The burden of sin.

Seeking once again the help of the Lord, I would like you to turn with me to the chapter we read together, the Gospel according to Luke, and chapter 13, and the text you'll find in verse 12. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said unto her, Woman, thou art loose from thine infirmity.

Those who have been here over the past months will remember that we have been looking at the various miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the 30th miracle, the 30th individual miracle recorded here in the scriptures regarding the Lord Jesus and his concern and his compassion and his fulfilment of prophecy regarding the healing of those that were sick and those that were bound with infirmity and those that were possessed with devils.

And so we come then to this woman who has been, as the scripture says, bound by Satan for 18 years and bound over, as it were, looking down at her feet. Such was the affliction upon her body that she was almost bent in half. 18 years she had been unwell. She is at the synagogue, the place where the Jews met weekly to listen to the Word of God read, to pray, and to sing psalms.

There the Lord Jesus Christ went and we see throughout the Gospels that the Lord Jesus went to the synagogues. He was given the opportunity to speak in those synagogues that the people may hear the word of the Lord. And so wherever the Lord Jesus Christ went, people followed him, especially those that were unwell to maybe be healed by him. And as we go into the Gospel, into the New Testament, the Book of Acts, we see that from these synagogues is where the church, the early church began to meet and the Word of God was preached and expounded. And this is where we get our style of worship, this is where we follow that example that was set, that took place in these synagogues, the Word of God. the singing of psalms and of hymns and the explanation of the Word where believers come together to sit under the Word of God and to worship the true and living God. they come with their various ailments, we come with our various problems and we come and we present them to the Lord asking for help, asking for that strength to continue, asking for that deliverance, of various trials that we may be in or asking for that deliverance of the bondage of sin that is laid upon us. And so here in this account we have this lady that is at the synagogue, she's come to worship the Lord and as she comes to worship the Lord she's called by the Lord Jesus Christ to himself he speaks to her.

She is immediately loosed from her infirmity and he lays his hands upon her and she is immediately healed. as we have noticed throughout these various miracles of the Lord Jesus, they are always set in a context that the Lord Jesus does a specific miracle that is recorded in a various context to help us understand the point that he is getting, the point that he is putting across with the situation that he is in.

And the context of this was that he's in the synagogue. He is surrounded by the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the lawyers. He is able to understand their hearts, their motives. He understands their legalistic mindset. He understands their hypocrisy. and he sets forth this woman as an example of how they were bowed down by legality, bowed down by hypocrisy and being completely unfruitful. Right at the beginning of the chapter we read that they came to the Lord Jesus and they asked him a question.

There was present at that season some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered these things. Jesus understood that behind their motive, there was a motive for them to ask this question. They asked a question regarding something that had taken place where some people, the Galileans, had been slaughtered and Pilate had mingled their blood with the sacrifices. And behind the question was this. that were these people that had experienced this calamity a greater sinner than those that had survived?

And so Jesus brings to them another example. He says, I understand what you are saying. I know that deep down you are holding a prejudice in your minds. You are believing that that calamities happen to people because they are greater sinners than everybody else. And so the Lord Jesus brings this another example. He says, you've brought me this example, I'm bringing you another one.

Do you suppose that the 18 upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and slew them, do you think that these were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? That was their reason. They believed, that was their mindset, that these things had taken place because these people were greater sinners than everybody else, so that God had brought a judgment upon them. And often we can have that mindset. We can believe that somebody who is experiencing something because they are a greater sinner than yourself, you may think, well, they deserve it because they're not as holy as I am. They're not as good as I am. They deserve the punishment of God. They deserve these accidents and these calamities to come into their lives because God is punishing them because they're so wicked. And that was the mindset.

And Jesus says, no, hang on a minute. Look at yourself, except you repent, except you turn from your sin, you will also perish. In other words, he's saying, we live in a world where accidents and calamities take place. This world is constantly groaning under the weight of sin. There are earthquakes, there are floods, there are tornadoes and whirlwinds, there are accidents on the road, there are accidents at work. And he says, you just need to be ready. that should one of these calamities enter into your life and that your life is suddenly snatched from this world, you need to be ready, you need to be in a state of repentance and forgiveness before the Lord.

Do not look at everybody else and believe them to be greater sinners than you. You are a sinner before a holy God, and you are the one that will stand before a holy God, and you are the one that will give an account of your own sin. You will not be able to point to somebody else and say, they're worse than me. They deserve these punishments. They deserve to go to hell. No. He personalizes it and said you. You need to repent of your sin. You need to make sure you're ready so that if a calamity comes into your life, you'll be ready to stand before a holy God.

