in verse 11. Let's read that
verse again. 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. We're not given
this woman's name, but she had a spirit of infirmity. The word infirmity means powerlessness. This woman was powerless. She had no power at all. It means weakness. It means inability
to produce results. And the fact that she had a spirit
of infirmity seems to suggest demon possession. Physically,
she was bowed down together. Now, you think of how uncomfortable
and how difficult it would be. She was bent over to where I
guess her torso was pretty much hitting her thighs and she would
walk around like that. Can you imagine how difficult
that would be? Can you imagine how uncomfortable that would
be? Can you imagine how miserable that would be? She had some kind
of spinal injury that caused her to be bowed together where
she could not straighten up. She would walk around in this
miserable condition. This inability to lift up herself
is also a word that is used for deep depression of spirit, unable
to lift up. You know where the scripture
says, lift up your heads, lift up the hands that hang down when
you're down, lift up. She couldn't do it. This disease
that she had certainly was physical and how grievous it must have
been, but it also typified deep depression of spirit. She was down and she could not
lift herself up. She was unable and she had spent
18 long years in that state. That's a long time to spend. 18 years. What were you doing
18 years ago? A lot of water would pass under
the bridge in that time. And yet this woman was in this
state for 18 years and she certainly supplies us with a portrait of
the sinner. Bowed down. Unable to lift up
herself. Bowed down. Now one thing this
woman was convinced of She could not do anything about her condition. She tried. The scripture says
she could in no wise lift up herself. Evidently she tried
on numerous occasions to lift up herself and she was unable
to do it. Here she was 18 years in this
grievous condition. But she was in the synagogue. She was in the place where the
Scripture was read. You know, sometimes when people
are bowed down, they stay away from public worship. But in reality,
that's where you need to be more than anywhere else. She was in
the synagogue. Verse 12, And when Jesus saw
her, There's something about His sight. If I see you, it doesn't really
mean that much, does it? I can't see you through and through.
I don't know what's going on inside of you, and you don't
know what's going on inside of me. I can see you, and it means
very little. But when He saw her... Oh, He saw her through and through. He saw her in a way that you
and I could never see anybody. He saw her through and through. He recognized her. He knew everything
about her. Oh, the Lord sees His people.
And if His eye is on you, what else needs to be? When Jesus
saw her, He called her To him. Once again, who initiated this? We don't read where she asked
for a thing. We don't read where she saw him, he saw her, and
we don't read about her asking him to do anything for her. He
saw her and he called her. To him. He did not ask her if she would
give him permission to heal her. He did not say, do you have enough
faith to be healed? He didn't ask her anything. You know, the Lord never asks
for permission. He never responds to anything. He only declares. You see, this is no mere man
speaking. He announces with the precise
same authority that he used when he said, light me and light was. Now that's how he announces. He said, Woman, thou art loosed. Thou art set
free from thine infirmities. Now, this woman could in no wise
lift up herself for 18 years, and now he comes and says, You
are liberated. You are loosed. And notice this. He didn't say you will be loosed.
He said, you've been loosed. You have been set free from your
infirmities. He did not say, if your faith
is great enough, you can be loosed. He made this declaration, woman,
thou art loosed from thine infirmities. And notice this, he didn't say,
woman, you shall shortly be loosed from your infirmities. In just
a few moments, when I do something for you, you shall shortly be
loosed." He didn't say anything like that. He said, woman, you
have already been loosed from your infirmities. In the language, it's in the
perfect tense. You have already been loosed
from your infirmities. This is not something that's
going to be. It's something that already is. Woman, thou art loosed from thine
infirmities. Now, when he said that, in her
experience, she was still bent over. Now, why is that? The Lord said,
Woman, you've been loosed. Yet there she stands, bowed down,
couldn't even look up, couldn't look somebody dead in the eye.
