Devotional - August 27, 2025
Scripture: Luke 13: 10-12 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, ...
To be seen, that is what I want to focus on today. It is the Sabbath and there are a lot of people around. We see Jesus sitting amongst them, worshipping and teaching from the Torah. But amidst the crowd, there is one. She is bent over, crippled, and has been this way for eighteen years. It is an awful situation, but no one notices. If they do, they are not doing anything about it. The pain that this lady endured daily was hard enough, but the isolation, being invisible, unseen by the world, hurt too. Not to mention, being in such a state would prohibit her from having a family of her own. She would not be able to provide for herself. She would have to beg and rely on the generosity of others who were not well off themselves. Yet, she attends Shabbat services. She worships God amongst all these people making their way around her, leaving her to deal with her situation. The oddity of the situation is the cause of her condition, she was crippled by a "spirit" which later is attributed to the works of Satan. If you dig a little more into the interpretation of "spirit" you find it means a spirit of weakness. So, this woman can represent a lot of things. She could represent anyone who has been weakened, crippled, bent down by the ongoing effects of evil in their life, as well as people who have physically been crippled. Jesus does not look past her. He does not go on with His service. So many feel that the evil that has happened to them has been overlooked by God. They pine away, day after day, still dealing with it's effects as the world and seemingly God go on. Nothing happens. Not true..., God sees and God will act. All injustice and evil will be reconciled by God (Ecclesiastes 12:14, 2 Corithians 5:10, Revelations 20: 12-15). Jesus sees this lady and heals her. Think about it. How on, ...of all days, the day that we worship the God of our salvation, can He allow evil to prevail in His midst. We may ask, why is He not healing crippled people today. One could also ask, why aren't we? As a society, a nation, and the world, we could be doing a lot to help others who are afflicted by various diseases, but we don't. We are more interested in what is streaming on TV or taking vacations. We allow ourselves to be distracted rather than look. Jesus was, and is not distracted. He sees your pain and your suffering and does act on it, but you have to work with Him. Some ailments will stay with us and will run their course. We do not currently have what is needed to correct them. Even in such states, God will give the strength needed to live with it. In giving this devotion, I am not saying you should not enjoy this life. There are some good shows on TV and vacationing is good for the soul. But, let's not do it as a way of not dealing with the evils and ills of society. And certainly, let us not become a part of what is evil or causing society to be sick. If we know we have done so, God is gracious. We are asked to repent, change our ways, and do what we can to reconcile what we may have done (2 Chronicles 7:14, Matthew 5: 23-24, Ephesians 4:26). What we are not to do is go on worshipping God and living our life as though nothing is going on when it is right there in front of us.
Pray with me ..., Holy God we confess we shy away from things that disrupt our way of living. Engaging in the evils that are a part of our life. Help us, give us the strength and courage to do so. Hear our prayer for our loved ones. We ask Your blessing upon them and upon our church, in Jesus' name, Amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Brian
