“A New Perspective”
By
Bishop M.L. Maughmer, Jr.
Luke 13:10-17 “And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him”.
Teaching:- Here we have a very familiar part of history Jesus heals a woman that has been bent over for 18 long years and He heals her on the Sabbath day which according to man’s tradition was against the law. The Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath, Mark 2:27 & John 5:9, so healing her on the Sabbath was no breaking of God’s law but of man’s traditions. God wants to mess with your tradition and move you into another realm. This part of history is a good sermon, but can I take you a little deeper today.
The Bible says “And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath” The first synagogues may have been built by Jews held captive far from the temple during the Babylonian Exile in the sixth century B.C., but synagogues were important religious and social institutions in the time of Jesus. The original Greek word synagogue means merely "a place of meeting." In the Jewish world synagogues were second only to the temple in Jerusalem itself as religious institutions. They also served as schools of religious instruction and communal halls for civic functions under the direction of a council of elders. Typically, a synagogue was a small structure built on a rise above the neighboring houses. Opposite the entrance, a portable ark contained the scrolls of the Law and the Prophets. In front of it, facing worshipers, were the "chief seats" for religious leaders. The five-part service included prayers, psalm-singing, blessings, readings from the Scriptures, and commentaries on the sacred passages, but there were no sacrifices.
THE SYNAGOGUE SERVICE consisted of recitation of the Jewish Shema, "Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah: and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deut. 6:4, 5), This was accompanied by sentences of praise to God called Berakot because they began with the word "Blessed." Baruch HaSem Adonai – Blessed be the name of the Lord. Following the Shema was a ritual prayer, concluding with an opportunity for individual silent prayer on the part of the members of the congregation. The reading of the Scriptures, which came next, began with special sections of the law which were assigned to holy days; but as time went on the entire Pentateuch was divided into sections which gave a fixed cycle of one hundred fifty-four lessons to be read in a definite period of time. The Palestinian Jews read through the Pentateuch every three years, whereas the Babylonian Jews completed the reading in one year. The Prophets were also used, as Jesus' reading in the synagogue shows Luke 4:16. Probably on that occasion Jesus Himself selected the reading. A sermon followed the reading of the Scripture, explaining the portion which had been read. The sermon in the synagogue at Nazareth was in full keeping with the regular procedure of the day. The sermon was closed with a blessing, pronounced by some priestly member of the congregation. If no person with priestly qualifications was present, a prayer was substituted for the blessing. The Jews call it a synagogue we commonly call it church.
Somebody might be saying what is all of that for? I had to include all of that because I wanted you to see the structure of how everything was set up. Although not exactly like us but very similar to our idea of a church service.
Understand this here is Jesus teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath, generally a weekly day of rest or time of worship. Most people come to church weekly on Sunday only. We call them Sunday morning saints you only see them on Sunday morning. You don’t see them at Bible Class or Prayer meeting. You don’t see them at general clean-up you only see them on Sunday morning.
WATCH THIS:- We have sadly become so-called structured with programs and politics that we have moved Jesus right out of the church. 3 songs, offering, a 26 minute sermon, alter call benediction and let’s go home. Anything else I can’t be bothered with. Anything longer than 1hour and 45 minutes I’m out the door, yet I ‘m part of the church and I’m on my way to heaven. I know structure is good – all things are to be done decently and in order, but when Jesus shows up He changes your structure.
So Jesus is teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath and the structure is about to be disrupted.
Vs#11 says “And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.” Now that in itself will preach, but you must understand that scripture is two-fold, it has a natural meaning, the iceberg above the water and a spiritual meaning the deep things under the surface.
WATCH THIS:- When dealing in the prophetic the word woman is synonymous with the church or a nation of people, the ekklesia . Understand the Bible doesn’t give her name because her name was not important, but her character is.
Woman = church (the body of Christ) – the ekklesia.
Had a spirit of infirmity:- she wasn’t sick with a disease, but she was burdened or oppressed by a spirit which caused her to think incorrectly. She was depressed and living in fear and anxiety because her perception was wrong. The Bible says in Proverbs 23:7 “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he”.
Her incorrect thinking produced an Infirmity.
INFIRMITY IS:- lack of strength and vitality, a character flaw: a weakness. a moral weakness or failing. quality or state of being infirm. unsteadfast, faltering, or irresolute, as persons or the mind; vacillating: not firm or solid unstable.
