In Celebration of Liberation [12-21-25]

December 21, 2025

Luke 13:10-21

“In Celebration of Liberation”

Let’s turn to Luke 13:10-17:

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

Here's what we know about the setting. Remember, Jesus has set his face for Jerusalem. He knows what awaits him there. From the beginning, Luke has been bringing us along. In Luke 2:10-11 we read:

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Luke will give us more specifics about how Jesus will save us. The Cross echoes from the manger. Matthew gets more specific when he tells us that the Wise Men brought myrrh, a funeral spice. We know the more direct point…Jesus was born to die. And so it’s important for Luke to tell us that Jesus set his face for Jerusalem and the cross. He knows where he is going and why.

That’s the chronological setting. All we’re told about the physical setting is Jesus is in some town in a synagogue teaching on the Sabbath.

We know some other vague facts. The ruler of the synagogue governed the day-to-day operations of the synagogue. He was like the manager for the synagogue. It’s most likely he permitted Jesus to teach. We’re not given any names. While everything is obscure, the incident is profound. The most important thing for us to know is Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. He came to bring a kingdom of peace to the world. He came to bring unsurpassed personal peace to the hearts and souls of men and women. He came to provide the eternal peace of heaven. Yet, as we see in today’s passage, so many people responded to Jesus with anger and conflict and division.

Weird, right?

We also know a few things about the theological setting. The basic religious worldview was that you could please God by being good. You could earn God’s favor by being righteous. “Look at what a good person I

am, because I do good things.” I know all the religious ceremonies. I

attend all the religious activities. I do things to be noticed. God is pleased with me.

And what does Jesus do? It’s what today’s passage dances around. Jesus destroys the illusion that you can earn God’s favor. Jesus lays waste to the notion that you can ever be good enough to make yourself right with God. That somehow there’s something good in you to overcome the bad. As Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us:

“The heart is deceitful above all things,

and desperately sick;

who can understand it?”

Paul adds, in Romans 7:24-25:

“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”

Jesus Christ was what? Born to save us from our sin. Without Christ, we

are spiritually bankrupt. The woman with a disabling spirit represents our

bondage to sin and death.

Knowing all that, with such a worldview, the reaction of the ruler of the synagogue wasn’t unreasonable. Following the customs, rules, and rituals was of utmost importance. And the woman was not in a life-or-death situation. It would not have hurt her to be stooped over one more day. Are you with me on that?

But why was Jesus born? To save us from bondage to sin and death. That’s what matters most. This is Jesus’ last appearance in a synagogue as he makes his way to the cross, to die to free us from bondage to sin and death. What’s the most important thing going on here? The woman with the disabling spirit represents how spiritually crippled we are by sin and death. So it is of utmost importance that Jesus heals her, right here, right now. He makes our liberation from sin and death crystal clear.

No other considerations mattered that day while Jesus was teaching in the

synagogue. Nothing else mattered. More than anything else, this was a

celebration of liberation. Both for the woman and, in the bigger picture, for

us.

Here’s an important piece that needs to be stressed. As we read in verse thirteen, “And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.”

What is the only response to divine deliverance? To praise God. Would it

have hurt the ruler of the synagogue and the other hypocrites to join in her celebration of liberation? What kind of person do you have to be to think religious posturing is more important than celebrating the great things God is doing? That’s exactly why we worship. Especially at Christmas.

While not a Christmas song, I love how “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” celebrates our liberation from sin and death:

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,

in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,

most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,

almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.

To all life thou givest, to both great and small;

in all life thou livest, the true life of all;

we blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,

and wither and perish but naught changeth thee.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,

thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;

all praise we would render, O help us to see

'tis only the splendor of light hideth thee.

Jesus delivers us from a toxic way of thinking about salvation. We don’t have to be perfect. We can’t be perfect. We can’t choose to be saved. Jesus does it all. And here’s the best part…Jesus chose to save us. We see that in verse twelve, “When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, ‘Woman, you are freed from your disability.’”