She was all bent over. And the Lord says, Woman, you've
already been loosed from your infirmities. How is that? Why did He not say, You will
be loosed? Because He had not yet laid His
hands upon her and she had not yet stood up straight. Yet He
said, Woman, you've already been loosed. You've already been set
free from your infirmities. In her experience, it had not
happened. Yet, he says, you have already
been loosed. Jesus Christ is God. I do believe that's my favorite
statement. Jesus Christ is God, and when
He says something, it is done before it happens. You see, when God says something,
He's not like you and I waiting for a sequence of events. When God says something, It is
past tense before it takes place. Now, how can you explain that?
I can't. But I know the will of God is so supreme that when
He says something is, it is before it even takes place. God does
not make predictions concerning the future. When He wills something,
it's not certain that it will happen. When He wills something,
it's already taken place. It is history. It's not something out there.
It's something that already has been. It's history. Now, let me give you an example
of this from Scripture. How many times Have you heard me quote
Revelation chapter 13, verse 8, where Christ is called the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world? You've heard that,
you quote it, you know it by heart. Christ the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Now, you and I know that He wasn't
really slain yet. We know that, don't we, do we?
Do you know the language of that is? The Lamb. Once again, it's
in the same tense that woman thou art loose from your infirmities,
you've already been loose from your infirmities. That reads
literally, the Lamb having already been slain from the very foundation
of the world. Christ is not the Lamb who would
be slain. That's not the language of the
Bible. The language of the Bible is the Lamb having already been
slain from the foundation of the world. When God willed it,
it took place. It was perfectly completed, never
to be repeated, even though it had not yet happened. Once again,
how supreme is His will? How can this be? I don't know.
If I could explain this, I'd be God, wouldn't I? I can't explain
this, but I believe this from the very depths of my heart.
Let me show you a couple of scriptures that back this up. Turn with
me to the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes. Now, while you're
turning there, let me tell you why I love this so much. What I'm trusting, who I'm trusting,
what I'm trusting, and I've got to say what. Yes, it's who and
yes, it's what. It's who he is and what he did. It's already
been done. I'm not trusting something that
will take place, because if I just believe it will take place, I'm
not flat sure that it will. I'm talking about something that's
already taken place. Now, that's the confidence I
have. Look here in Ecclesiastes chapter three, verse 15. That which hath been is now,
and that which is to be hath already been. Turn to Hebrews
chapter 4. Verse three. For we which have believed. Do
enter into rest. And what is this rest we entered
in, we enter into? As he said, I've sworn in my
wrath, they shall not enter my rest, talking about those people
who don't enter rest, those people who do not believe, although
the works. Were finished. Everything God
has done, they were finished. It doesn't say it's as if they
were finished. It doesn't say they will be finished.
It doesn't say it's certain it's going to happen. It says the
works, everything God does, the works were finished from the
very foundation of the world. Now, obviously, you and I can't
understand this, but we can sure enough believe it, can't we?
God doesn't dwell in time the way we do. Woman, you've already been loosed
from your infirmities. There she is, bowed down. She
can't raise up, but God says it's already happened. Look what takes place next in
our text. Turn back to Luke 13. Verse 12, When Jesus saw her,
he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, you have already
been loosed from your infirmities. Verse 13, And he laid his hands
on her. Now because Christ is the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world, Does that mean He
does not have to come into time and die on the cross? Did anybody
even think that? I bet there's not anybody here that even thought
that. Well, if He's already the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, that means He didn't have to come in time and die
on the cross. Yeah, He did. He had to come
in time. God made something called time.
Remember when the First day was day, and the night was night.
God made time at some point. All of a sudden, there's time.
