, Napoleon is a defeated footnote in the pages of history. But this little boy will one day liberate four million slaves with a stroke of his pen.

Simple beginnings, major consequences. So what Jesus is doing here in this little synagogue? He probably never made it to Jerusalem. The emperor couldn't have cared less. But to this woman, this was everything, wasn't it? It mattered when Jesus looked at her and said, be free from your disability. By the way, you might notice in closing here that Jesus does not give us her name, nor does Luke.

It seems that it's best left anonymous. Perhaps that's because the Lord wants to invite you to write your name into this narrative. Have you come to trust him? Are you a spiritual descendant of Abraham by faith in the true and living God? Have you come to trust Jesus as your Savior and your King?

If you have, these words then are for you. Be freed, given a reserved place in this coming kingdom of our risen King. Let me tell you, when that kingdom comes, that will be Front Page News. Stephen called this lesson Simple Events with Eternal Significance. This is wisdom for the heart. In addition to this program, we have a second daily program called the Wisdom Journey. On the Wisdom Journey, Stephen is teaching through the entire Bible in just three years. You can learn more about our ministry and all of the resources we offer at wisdomonline.org. We have books, Bible study guides, a daily devotional, and much more. Come back next time to discover more wisdom for the heart. you