Who does the calling? Who does the choosing? That’s the beautiful part of this passage. Jesus shows the sovereign purpose of God to seek and to save the lost. Because of what Jesus does:

THOSE BOUND BY SATAN BECOME BOUND FOR HEAVEN.

It’s not based on anything we’ve done or can do or will do. It’s all Jesus

freeing us from our spiritual disability. Amen?

Here’s something you might want to write down:

WE ARE SAVED, NOT BY WHAT WE HAVE DONE, BUT BY WHAT JESUS DID.

And so, along with the healed woman, we sing, “Joy to the World!”

One of the ways to understand what’s happening in a particular passage is to pay attention to what’s not said. Did you notice we’re not told what’s wrong with the woman? There’s no clinical diagnosis. Simply a description of things. She’s bent over and could not fully straighten herself. That’s it. We can speculate all we want, but that’s not important. She simply couldn’t straighten up.

So, what’s most important? That Jesus heals. Jesus heals. Here’s the most important thing:

“Regeneration, however it is described, is a divine activity in us, in

which we are not the actors but the recipients.”

Sinclair B. Ferguson

The key is in the word used in verse twelve. “You are freed.” You are freed. It is a declaration of an act from one to another. “You are released fully.” “You are pardoned.” Notice there’s nothing said about her asking. Jesus doesn’t say she has to do something or she has done something to be released. Jesus simply declares it over her life. And it is done.

Here's something else you might want to write down:

FREEDOM ISN’T ABOUT SOMETHING WE’VE DONE. FREEDOM IS ABOUT WHAT JESUS DID.

Here’s the meat of what it all means. The woman does not go looking to be healed. She doesn’t ask for anything. She might not have any clue that Jesus is there. What Jesus does is totally sovereign. It is independent of her will…her wish…or her desire. It has nothing to do with her faith or the faith of anyone else present in the moment. Jesus simply heals her. It is his choice. Has nothing to do with her. Jesus has the power to do what he wants to do, for whomever he chooses, whenever he chooses. And that’s good news of great joy for us. Your name has been written down in the

Lamb’s Book of Life because Jesus wants it there. You have been released

from bondage to sin and death. That’s what Christmas is all about.

We’ll end on the positive note of verse seventeen:

“As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.”

That is such a beautiful thing. The truth of who Jesus is and what Jesus does shames the wicked…he shames the hypocrites…he shames those who are far away from God.

But look at everybody else. That’s us, here in worship, four days before Christmas. We are rejoicing at the great things Jesus has done. Jesus has chosen to save us. Crooked and stooped low by our sin. Having done nothing to earn or deserve it. Jesus Christ sovereignly straightens up the ones who are bent over. And so we praise him. Here we are, joyfully standing with the shepherds as the angels say, “Glory to God in the

highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.”

We close with this gem from Charles Spurgeon:

“DO NOT GO TO THE SYNAGOGUE OF LONG-FACED HYPOCRITES TO HEAR THE MINISTER WHO PREACHES WITH A NASAL TWANG, WITH MISERY IN HIS FACE, WHILST HE TELLS YOU THAT GOD HAS GOODWILL TOWARDS MEN. I KNOW YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT HE SAYS, FOR HE DOES NOT PREACH WITH JOY IN HIS COUNTENANCE, HE IS TELLING GOOD NEWS WITH A GRUNT, AND YOU ARE NOT LIKELY TO RECEIVE IT. BUT GO STRAIGHT WAY TO THE PLAIN WHERE BETHLEHEM SHEPHERDS SAT BY NIGHT, AND WHEN YOU HEAR THE ANGELS SINGING OUT THE GOSPEL, BY THE GRACE OF GOD UPON YOU, YOU CANNOT HELP BELIEVING THAT THEY MANIFESTLY FEEL THE PRECIOUSNESS OF TELLING.”

And together, the beloved of God said, “AMEN.”