God's looking down on time. I don't understand that. But
Christ Jesus, although He is the Lamb slain from the very
foundation of the world, He had to come into human history. He
had to come into time. He had to keep the law. He Himself
kept it, and He had to die under the wrath of God on Calvary's
tree as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now
when he laid his hands on her, first he said, woman, you're
loosed. You've already been set free. It's completed. And then
he laid his hands on her. Now what's the laying on of hands
about? Well, remember in the Old Testament
what the priest would do? This laying on of hands signifies
something. The priest would come to the innocent victim, the innocent
lamb, that lamb that had No guilt. The spotless Lamb that represented
the coming Lamb of God. The priest would come to that
innocent Lamb and he'd lay his hands on that Lamb. And after he would lay his hands
on that Lamb, he would cut the Lamb's throat and kill it. The laying on of hands signifies
the transferal of guilt. That lamb was innocent. The priest
comes and lays his hands on that lamb. All of a sudden, that lamb
is guilty. The sins of the people the priest
was representing were placed upon that lamb. That lamb is
no longer the innocent lamb. That lamb is the guilty lamb. The wages of sin is death. The lamb is put to death. And
the innocence of that lamb It's transferred to the priest who
represents the people. So in this laying on of hands,
what we have is the transference of guilt, the transference of
righteousness. It's the gospel. We see what
our Lord did on Calvary's tree in Him coming and laying hands
upon this woman. Now, understand this. When Christ
was hanging on the cross, and I've said this several times
in the last month or two, but it's You know, I've always. I've always had a problem, I
didn't know how to how to articulate it, really, but I've always had
a problem when people say, well, when Christ was hanging on the cross,
he was doing this to show us how much God loves us. I thought
that's a that's a that's an odd way to show love. I don't know
if I understand that or when Christ was hanging on the cross,
he was doing this in order to provide us the ultimate example
of obedience. Well, it is the ultimate example
of obedience. He was made obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. But listen very carefully. The reason Jesus Christ died
on the cross was because he was guilty. The wages of sin is death. The sins of God's elect were
placed upon Jesus Christ. They became his. And he was guilty. Did he ever sin in his own person?
Of course not. He's the spotless Lamb. He did
no sin. He knew no sin. In him is no
sin. But on Calvary's tree, he was
made to be sin. And there's no way I can understand
what all that means. Nor can anyone else. You know,
the Lord turned the lights out at that time. But he was made
guilty. He was made to be sinned. That
transference took place. And just as truly as he was made
to be sinned, every believer is made to be the righteousness
of God in him. That's our confidence, isn't
it? That's how I can come boldly into the very presence of God.
I am the very righteousness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Their righteousness is of me. Oh, what confidence we have in
His righteousness. Now, this woman, this woman,
there she is bowed down. You're loose from your infirmities. She was still bowed down. He
lays His hands on her. And what happened according to
this Scripture? Verse 13, And He laid His hands on her, and
through a seven-step program, Immediately, immediately, immediately,
she was made straight. This woman had been in this condition
for eighteen years. Her body disfigured. Her mind
disfigured. Everything about her was disfigured. And as soon as the Lord laid
His precious hands on her, immediately she was made straight. She was made to do what she could
not do. Now, she wasn't able to raise
up, was she? But she does. You know, in this
miracle, I really, I see this clearly. In this miracle, I see
the work of all three persons of the Godhead in this miracle.
I see the work of the Father in election by By Him saying,
woman, He declared, you're loose from your infirmities. Before
it happened, He said, it's done. I see the work of the Father.
I see the work of the Son in this laying on of hands. That's
the cross. That's where the transfer took
place. That's where the guilt was placed upon Him. His righteousness
given to us. I see the work of the Son. I
see the work of God, the Holy Spirit in her being made straight.
You see the work of God in salvation in this woman. And what did she do? Verse 13,
she did what everybody that the Lord does something for does. She was made straight and she
glorified God. She gave Him all the glory. You
reckon this woman had a problem with giving Him all the glory?
