In 13:10-17 we have the case of the Man-Savior healing and releasing a bent-double and Satan-bound woman on the Sabbath. Verses 10 and 11 say, “And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years; and she was bent double and utterly unable to stand erect.” This “spirit” was a demon, one of the spirits of the living creatures who lived in the preadamic age and were judged by God when they joined Satan’s rebellion. The fallen angels work with Satan in the air (Eph. 2:2; 6:11-12), and these demons, unclean spirits, move with him on the earth. Both act evilly upon man for the kingdom of Satan.
Because of a spirit of infirmity, this woman was “bent double.” Literally, the Greek words rendered “bent double” mean “bending together.” This may signify the demon’s oppression over a person to an extreme extent, so that the person is bent toward the satanic world only and is unable to stand erect to look into the heavens.
The Lord Jesus saw the woman who was bent double, utterly unable to stand erect, but forced to look down to the earth as a result of the operation exercised upon her by Satan through his demons. The Lord said to her, “Woman, you have been released from your infirmity; and He laid His hands on her, and instantly she was made erect, and glorified God” (vv. 12-13). Here we see that the woman did not ask the Lord to heal her; rather, He initiated the healing and release of the bent-double and Satan-bound woman.
Verse 14 says, “But the synagogue ruler, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, answered and said to the crowd, There are six days in which man should work; therefore come on them and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Here we see that Satan uses not only the evil spirit to possess the woman, but also the religious ruler to oppose the woman’s release by the Lord. Religion is much used by the usurper to keep God’s chosen people under his oppression. The synagogue ruler, who was very religious, cared for religious regulations and not for the suffering of this woman, who was a descendant of Abraham.
In verses 15 and 16 the Lord answered the ruler of the synagogue, “Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away, and give it a drink? And this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—consider it—eighteen years, should she not be released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” The fact that this woman was a daughter of Abraham indicates that she was one of God’s chosen people. However, she was bound by Satan. This indicates that the demon’s possession of people is Satan’s binding of them. Hence, the casting out of the demon is the defeat of Satan (Matt. 12:29). It was fitting for this woman to be released from that bond on the Sabbath day, for the Sabbath was ordained by God for man to rest (Gen. 2:3), not for man to remain under bondage.
Why is this case put here by Luke? In answering this question, we need to remember that this took place as the Man-Savior was approaching Jerusalem, where the atmosphere was extremely religious. I believe that the Lord Jesus entered into the synagogue and initiated the healing of this woman in order to show His disciples that He had no intention of keeping the dead forms of religion and the deformed Sabbatical regulations. He purposely broke those regulations so that His disciples would know that He had come not to keep the regulations that hold people in their suffering, but to break the deformed regulations so that the suffering ones may be released by His jubilee blessing.
When the Lord Jesus healed the woman who had been bound by Satan and bent double, He brought the jubilee to her. In chapter four He had declared the jubilee, in which the captives would be released and the oppressed would be set free. This case, therefore, is a fulfillment of the proclamation of the jubilee in chapter four. The Lord’s intention was to let the disciples know that He was going to Jerusalem, not to observe religious regulations but to break them purposely so that the people might be brought into the jubilee.