Luke 13:10-17

(10) And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. (11) 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. (12) And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. (13) And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. (14) 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. (15) 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? (16) 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? (17) 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.

  I find it amazing that in many of these miracle studies there are also many lessons to be learned. This passage is a pretty straight forward miracle. There is no one approaching or begging for Jesus to do anything. The Bible says Jesus was teaching in the synagogue and he notice the woman. Jesus then calls to her to him and said she is loosed from her infirmity, and he laid hands on her and she was immediately healed. She then began to glorify God. Even with her being crippled, she had made the effort to be in God’s presence. Not to be a distraction, not to make a scene, not begging to be healed. As far as we know the scriptures do not say she was asking or approaching or anything, so I do not want to assume anything here. I am sure, as any of us would be, she wanted to be healed, but to just be in His presence probably was enough for her.

 Jesus does want to know our needs of Him, that is why we should be in constant meditation on Him and His Word. Jesus does want us to rely on Him for our healings and spiritual needs. We must also just want to desire to be in His presence no matter what affliction or situation we may be facing. Psalm 16:11 "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”  No matter where we are in life, being in the presence of God, we will find ourselves in the fullness of Joy and direction, and God’s pleasures. We need to change our attitude towards God and just say, "I just want to be with you”. So often when we approach God, asking, demanding, crying out, etc. I find we will fulfill all our needs by simply running to Him to be with Him. Then He can allow His work to been done in our lives according to His will. The woman in this story was simply in the presence of Jesus, and He noticed her. I am sure many other people were there also that possibly had needs, we all do, but it was probably her heart that got His attention. Jesus is always looking at our hearts.  Psalm 139:23 "Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts”, Jeremiah 17:10 "I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” Be careful of this verse: Matthew 15:8 "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; But their heart is far from me.”

 The next few verses go in on about how the ruler of the synagogue complains about Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath, and Jesus rebukes him and calls him a hypocrite. We have already talked about the Sabbath and will again in another study. The bottom line is God is willing to do His work any day. There are no restrictions to what God will do and is wanting to do in our lives. There is no special moment God is waiting for. That moment is here right now, it later today, its tonight, its tomorrow, God’s moment is always now. Does not mean that God will heal you or do what "you” want in the instant, but being in His presence is now and He is waiting for that.

Psalm 73:28  But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, That I may declare all thy works.

James 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Hebrews 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.