In any respect? No, not at all. She glorified
God. Oh, she was so delighted. Verse
14, Now here, we're given a grim
portrait of man's religion. And the ruler of the synagogue
answered. Now, I don't remember anybody
asking him anything, but he had to say something. And the ruler
of the synagogue answered with indignation. Oh, he was so offended,
because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day. And he said
unto the people, there are six days in which men ought to work,
and then therefore come and be healed, but not on the Sabbath
day. Now, this man, his, what he saw,
it just didn't fit into his system, did it? It didn't fit into his
way of thinking. He saw this and it just didn't
make sense to him. You see, he had a complete misunderstanding
of the Sabbath day. What is the command of the Sabbath
day? What is the command? Don't work. That's a command. Rest. Don't work. What happened to you if you did
work? You're put to death. That's how serious this thing
is. Don't work. Now, this man, had no idea what
that meant. All he saw was physical things,
and he had made a work out of not working. And that's what
the natural man's religion does. He makes a work out of not working. And this fellow couldn't understand
this concept at all. And we see the the horribleness
of it. This woman, here she is healed.
She's made straight. What a glorious thing. And he
was upset because it couldn't fit into his system. He didn't
like it. And he said, and I could almost
hear the tone of his voice in his righteous indignation, there
are six days where you can come and be healed. But don't you
come and desecrate the Sabbath by coming and being healed on
the Sabbath day. You know, the Lord selected the Sabbath day
to do most of His miracles. Why? I don't know all the reasons. But I know one of the reasons
is to irritate the Pharisees. That's why the Lord did it. You
have a problem with that? I don't. I like it. I like it. I want to irritate them too.
That's my natural religion and I like it being stepped on just
like... He healed me. on the Sabbath
day. And look at the way the Lord
responds to this fellow. This is the way the Lord responds
to man's religion. The Lord then answered him and
said, hypocrite, man's religion is hypocrisy is acting and it's
so hypocritical. He said, hypocrite. Every one
of you fellows, on the Sabbath day, you lose your ox or your
ass from the stall and lead him away to watering. And you never
think that's breaking the Sabbath. Verse 16. And ought not. Now, that word
ought not, it means is there not necessity? He says this is necessary. There's
a must needs be to this. This is absolutely necessary. Ought not this woman, being a
daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen
years, be loose from this bond on the Sabbath day. The word
ought not means it's binding. It's necessary. It must needs
be. This woman must be set free. There is a divine necessity to
this woman being set free. It's utterly binding for this
woman to be set free. Now, why is that? Why is that? Notice what he calls her. Ought
not this woman being the daughter of Abraham? That's why she's
to be set free. She's a daughter of Abraham.
Now, there were a lot of physical daughters of Abraham. Was there
a necessity that those physical daughters of Abraham be set free?
No. Do you remember what our Lord
said in Luke chapter four to that crowd? There were a lot
of lepers in the days of Elisha in Israel. And God didn't save
one of them. He didn't heal one of them. He
healed a Gentile leper. And there were a lot of widows
in the days of Elijah, a lot of widows in Israel, and God
passed every one of them by and saved a Gentile widow. So, no,
there's no necessity for someone to be healed simply because they're
physical sons or daughters of Abraham. Turn with me for a moment
to Luke chapter 19. I love this story, Luke chapter
19. Verse one. And Jesus entered and passed
through Jericho. And behold, there was a man named
Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans. He was rich. And he sought to see Jesus, who
he was. and could not for the press because
he was little of stature. And he ran before and climbed
up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that
way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up. Remember the way he saw this
woman in the synagogue? You see, he always sees his people.
He looked up and he saw him. And said unto him, Zacchaeus,
Make haste and come down for today. I must abide at thy house. There's a needs be a necessity.
I must abide at thy house. And he made haste and he came
down and he received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all
murmured saying that he was going to be guest with a man that's
a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold,
Lord, He wasn't talking to these people. He was talking to the
Lord. Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.
And if I've taken anything from any man by false accusation,
I restore to him fourfold. And Jesus said unto them, This
day is salvation come to this house, because he gave away half
of his goods and gave them to the poor. And everything that
he stole, he restored fourfold. Doesn't say that, does it? This day salvation is come to
this house for as much as he also is a son of Abraham. Ought not this woman, is there
not a binding reason? Is it not necessary for this
woman to be healed? She's a daughter of Abraham.