She wasn’t what God intended for her to be. The church today isn’t what God intended for it to be. It has become a place bent over and twisted with ideologies of people pleasing social gathering places that cater to the emotions, attitudes, and desires of the flesh instead of the life changing beacon of light and salt of the earth it was supposed to be.
Because of her incorrect thinking this infirmity had her bound in this condition for 18 years.
EIGHTEEN years – 18 is a multiple of 6, 6 is the number of man (Revelation 13:8 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six). , 6+6+6 is the beast and anti-Christ nature, 6+6+6 = 18, 18 is the fullness of the beastly flesh nature and the number of bondage.
This woman (Church) was in bondage (not free) because she was operating in the beastly flesh nature and because she was operating in this beastly nature the pressure and mental anguish caused her to be bowed over.
and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself – because she was operating in the flesh nature in carnal thinking it had her bowed over causing her to have her focus, her vision on the ground. She was constantly looking at her own nature.
EXPLAIN THIS BISHOP:- the ground represents our fleshly nature for we are created from the dust of the earth Genesis 2:7 “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul”. Because she was bent over she focused on her nature the ground – remember this is the part of the iceberg that’s deep under the water.
She could in no wise lift up herself, not by power and not by might but by my spirit Zech 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. All her efforts could not cause her to change her perspective.
SADLY:- The church is unable to lift herself up it is at a stand-still because we have been trying to do it ourselves and not looking to Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith.
Vs#12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. Jesus saw her and he called and said to her. She didn’t ask for help but when Jesus saw her he provided what she needed. WATCH THIS:- the church is not asking for Jesus to help but He is offering what we need. We have become so bent over looking at self, trying to do this without Him. We don’t need another 12 step program to grow a church, we don’t need another 6 principles of church success, we don’t need another Mega-fest or camp-meeting, we don’t need another Jake’s or Olsteen all we need is Jesus. For Jesus said in John 12:32 “if I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me”. We got to lift Him up.
If you want it God’s got it He’s got everything that we need. You have been trying to do it all by yourself and in your own power, but haven’t been able to straighten up you are still bent over, twisted, deformed, and struggling because your focus is on you and not on Jesus.
Vs#13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God - He touched her and she immediately straightened up, her outlook changed, her disposition changed, her thinking changed, her life changed. And she glorified God after He touched her.
The ultimate goal is to Glorify God and not ourselves.
The church needs a touch from the Lord. 1st Corinthians 6:19 says “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own”. You are the church. The building is not the church it’s just stone brick and mortar, wood, nails, and screws. But if we don’t praise Him the rocks will praise Him.
THE CHURCH NEEDS A TOUCH FROM THE LORD - WE NEED A TOUCH FROM THE LORD.
Touch me Lord I need a new walk. Touch me Lord and renew me
Touch me Lord I need a new talk. Touch me Lord and remold me.
Touch me Lord I’ve been this way too long.
Touch me Lord and revive me again. Touch me Lord I need a healing.
Touch me Lord in spite of myself. Touch me Lord I need a breakthrough.
Touch me Lord like only you can. Touch me Lord and turn my world around.
Touch me Lord like I’ve never been touched before.
Touch me Lord and make me over again.
Touch me Lord I feel like I’m loosing my mind.
Touch me Lord and change my way of thinking.
Touch me Lord.
The church needs a touch from the Lord.
Vs#14-17 says “And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.(He was stuck bent over dealing in the flesh realm.) The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him”.
After the Lord has touched, rather it is the church or you individually, there is always those in the church that have a form of godliness that are going to criticize you, so-called friends and people of God that don’t understand what is happening to you because they are stuck bent over in the flesh. They are going to talk about you, they are going to say things like you have changed, but just tell them I got a new perspective.
You don’t talk like you used to talk – I got a new perspective.
You don’t go the places you used to go – I got a new perspective.
Why you going to Bible Class now for you never did before – I got a new perspective.
You don’t gossip like you used to – I got a new perspective.
What you are now holier than thou – No I got a new perspective.
You don’t act the way you used to act – I got a new perspective.
Why you cleaning up the church – I got a new perspective.
Why you sitting way up there for – I got a new perspective.
I realize that it’s not all about me but it’s about Jesus.
I got a new walk
I got a new talk
I got a new way of thinking
I got a new attitude
I got a new perspective.
I’m no longer looking down, bent over, focusing on myself and my in-abilities but I will look to the hills which cometh my help for all my help cometh from the Lord.
Bishop M.L. Maughmer, Jr.
