"Set Free from Sin's Stanchion"
Lk.13:10-17 Nov.23/03
Eleanor Ward Drama - Jesus Heals the Bent Woman
Sin's Binding Sites
If you've ever gone camping and found yourself driving through a campground looking for a good place to set up camp, you'll be able to relate to how evil starts to get a hold in a person's life. As for our family, we could never understand how people wanting to "get away from it all" would ever choose a fully-serviced campsite with water and electrical hook-ups: the motor homes and trailers and tents seemed too closely jammed together. But full hook-ups are the campsite of choice for many people. Others figure they can get by with just a water pipe and washroom nearby. Or if you're exceptionally adventurous, you may choose to rough it in an overflow or group camping area, where there were almost no facilities compared to the sites with full hook-ups. It all depends whether you prefer all (well, some) of the conveniences of modern life in the midst of colourful plastic chinese lanterns, or a big starry sky, dark tents, and the crunch of pine needles underfoot to the sound of a neighbouring campsite's radio and constant noise and passersby.
Spiritually speaking, our lives are like park campgrounds which spiritual forces are free to cruise through looking for campsites. Temptations come from 3 main sources: Satan and his demonic hordes, our own inner desires, or other sources in the world at large. We needn't try to imagine a shape or face for these tempters, or get carried away projecting as demonic what may be our own fallen craving; whatever the source, we perceive these sinful invitations in our soul as an impulse, an appealing attraction or gut-felt reflex. The spiritual world is awash in these influences, we wake up surrounded by these invisible tempting forces each day. They constantly cruise the campground of our soul looking for a site to park and camp, preferably one with full hook-ups. "Look over there," one spirit elbows another, "J6 has an opening for bitterness after that in-law spoke a critical word." "Oh, there's another opening," says another imp: "Site M4 is wide open for resentment, they've been brooding on getting cut off in traffic for at least half an hour." Meanwhile our hapless victim's choice of video for the night has set mouths watering of the demons connected with theft, adultery, murder, and lying. Over the next couple of days they will play and re-play, edit and re-create images from the video for their subject's entrapment.
Our thoughts, actions, and attitudes thus create campsites with hook-ups for evil influences to park and set up operations in our souls. Ephesians 4:27 says, "...do not give the devil a foothold" - that last word refers to a stronghold, place, or base of operation - a fully serviced site where some evil force can hook up to the core of your being. Unlike the campsite hook-up in which the camper draws electricity and pure water for their own use, however, demonic hook-ups work backwards: these sites or ports give spirits channels by which to pump evil sewage back into our system. The acid of bitterness. The filth of lust. The adrenaline of anger. The rottenness of revenge. Their objective is not to "leave the campsite cleaner than you found it" but to take down the whole system, to "steal, kill, and destroy" as Jesus said was the thief's objective (Jn.10:10). To paralyze us with sinful habits that lead eventually to depression and destructive thoughts. To weigh us down with burdens of guilt and shame. To bind us so fully that we're ineffective as agents for the Kingdom of mercy and righteousness.
Whatever we're giving our attention to at any particular moment becomes the hook-up or port the Enemy scans to see if there's an opening for camping at and controlling. This week CBC news reported a study of children's TV and computer habits which is alarming. The study was done for the Canadian Teachers' Federation. It found that 48% of the children surveyed (between Grades 3 & 10) have their own television set; 26% have their own computer and internet connection. By Grade 6 or about age 11, half say they've watched what they know are inappropriate movies on video. By age 12, 75% say they have R-rated movies at home, and 25% have personally rented R-rated movies. One of the most popular video games was Grand Theft Auto, which the study describes as "an ultra-violent action game aimed at mature audiences, which involves murder, bludgeoning and prostitution". What hook-ups to evil spiritual influences are we permitting, nay, encouraging in our youth?! The report adds, "Kids say there should be more restrictions on mature subject games and programs." They admit themselves more limits are needed!