And so this is the background that the Lord Jesus is dealing with this woman and this miracle. No doubt there are those that said this woman deserves it. She deserves to be hunched over. She deserves to be walking around looking at the floor. She's obviously done some sin. God has punished her. So she deserves it.

Otherwise they would have said, come here, my dear. Come, this is the Lord Jesus Christ. He can deliver you from your affliction that you've been carrying 18 years. They would have brought her to the Lord Jesus, but instead they didn't. They were more worried about the reasons why. I'm holy, she's sinful, she deserves to be like this. We don't find that mindset in the precious mind of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he gives a parable about them. He tells them that they are like a fig tree that deserves to be cut down. They're like a fig tree that is producing no fruit whatsoever.

It's just wasting space in the vineyard. And he says, so in the parable, he says to the vineyard keeper, cut it down. Why does it come around the ground? And the gardener says, leave it alone for a little while. And if it bears fruit, well, and if not, thou shalt cut it down.

And we know this parable is speaking about the Jewish nation. They were that vine that was planted and it was not bearing any fruit. It was barren. Jesus came and they rejected him. He gave them a little more time. After his crucifixion and resurrection, there was a little more time, but still there was no fruit. And then the Roman army came and surrounded Jerusalem and destroyed it completely with the temple and the people within it. Why does it come to the ground? Their hypocrisy, their self-righteousness, did not bear them any fruit before a holy God.

They were sinners just as every other man and woman and boy and girl is in this world. And so as Jesus sets the scene, along comes this lady bowed down with infirmity for 18 years. This world is a world of trouble and a world of difficulty. The Bible tells us that the world groans under the weight of sin because of the curse that has fallen upon this world.

There is going to be trouble, there is going to be accidents, there's going to be calamities. they may be seen as judgments in the lives of unbelievers. God may come and take one and another. The scripture tells us that death is a judgment, it is a result of sin. But in the life of a Christian, calamities and difficulties and accidents take place, but they ultimately have a different purpose. Yes, a believer may suffer the judgment of God because of sin that they have committed. But that judgment is really a correction, really a restoration, really a chastisement, an act of discipline from a loving Heavenly Father to restore that one to that place, to bring them out of their wanderings, to bring them out of their sin, to set them again upon that right way. And so when we look at the lives of believers and we see calamities that take place, we are not to suppose that they are a greater sinner than you or I. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

What we are to suppose is that the Lord is dealing with that individual in a loving way in order to restore them from their backsliding, from their wandering, from their lukewarmness and cold heartedness. And so when the Lord deals with us, he is dealing with us out of love to correct us.

It is a discipline, it is a training process. As we read that the trial of our faith is much more precious than gold that perishes. And so it is a refining process. The things that the believer passes through, they are to refine them, to burn off the dross, that they may shine more brightly. And also it is a testing of faith.

The believer's faith must be tested and it must be strengthened and I would think that this lady, the reason why she has been allowed to be bound by Satan for these 18 years is because the Lord was testing her faith. We find her in the synagogue. She remained committed to the word. She was not rebellious under her affliction, but we find her, either she is there continually, weekly at the synagogue, or she has come for the specific purpose of finding the Lord Jesus Christ. We see that her faith remained strong while being bound up by this affliction.

She's referred to as a daughter of Abraham. We know Abraham is the father of the faith. Those that are in Christ, they are those that are of Abraham's seed. They are children of faith. Abraham was tested by God. The Bible tells us in Genesis 22, and it came to pass that after these things that God did tempt or God did test Abraham. and said unto him, Abraham, and he said unto him, behold, here I am. And he said, take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him therefore a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. And so as a daughter of Abraham, her faith is being tested. Of what sort of faith it is.

If I bring this problem into your life, are you going to abandon the faith? Are you just following me when the road is smooth? Or are you willing to follow me through the valley of the shadow of death? Are you willing to continue walking behind me even when I bring you through the waters, the deep waters of affliction or through the hot fiery furnace? Are you still willing to walk and to follow me? So her faith is being tested. And what is interesting about this account is that he says, whom Satan has bound for 18 years, that her affliction was the product of the work of Satan upon her.

We know by the book of Job that Satan is given limited power upon specific ones of the Lord's people. In the book of Job it tells us that the Lord said, have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him. And Satan was allowed to go forth and he was allowed to bring calamities into the life of Job. And then he was allowed to bring sicknesses upon his body, the boils upon his body, but he was not able to touch the life of Job.

