The Narrow Door
and a woman there had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was hunched over and could not stand up straight. Luke 13:11 · Berean Standard Bible
A woman was there who had been crippled by an evil spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and couldn't stand up straight at all. Eighteen years of looking at the ground.
Imagine not being able to look anyone in the eye for almost two decades. Not seeing the sky. Eighteen years of pain and limitation. She came to the synagogue anyway.
Luke introduces a woman whose suffering is both heartbreaking and deeply moving.
For eighteen years, this woman has been trapped in her own body. She can't stand straight, can't look up. But she's still showing up at the synagogue. And today, everything is about to change.
A woman present had a pneuma astheneias (spirit of infirmity/weakness) for eighteen years. She was synkyptousa (bent together/hunched over) and unable to anakupsai eis to panteles (straighten up completely). Her condition is attributed to spiritual bondage.
The eighteen-year duration emphasizes chronic, long-term suffering. The attribution to a 'spirit of infirmity' indicates a spiritual dimension to her physical condition, which Jesus later confirms by identifying Satan as the source (v.16).
Luke introduces the woman with clinical detail, describing her condition and its duration.
A woman who has been bent double for eighteen years is present when Jesus teaches. Her condition is both physical and spiritual -- she represents all who are bound by forces beyond their control.
9If it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, you can cut it down.’”
10One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,
11and a woman there had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was hunched over and could not stand up straight.
12When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your disability.”
13Then He placed His hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and began to glorify God.
Read all of Luke 13 — A bent-over woman is healed on the Sabbath, a mustard seed grows into a tree, and Jesus weeps over Jerusalem's refusal to come home.
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