Healing – A Touch of Love Part 2
Scriptures: Ephesians 4:32-5:2; Luke 13:10-17; Acts 3:1-7
Introduction
Last week I covered part one of this series. I shared with you the test that was done in England at one of the orphanages and how they found that babies and children needed to be touched in love. Those babies that were hugged would get better when they became sick. Also, those babies who did not receive hugs would get sick and sometimes die. I stressed to you that we are not unlike those babies and we too need to be touched and loved. With that opening, we went to Luke chapter 13 where Jesus acted in love when He healed the woman who was being afflicted by a demonic spirit. This demon caused the woman to be so bent over that she could not look up. When Jesus saw her, He called her forward and He touched her, healing her body and delivering her from the demonic spirit. Since this was done in Church where the religious leaders were, you would think that they would have been rejoicing to see the power of God exhibited in their presence, yet this was not the case. Let us return to Luke chapter 13 to complete this message titled “Healing – A Touch of Love”.
I. The Religious Leader’s Response
As we take up from last week, Jesus had just completed healing the woman when the religious leaders approached Him. Let’s look at verse 14.
Verse 14: “But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, ‘There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”
Can you imagine the look on Jesus’ face when this official said this? Can you imagine how the woman felt when she heard this? She had been coming to this Church more over 18 years, faithfully, and when she is healed, one of her leaders gets upset about it. This is why Jesus hates religion when practiced in such a way that God is not invited to be a part of it. And this is why we should hate it also. The healing took place on the Sabbath and the official (as did other religious leaders) viewed it as “works” and, according to Exodus 31:12-17, works were forbidden on the Sabbath. The religious leaders, by their oral traditions, had elevated the Sabbath to a place that no longer resembled God’s original intent. This is why Jesus made the following statement in Matthew 23:23, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law; justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.” Their traditions and actions were more important to them than the actual fulfillment of God’s will in their services.
For 18 years this woman had come to the synagogue and for 18 years, by their action the religious leaders had told her: NOT TODAY. Performing our rituals and our traditions are what we’re here for today. Healing is not part of the agenda. In fact, this ruler was so arrogant that he said there are six other days on which she could be healed. “Pick any of those days but not the Sabbath!” But for 18 years she had lived with this demon controlling her body. 18 years! During that time, she had seen 936 Sabbaths come and go – days the synagogue ruler said were not available for healing. During that time, she had seen 5,634 non-Sabbath days come and go – days the synagogue ruler said were available for healing. And yet, the woman never received healing. Her house of worship was a place of activity, not a place where the power of God was manifested. We have people in the Church today who feel the same way this official felt. When people come down for prayer they say “There goes brother or sister so and so going down for prayer AGAIN.” Or their thoughts betray them when the pastor opens up for anyone to come down for prayer and they begin to look at their watches because the service will run over just a little. Sometimes we actually over look all of the good someone is doing to complain about the one small thing that they may not do. I warn you this morning, if you are listening to the lies of Satan, you will eventually become a hypocrite. Coming to Church and following the “program” will be more important than ministering to the needs of others. Getting out on time is more important than praying for the sick or those who are hurting. Getting my one and a half hour in on Sundays and my one hour in on Wednesday nights alleviates my guilt about going to “Church.” If this describes you, and you are too busy to work on your personal relationship with God so you can only afford Him two and a half hours a week, you are a hypocrite. You are pretending, and doing a good job I might add, but your heart is still far from your Father.
Satan wants us to believe that if we need deliverance, no matter what it may be, that today is not our day. Tomorrow is a better day and yet when tomorrow arrives, it is still not a good day. And what pains our Heavenly Father is to see men and women who are responsible for feeding and caring for the flock agree with Satan by acting like hirelings. Rather than follow the example of the Chief Shepherd and lay down their lives for the flock, they’re letting the wolf – Satan – catch and scatter their sheep. It’s no wonder that so many Christians still act and respond like they’re at Satan’s mercy (and that’s an oxymoron!). If we have been loosed from his bondage, why do we still act like we are not? If Satan can convince us that our inheritance (physical, mental and emotional prosperity) is not available to us today, we will go through the motions when we pray. We will go through the motions when we confess the Word. We will go through the motions when we come up for prayer. And all of the time that we are going through the motions, Satan is looking at Jesus and saying “See, you died for nothing. I still own them.” Look at verse 15.
Verse 15: “But the Lord answered him and said ‘You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him?”