The Lord gave him boundaries. And so it seems to me that the Lord specifically tested the faith of this lady, allowing Satan to afflict her body for these 18 years, bound up in infirmity, waiting for this specific time when the Lord Jesus Christ would call her to himself, to use her affliction as an example of how the hypocrisy and the legalism of the Pharisees was binding and weighing down the people. And so as Jesus often did, he gives a visual picture of the spiritual situation that the people are in. As this lady comes to him, we are seeing a woman bound over, a woman totally burdened and overwhelmed with this sickness. And that was exactly what the Pharisees were doing. They were legalists. They're only worried about the external. They're only worried about looking the part. They were not worried about the heart.

In Luke 11. Verse 45, after Jesus is giving his woes upon the Pharisees, it says, Then answered one of the lawyers and said unto him, Master, thus saith thou, thus saying, This saying reproaches us also, he said, woe unto you also ye lawyers, for you laid men with burdens grievous to be born, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens which one with one of your or fingers.

And so the Lord Jesus knew exactly what was going on there. Adding law upon law upon law to suppress and hold down the people and to elevate themselves. And this was the effect that it was having upon them. A people that were living in fear, the people that were oppressed and burdened with all the rituals and all their rights that they were having to do. Matthew 23 and verse 4 it says, or go from verse 1, Then spake Jesus unto the multitude and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit at Moses' seat, and therefore Whatever ye bid, they bid you observe, that observe and do.

But do not ye after their works, for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders. But they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do, for to be seen of men.

They make broad their paracletes and enlarge the borders of their garments and love the uppermost rooms in the feasts and the chief seats of the synagogues. And he goes on exposing their hearts. And so these Pharisees were overloading the people. The law was simple. God had laid it all out in the Old Testament. The scribes and the Pharisees and the lawyers were meant to be laying it out in simplicity to the people to enable them to follow the ceremonial law but they were adding to God's worth, overloading and overburdening the people and it was like a great burden laying upon them.

But also we have God's holy law God's holy law that has been given to all men. We can say the 10 commandments that God has given. Every single person born into this world is born under that law. And we are married to that law by nature. We are under that law for as long as we live.

And that law is a heavy burden. That law gives no mercy. With that law there is no opportunity for repentance. It must be obeyed perfectly. The Bible tells us if we break one law we are guilty of breaking all. The Lord Jesus Christ tells us that that law is not necessarily a law to be followed externally but also of our own hearts. that the sin doesn't literally have to be committed for us to break it, but it can be broken in thought and in deed. And so it is a burdensome law. Though it is holy, it offers no escape for sinners. And as we look at this woman, we see somebody who is overloaded with the law. They are, we can say, trying and striving to obtain a righteousness themselves. And the harder somebody tries and strives to make a righteousness that is acceptable in the sight of God, the greater the burden becomes. the more legal we become. You think of like trying to climb a great mountain on a slippery pathway. You're climbing, you're struggling every step. You might make a bit of progress, but then you slip all the way back down to the bottom.

And so it is with God's holy law. It is impossible for a sinner to complete it, to perfect it. And yet that is the standard that God requires. The law of God can never make a person better. But it is there to show us that we are sinners. It is there to show us that we need a saviour.

And that is why the Lord Jesus Christ came, as he came specifically for this woman, to heal her from being bound by Satan. So the Lord Jesus Christ came specifically to deliver men, women, girls and boys from the oppression of the law. How did he do it?

By fulfilling the whole law himself, by completing every line and every dot, by living in perfect obedience to God's holy law and then dying upon the cross. And the Bible tells us that those who believe in Jesus are dead to the law because they have died in Christ Jesus. They're no longer married to that law because they have died with Christ. They're released from that law and are now married to another. spiritually married to the Lord Jesus Christ, they are now under grace. Christ has completed the law for them. They are now clothed in his own righteousness, his own goodness, his perfection. And they are accepted into, in the sight of God. And so Jesus came to release his people from the burden of that guilt.

Do you know anything of that this morning? Do you know anything of the guilt of your sin? Do you feel to be like this lady this morning? You've come to the house of God, the house of prayer, and you feel bowed over, you feel buckled over with the weight of your sin. Well, may this be a word to you this morning, woman or man, you are loosed from your infirmity.

