“And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God” (Luke 13:13).
Let’s look at today’s verse, making some more observations about our “Miss Liberty.” A minister named Russell Smith shares these points about her. He mentions first her “spirit of infirmity.”
“Luke is subtly telling us that this woman had much more than a physical problem. In this case, the pain of her condition was caused by an evil spirit. Please note this is not demon possession….Rather, this is more like the torment that Job endured when Satan afflicted his body….The woman (Miss Liberty) doesn’t draw attention to herself, crying out, ‘Lord Jesus, have mercy on me.’ No. Jesus notices her, Jesus calls out to her. Jesus frees from her bondage.”
Jesus first used words, then He placed His hands upon her. She straightened up and “glorified God.”
Later in Smith’s sermon he says, “She has an identity that is greater than her burdens—it’s the identity that gave her hope those eighteen years of suffering, and that was the identity of being a child of her Father, the identity of being special to God….”
With the touch of the Master’s Hand, she was truly now “Miss Liberty.”
Sue Winchester
Missouri
PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for any in your congregation who suffer from arthritis, MS, fibromyalgia, or another debilitating disease.
