This morning, we continue our series, “The Miracles of Jesus.”
Before we get into the miracle, let’s look at the foundational scripture I will share be sharing with you all year.
(Psalm 126:4 TPT)
Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of your refreshing flow over us until our dry hearts are drenched again.
This is a season of refreshing and restoring for us. I pray you get refreshed and restored as we study each miracle.
In Luke 13, we find Jesus in a synagogue ministering the Word of God on the Sabbath. While He was teaching, He noticed a woman who was bent over and could not straighten up herself. As He looked into the issue, He found out that she had been this way for 18 years. Jesus looked at the woman and immediately perceived the root of the problem.
This woman was not bent over because of a back spasm, a slipped disk, or a spinal condition. Jesus looked past the natural and into the supernatural. Jesus saw what I call “The force behind the scene.” This woman was crippled by an evil spirit. It was a spirit of infirmity. So, right there, in the synagogue, on the Sabbath, in the middle of His message, Jesus called the woman forward and spoke the language of faith. He did not speak what He saw; He spoke what He expected. He spoke what the Father revealed to Him in His Spirit. He spoke about the desired outcome. He said, “Woman, thou art loosed from your infirmity.” Jesus then laid His hands on her, and IMMEDIATELY she was able to stand up straight.
The ruler of the synagogue was highly upset because Jesus performed this miracle on the Sabbath. This man had the audacity to say, “There are six days for work. So come to be healed on one of those days. Don’t come for healing on the Sabbath day.”
Jesus was furious! He responded, “You people are hypocrites! All of you untie your work animals and lead them to drink water every day—even on the Sabbath day. This woman that I healed is a daughter of Abraham. But satan has held her bound for 18 years. Surely it is not wrong for her to be made free from on a Sabbath day!” When Jesus said this, all those who were criticizing Him felt ashamed of themselves.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Religious people are always focused on the wrong thing.
— The ruler of the synagogue had the audacity to tell people that they had six days of the week to get healed and that they were NOT to come for any healing on Saturday (the Sabbath). This man got upset because Jesus healed a woman on a Saturday when he could not heal anyone any day!
— Religious people are quick to point fingers because they hide behind a religious façade.
— The religious people in the text treated their animals on the Sabbath better than God’s people. They would lead their animals to water on the Sabbath. How could an animal be more important than a child of God?
— When Jesus called them out on their hypocrisy, the text says they “felt ashamed of themselves.” And rightly so!
— The Bible says that Jesus came to make us “able ministers of a new agreement from himself to his people. It is not an agreement of written laws, but it is of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor 3:6).
— Please don’t focus on the wrong things. THE LAW REQUIRES. GRACE PROVIDES! Please live #TheGraceLife.
2. Jesus restored us to The Blessing enjoyed in the Garden of Eden before the fall of man.
— When Jesus delivered the woman who was bent over for 18 years, He reminded the ruler of the synagogue that this woman was a daughter of Abraham. This meant that she was a Jew and an heir of the covenant made to Abraham. This covenant included healing and wholeness. Those of us who are in Christ are Abraham’s seed, making us heirs of this same covenant (Gal 3:29). But we are also not limited to the covenant of Abraham. The writer of Hebrews told us that we have a better covenant with better promises (Heb 8:6). As Born-Again, New Covenant believers, we have the Blessing of Abraham AND the Blessing of Jesus! We are to live a blessed and complete life.
— Jesus did not die to restore us back to Abraham. No, Jesus died to restore us ALL THE WAY back to what Adam had in the Garden of Eden before the fall. Adam walked with God and God walked with him. Adam received divine revelation from the Father. Adam ruled, governed, and dominated the planet. Adam operated with divine power. This is how we are called to live.
3. Sickness is of satan, not God!
Jesus said the following about the woman He healed from a spirit of infirmity: “This woman that I healed is a daughter of Abraham. But satan has held her bound for 18 years.” Did you catch that? Jesus made a connection between the spirit of infirmity and satan. This spirit did not come from God. It came from satan. Sickness is NOT of God. Sickness is of satan!
The Bible says, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8 KJV). It also says, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him” (Acts 10:38 NIV). The KJV says Jesus “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
— Jesus went around destroying the works of the devil because God the Father was with Him.
— Part of that work was healing. Jesus healed people because sickness is of the devil!
— Those who were sick were under the power or oppression of the devil. So what did Jesus do? He healed them!
— If sickness was of God, and Jesus went around healing people, He would be fighting against the Father!
4. Once you are Born-Again, you can operate in the divine discernment of the Spirit, as Jesus did.
— Jesus looked at a woman who had been bent over for 18 years and immediately discerned what her issue was: a demon spirit. This did not come to Jesus by education; this came to Him by revelation. This was not an act of human ability. This was an act of spiritual ability. And guess what? Once you are Born-Again, you have access to the same ability.
— Sometimes, people are bound, and they don’t even know it. The woman in the text was bent over for 18 years, and she did not know why. Jesus took one look at her, and He immediately knew the problem was spiritual, not physical.
— You cannot address supernatural issues with natural solutions, which is why God gave us His Spirit. Once God’s Spirit is living inside of you, you can (like Jesus) look at a situation and discern the “Force behind the scene.”
— Jesus came to enable us to discern, not just learn; to operate with divine instinct, not just human intellect; to rely on revelation, not just education.
— One time, Simon, the fisherman, said something that clearly came by revelation of the Father. Jesus commended him for it and changed his name to Peter (the rock). However, in the same conversation, a few moments later, Simon said something that was AGAINST God’s will. He was speaking AGAINST what Jesus said. And Jesus looked right at Simon Peter and said, “GET THEE BEHIND ME SATAN!” Jesus was looking at Peter, but He was talking to satan. Sometimes we have to discern the FORCE BEHIND THE SCENE so we can address it.
— When that happened, Jesus was not upset with Peter because satan was the one behind it. So Jesus addressed the root of the issue. This is the same thing He did with the woman who had been bent over for 18 years. He dealt with the root of the issue: a demonic spirit. Listen, sometimes husbands get upset with wives and vice versa when they should be discerning the FORCE BEHIND THE SCENE. This same thing happens with children. Parents get furious with their children over things they should be praying about and casting out. Some things cannot be COUNSELED OUT. Some things have to be CAST OUT!
— Jesus died to restore your access to the Holy Spirit. Once you are Born-Again, the Spirit of God lives IN you. You must learn to discern His voice so He can expose to you when something is working BEHIND THE SCENE. The more discernment you develop, the greater level of power you will walk in, and you will also be able to relate to others better because you will know when something is working IN them or THROUGH them that is NOT THEM!
— I will close with a reminder that we must graduate to the point where we see ourselves as JESUS in the text. It’s okay to see yourself as the woman who was bent over and say to yourself, “Like that woman, I will be in the right place at the right time. One Word from Jesus will change my life forever!” That’s good. But I want you to also see yourself as Jesus in the text, so you can walk into a room and see people and then discern what is going on BEHIND THE SCENE. You can look at the natural and see the spirit. This is how we are supposed to live!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me!
I open my heart to receive and to walk in all Jesus died to give me access to.
I declare that I walk in divine discernment and supernatural power.
I am not going to waste time trying to counsel-out what I must CAST-OUT!
By Your Spirit, I am able to deal with the spiritual forces behind the scene.
You have called me to a supernatural life, and I declare that the supernatural is natural to me.
I enjoy The Blessing of Abraham, which is a natural blessing, and The Blessing of Jesus, which is a supernatural blessing. Both are in operation in my life!
I walk in the Spirit and operate with divine discernment daily. Living this way, I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
