Dear Woman

Scripture: Luke 13:10-17

10 One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, 11 he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” 13 Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God! 14 But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.” 15 But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? 16 This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?” 17 This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did. (Luke 13:10-17 NLT)

Imagine this woman’s perspective on life. For eighteen years, her world was defined by staring at the ground beneath her feet. Because she was “bent double,” she couldn’t look into people’s faces or see the horizon. She carried a heavy, crippling burden that didn’t just affect her body—it isolated her.

“When Jesus saw her, he called her over.” She didn’t ask for healing. She wasn’t making a scene. She had no expectations that day. She was simply there, and Jesus saw her! And before he even touched her, he spoke her freedom into existence: “Dear woman, you are healed.” Jesus didn’t see a problem to be solved, he saw a “dear woman” who had been held captive far too long.

We all have burdens that can keep us “bent double”. They might not be physical, but they’re weights that keep us looking down: The weight of past shame. The weight of future anxiety. The weight of unfulfilled expectations that keep us from standing tall. When Jesus releases us from what bends us double, it’s so we can look up, see his face, and be free! And look people in the eye!

Prayer:

Father, I come to you with the weights that have kept me “bent double”, my burdens that have become so familiar I’ve forgotten what it feels like to stand tall without them. Lord Jesus, thank you that you see me in the crowd! Speak your words of freedom over my heart. Untie the knots of anxiety, the chains of past mistakes, and the heavy expectations of others that keep my eyes fixed on the ground. Please heal me and free me and make me a burden lifter and life giver for others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!