Abductions of 9-year-olds or of former girl-friends by mistakenly released criminals make the news headlines. Yet many people unsuspectingly allow their children's minds, and their own, to be abducted by dark forces that celebrate destruction and wasting of life. Spirits that bind and paralyze when we permit them a hook-up.
Jesus Unties Abraham's Bound Daughter
Who knows what caused the crooked condition of the woman Jesus spotted at the back of the synagogue that day? She was so bent out of shape, so paralyzed after her illness of nearly two decades that she couldn't straighten up at all. From sunup to sundown she was hunkered over, 100% of the time. From Luke's notes we discover it was more than just a medical condition: v11 says she had been "crippled by a spirit"; in v16 Jesus says that "Satan has kept [her] bound", so there seems to have been some spiritual explanation for her being locked-up half-upright. Maybe some deep psychological shame or hidden guilt was a factor. Maybe she'd been "clubbed" - not physically, but emotionally through negative criticism by a parent, or negative self-talk through the tempter. Immediately after the healing, the synagogue ruler tries to use religion as a club to knock her over again. He's upset at Jesus for healing on the Sabbath, but doesn't dare criticize the rabbi directly, so picks on the woman instead, saying to the people (v14), "There are six days for work.So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath." He verbally slugs the older woman for coming forward to be healed (not that she'd asked!). Religion, particularly legalism, can become a club to wound and paralyze people if we're not careful.
Robertson notes, "His words have a ludicrous sound as if all the people had to do to get their crooked backs straightened out was to come round to his synagogue during the week. He forgot that this poor old woman had been coming for 18 years with no result." Jesus leaps to the woman's defence and blocks the blow, lest she be crippled again. Vv15-16: "You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"
On the dairy farm where I grew up, we had free housing - no stalls or stanchions where cattle were tied up all the time; instead our Holsteins could lie on the bedding wherever they wanted or roam in the yard as they pleased. I always felt a little sorry for cows on farms where they were tied up in stanchions all the time. Mind you, it would have saved some time chasing the stubborn cows around the pen to go into the parlour!
The Enemy doesn't want us to experience the freedom of being God's children; he'd prefer to keep us locked up in a cubicle he can control through his demonic hook-ups. But Jesus uses the imagery of animal husbandry to defend the freeing of the woman from her imprisonment. Just as the synagogue ruler would untie his livestock from the stanchion to water them, so ought this woman who had been bound for so long be untied - set free - on the Sabbath day. Jesus has come to set us free from sin's jail, sin's abduction, so that we might discover the fullness of life He offers - life "abundant" (Jn.10:10)
In this case, Jesus was present physically to lay hands on the woman and heal her. But note some elements which are still present and can be important in deliverance from evil today: the Word - v10 says Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues; a response to the Saviour - the woman came forward; laying on of hands, probably in the context of prayer; and the pronouncement that this lady was "a daughter of Abraham" - declaring who she was in God's sight and by His grace, regardless of what other people thought. She had covenant privileges because of her being one of God's people, she was a child of God.
Breaking Free from Spiritual Bondage
John Regier is a Lutheran pastor and Christian counsellor in Colorado Springs who has adapted Biblical principles into a process to help people come to freedom from sin's bondage in a way not unlike the bent woman's being set free by Jesus. The process he uses is based on God's Word, prayer, and God's purpose for each one who has become His child through faith in Jesus. Regier says the five-column chart titled Identifying and Resolving Strongholds "more than any other we have developed, has been successful in facilitating individuals in achieving spiritual victory and the freedom it brings." He sees people get un-bent and straightened-out spiritually using these steps all the time, with the help of the Holy Spirit. Step 1 is listing the problem or temptation you are facing; most believers have from one to four basic areas of weakness. Step 2 is to write down Satan's goal in presenting these temptations or "hook-up sites" in your life, whether it be adultery, alcohol/drugs, anger, or others of the 23 at the top of the page. In Step 3, we define God's goal in allowing the temptation. If Satan's bending you towards bitterness, God's goal would be for you to respond with kindness, a tender heart, and forgiving spirit (Eph.4:31f). If the enemy's goal is to make you think immoral thoughts, then God's goal is to have pure, wholesome thoughts (Php.4:8f). Step 4, a written prayer, has 3 parts: first, affirm your relationship with God; second, renounce Satan's goal in presenting the temptation you face; and third, commit yourself consistently to choosing God's goal.