Jesus was not happy. He called the ruler a hypocrite. This word in the Greek means more than that. A hypocrite is a “play-actor”. It implies arrogance and a lack of sincerity and genuineness. The ruler pretended to be zealous for the law; he was showing everyone how righteous he was. The first time this word is used is in Matthew 6:2: “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”
Hypocrites have no heart; they do everything for show. You see, a hypocrite is someone who plays a role so convincingly that people really believe that’s who he really is. Do you remember the program “Lost is Space?” Remember the villain Dr. Smith played by Jonathan Harris? Mr. Harris lived in Minnesota. When he would appear in public, people would say unkind things to him. They would tell him he should have died in that meteor storm. Stuff like that. Why? Mr. Harris had played his role so well that people couldn’t distinguish between the man and the actor. That is how the Holy Spirit helped me understand what Jesus was saying to the ruler. He was telling the ruler: “You play your role as synagogue ruler very well. People really believe that you’re holy and righteous and that you speak for my Father. But I see your heart. You don’t have a clue about how my Father feels about this woman. You’re here today doing your daily duty and nothing more.” What this means to us today? Remember I said earlier that sometimes Christians are hypocrites? When we repeat the things that we’ve been taught, but we really haven’t put them into practice and our lives haven’t really changed – then we’re hypocrites. We’re performing for our audience, our fellow church members. God doesn’t need performers, people who know what to say and how to say it. He needs people who are living examples of what He says.
Jesus compared the healing of the woman, a descendant of Abraham, to the loosing of animals who need watering. What Jesus was saying to the ruler was this: “Each Sabbath every one of you regularly unties your ox or donkey from its stall, leads it out for water, and thinks nothing of it. So why isn’t it all right for me to untie this daughter of Abraham and lead her from the stall where Satan has had her tied these 18 years?” Do you see the symbolism? Remember what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:14? He said “…but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” Not only did Jesus loose the woman but he gave her a taste of living water! He gave her a taste of the kingdom of God. Just as He spoke to the Samaritan woman, He demonstrated with the women He healed. He gave her living water and it became a spring of water within her. How do we know this? She had been in bondage for 18 years and she was now free, she would be telling everyone what happened to her. What Jesus had given her she would share with all who come in contact with her because they would ask about her change in condition. The love, joy, and the new abundant life that she now had in Christ would be evident for the rest of her life. Can you see her standing up straight and praising God? Going out buying new clothes because she will be able to really see how they look on her. Can you see her crying and praising God every time she entered the Church because of her deliverance. She would not be able to keep it to herself and neither could you. When you really experience Jesus and swallow your pride, you will tell someone about it. Others may say it was luck or fate or just your time, but you will know and give praise for the truth. It may start off small, or it could be like this woman, but as you draw nearer to God, you will open your mouth and share what has been given to you with someone. Look at verses 16 and 17.
Verses 16 & 17: “And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day? As He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.”
One of the most disturbing things about the body of Christ today is that we have leaders who don’t SEE, who don’t SPEAK, and who don’t TOUCH those who need to know that God loves them, cares about them, and knows that they exist. Many are more concerned about sticking to the program rather than making room for God. Satan has done a masterful job of getting Christians to believe that ritual and tradition are what it takes to get into the presence of our Heavenly Father. To paraphrase a line Tom Cruise used in Jerry McGuire: “Ritual and tradition are not even in the same vicinity as the presence of God.” When Jesus explained what He had done and why, the officials were humiliated before the whole congregation. He finally heard and understood what he had said and how totally “un-Godlike” his statement was. His true nature of his worship was exposed for everyone to see as were those who were with him. But look at the response of the general membership. Verse 18 says that they began rejoicing. Although they never considered the fact that they could have done something for her, they were glad that Jesus was able to. They were rejoicing for the woman as well as for themselves. This Sabbath they received the promise and they were happy. If you see God move on someone’s behalf and it does not make you happy, you could be like this official.
Let me put one last thing in perspective before I close this out. The woman who was crippled probably did not know that she was being oppressed by a demon. The people in the congregation probably did not know. Jesus knew the true cause as did Satan. When Jesus saw her come in, He immediately knew. Now He had a decision to make and I am sure Satan was watching to see what He would decide to do. Would He honor the traditions of “the Church” and wait until after the Sabbath to heal the woman so as not to offend anyone, or would He heal the woman and risk offending the leadership of the Church? He chose the latter. You see, traditions are not what make a Church or what makes you. God wants to interact with you, not only on Sundays and Wednesdays, but everyday. Our traditions can sometimes hinder God’s work from being done. He wants to move in our lives, but to accomplish this we must get out of the way. As He is moving in our lives, He wants us to move in other people lives. He wants us to know for which our power comes and what is truly within us.
You are here today to destroy the works of the devil. If you don’t believe that, then you’re a hypocrite. You’re just playing a role. You really don’t understand the Father’s heart. You really don’t understand how much He loves us. But, if you do believe you are here to destroy the works of the devil, when you see people hurting, you can do the same thing Jesus did. Walk over to that person, look at them, encourage them by speaking the word to them, and then give them the kind of hug that lets them know “you’ve just experienced a little bit of God’s love. You have everything you need within you to be a powerful woman or man of God. The Spirit of God is waiting for you to step out and begin to walk in what belongs to you. I know some of you are hurting. I know some of you are wondering about everything you are facing. But let me share this with you in closing, before you were, God was. Before your problem, God was. During your problem, God is. Problems come and problems go, but God is always there. Hallelujah!
Again, I want to thank my older brother Barry for sharing this with me. Although I made some changes for our congregation, the foundation of this message is his. If you would like to have a copy of his outline, let me know and I will send it to you. May God bless and keep each of you.