Zacchaeus, he's a son of Abraham. Who are Abraham's kids? They're
in Romans 9. Verse 6, It's not as though the
word of God has taken none effect, for they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel. Romans 9, 7, Neither because
they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in
Isaac shall the seed be called. You see, Ishmael, he never was
acknowledged to be a son, was he? Now, he was Abraham's boy
just as much as Isaac was Abraham's boy, wasn't he? Wasn't he? He was physically. Do you remember
what the Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 22? Take now thy son. Anybody know the next phrase?
Thine only son. What about Ishmael? What about
him? If God says Isaac's his only son, is he his only son?
Ishmael, the son of works, is never acknowledged to be a son.
Who are the children of Abraham? Neither because of the seed of
Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. That is, these which are the children of the flesh,
these are not the children of God, but the children of the
promise. are counted for the seed. For
this is the word of promise. At this time will I come, and
Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but when Rebecca
also had conceived by one, even by her father Isaac, for the
children, being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might
stand. None of works, but of Him that
cometh. It was said unto her, The elder
is going to serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob of a
love, but he saw that I hated. Who are the children of Abraham?
I can answer that real easily and real simply. They are the
elect. That's it. That's who the children
of Abraham are. And when he says concerning this
poor woman bowed down together, ought not, isn't it necessary,
isn't there a divine necessity for this woman to be healed?
She's a daughter of Abraham. Now, what was necessary about
it? Well, I'll tell you why it's necessary. God purposed it. That makes it necessary. She's in union with Christ. Christ
paid for her sins. He gave her righteousness. It's
necessary. God the Holy Spirit did something for her. He made
her to be what she was not before. It's necessary. Ought not, back
to our text, Luke 13, verse 16, And ought not this
woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound low these
eighteen years, be loosed, be set free from this bond on the
Sabbath day? Now can you imagine how this
woman felt when she straightened up for the first time in 18 years? How glorious this must have been. She knew that she didn't straighten
up because of anything she did. She knew that she didn't straighten
up because of anything she asked Him to do. He simply came to
her. He saw her and said, Woman, you're
set free. He laid his hands upon her and
up she goes. She straightens up as a work
of divine, sovereign, invincible, almighty grace. She straightens
up. Oh, how much she had felt. Verse
17. And when he had said these things,
All his adversaries were ashamed. You know, the Lord does have
adversaries. He has adversaries, people that are against what
he does. But you know what this passage of Scripture says? They
couldn't come up with any objections. They were ashamed. They were
ashamed. What can I say? And you know,
regarding the Gospel, regarding how God saves sinners, Christ
has adversaries, but they can't come up with an objection that
even makes sense. His adversaries were ashamed.
They didn't know what to say. And all the people, verse 17,
all the people, and you know, there are different words in
the New Testament that are translated people, but this particular word
is meaning the confused multitude. The confused multitude. Every
single one of them. Every one of this group that
is called the confused multitude. All of them. What did they do?
They all rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done
by Him. You know something that I notice
in religious people quite often? Something they talk about a lot
is God's really doing great things in my life. God's really doing
a lot of stuff in my life right now. God's doing all this stuff. You know what I rejoice in? I rejoice in the same thing these
fellows rejoiced in. They rejoiced in the great things
He hath done. Now, when something is done,
that means He finished it. It is finished. Now, that's what I'm rejoicing
in. I'm rejoicing that he's in control. I'm rejoicing that anything
that comes my way, he sent it. I rejoice in the fact that he's
too wise to err, and he's too kind to be cruel, and everything
he does is right. I rejoice in that. But as far
as me saying all them great things he's doing in my life, well, I rejoice in what he's done.
That's when I have confidence in what he's done. What's he
doing? I don't know, but I know what he's done. I know what he's
done. And his woman knew what he'd
done. Who is the one who rejoiced the most? I know who rejoiced
the most. That woman who was made straight. Oh, how she came to love the
Lord Jesus Christ. And I pray that each one of us
will duplicate what this woman did in rejoicing in the great
things that he had done. Let's pray together.