Here's an example of a prayer to overcome bitterness: "I am a child of God, and I desire to respond in a proper way toward those who have hurt me. I renounce Stan's desire to cause me to develop a bitter attitude toward X for what he did to hurt me. I choose to show kindness toward X and pray that You would give me a tender heart and a forgiving spirit." Or to overcome lust, one might pray: "I am a child of God, and I desire that each thought, desire and action please Christ. I renounce Satan's desire to cause me to focus my thoughts and desires on pornography with the results that my wife becomes insecure and I become addicted to a sinful activity that will cause me to be insensitive and to experience God's judgment. I choose to make a commitment to pure thought by yielding the control of my thoughts and desires to the Holy Spirit. I desire that each thought coming into my mind would honour Christ who dwells within me."
The fifth step, which Jesus used to prevail when He was tempted in the wilderness, is to quote Scripture. It doesn't have to be word-perfect, but enough to give the general sense. Some verses relevant to particular strongholds are: for bitterness, Eph.4:31-32; lust, Job 31:1; rebellion, Heb.13:17. It's helpful to write the prayer and verse on a 3x5 card so you can keep it handy for when the spirits go cruising through your campground. It's your "no parking" sign - no sites available!
Conquering Confusion
The woman Jesus healed had a back that was locked up for some unknown reason. It's possible to get "bent out of shape" spiritually in lots of ways. Regier tells of one woman who was not physically bent over, but had been damaged and become confused through a variety of life experiences. But the Lord Jesus helped her to "straighten out" and praise God just like the woman in Luke 13. Regier recalls...
"One day, a woman came to my door and asked if I would be willing to see her. She was struggling with mental confusion and was fearful that she would need to be hospitalized. The counselor she usually saw was out of town and she felt she needed immediate help. She shared her life story: as a child, she was abused sexually by her father, and her mother introduced her to occult activities. Her rebellion against her parents led to sexual involvement and at age 16 she became pregnant. Her mother, out of embarrassment, forced her to have an abortion that she did not want. Later, she married a man who was addicted to pornography. That marriage failed and she married (and subsequently divorced) another man who was also addicted to pornography. God was able to use the insecurities and pain caused by all of these circumstances to develop within her a desire to have a relationship with Him, and she became a believer. She met and married a Christian man, but the problems from her past continued to plague her. She had been meeting with a Christian counselor for 4 years in hopes of gaining victory over her past.
"In that first session, after she shared the events of her past, I explained to her that Satan had used experiences from her past to gain strongholds in her life and these were the cause of her disquieting mental condition. I assured her that with God's power she could erase those strongholds and the effects they were having on her.
"In the second session, we identified four strongholds: bitterness toward her father, mother and former husbands; rebellion toward authority; immorality in the form of pre-marital relationships; and involvement in occult activities as a child. Each of these were contributing to her inability to have peace. We went through the process outlined in the chart...which results in breaking the strongholds by a deliberate choice to utilize God's power to take back the ground yielded to Satan...After completing the process in each of the four areas, she took the charts with her so that each time she was tempted, she could respond by re-praying that prayer and quoting the Scripture verse. She returned one week later and joyfully shared how she had experienced a sense of freedom and a peace in Christ as never before. Her condemning, negative thought patterns were no longer present and she felt she would be able to cope without further interventions from her counselor."
Jesus still heals people who are bent out of shape. He frees us from the strongholds, the hook-ups evil tries to use to gain control and lead us to self-destruct. As Jesus said in John 8(31-36): "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free...everyone who sins is a slave to sin...if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." Praise God, we can be untied from sin's stalls and led out to water for our thirsty souls, into a living walk with our Saviour! Let's pray.