Jesus says, come unto me. all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall receive rest for your souls for my yoke is easier my burden is light what the lady is a picture of is a picture of a sinner being overwhelmed with her sin bound by satan and chained by satan yet as she comes to the lord jesus christ she is released from that infirmity she's released from those chains and she puts on this burden this yoke of the lord jesus christ the gospel yoke where christ has taken all of the strength all of the weight and takes it upon himself So we see a picture of the effect of sin.

We remember the people of Egypt, the people of Israel when they were in Egypt, under the oppression, under that slavery, they were bound. We, by our nature, we are bound, chained by Satan. We're unable, like this lady, yes, unwilling even, to look up to God. We are earthbound. We spend our time looking at the floor, looking at the earth, the things of this earth. We're unconcerned about the things of eternity. You take this lady, 18 years, just looking at the floor, looking at people's feet, unable to see the faces, unable to see the sun, unable to see the heavens. That's what sin does to us. It makes us only concerned with the things that we can see. It takes our mind off eternity, off God, off our need for the Lord Jesus Christ. until we are called.

Jesus calls her to himself and when Jesus saw her he called her to him and said unto her woman thou art loosed from thy infirmities. In John Chapter 11, we have the account of Lazarus when he dies and the Lord Jesus raises him again from the grave. John 11, when Jesus comes and he first meets Martha. He speaks to her and he asks her the question. Jesus says unto her, I am the resurrection and the life.

He that believeth in me though he were dead yet he shall live. and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She said unto him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. And when she had so said, she went her way and called Mary her sister, secretly saying, The master is come and calleth for thee. I love these words, it just sums up the Lord Jesus Christ.

As he saw this lady, he saw her in her affliction. He saw her being bound by Satan. He knew how long she had been bound by Satan, 18 years, and he calls her to himself. Martha runs home to Mary, her sister, and says, the master is come, and he calleth for thee. when he goes to the grave he then calls also for Lazarus that he would come forth. He says take away the stone and Martha and he said unto her verse 43, and when he had thus spoken he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth. So this is how the Lord Jesus Christ works, as he sees people in their sin, their affliction, being bound by Satan, he came to deliver them from the consequences of their sin by dying upon the cross, by taking the guilt and punishment of their sin, rising again upon the third day.

And then as they come into their lives, he calls them by their name. He calls them unto himself. He restores them. he speaks to this lady and she's immediately released from her infirmity and he lays his hands upon her and she stretches up and she's filled with this, with Christ's strength, filled with his spirit and she is restored and she glorifies God.

But also in the lives of believers we can have trials like this that bow us down, that weigh us down. We can have uncertainties and calamities that come into our lives and we can feel just like this lady, overwhelmed. But the Bible tells us that we are to take our burdens to the Lord and that he will sustain us.

Where did this lady go with her affliction? In her condition, we could quite understand her staying at home. where did she go? She took herself to the place of worship. She took herself to where the other believers were. She took herself to sit under the word. She took herself to be with the Lord Jesus Christ Yes, it must have been difficult. Yes, it must have been hard, but she knew the place where Jesus was, where he frequented with his people and where she could come.

Where do we take our burdens? We take them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Where do we go? We come to him in prayer and we unburden. Also, we come and we meet with the Lord's people at the Lord's house to worship the Lord and to be edified and encouraged by and with the saints.

And just like this lady, you know, our lives can seem bent over and crooked. But Isaiah tells us that the Lord is able to make the crooked things straight and the rough places plain. And just like this lady, she's bowed over with infirmity. She's crooked. Yet the Lord Jesus made her straight. Woman thou art loosed from thy infirmity. And he laid his hands on her and immediately she was made straight and glorified God.

Well may it be that you're burdened by your sin and may be loosed today from that infirmity. Well may you It may be that your life is crooked and bent over and you feel overwhelmed and burdened, well may the Lord speak that to you and be loosed from your infirmity and know what it is for him to straighten things out and to make the way plain for you. May the Lord add his blessing.

Amen. We sing our final hymn from Gatsby's 135. 135, the two, two, two, seven. 135, how sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear. ♪ He'll cease his sorrows ♪ ♪ Heals his wounds ♪ ♪ And drives away his fears ♪ ♪ He'll praise the Holy Spirit all ♪ ♪ And comes the job of Christ ♪ ♪ Till his band of tears ♪ ♪ And to the weary rest ♪ ♪ There in the rock on which I built ♪ ♪ Our shield and hiding place ♪ ♪ I led the way in treachery ♪ ♪ Where the breath of Jesus died ♪ Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with you each now and for evermore. Amen.

The burden of sin.

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The burden of sin.

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About James Gudgeon

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