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Author: Mr. Kenneth Frank | Faculty in Theology, Living Education

Estimated Reading time: 7 min., 48 sec.

Did you know that Jesus illustrated acceptable Sabbath behavior by healing a crippled woman on the Sabbath?

When referring to her, He used a term that appears only once in our entire Bible: “daughter of Abraham.” This was a striking term for its focus on women. “Son of Abraham” appears twice in our New Testament. The Gospel According to Luke alone described this incident. Luke paid special attention to stories involving women as they related to Jesus’ ministry, even more so than the other Gospels. This Digging Deeper will examine this account of the daughter of Abraham, providing a vital lesson concerning acceptable Sabbath behavior.

Our focus verse is: “And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?” (Luke 13:16 KJV). So special was this story to Luke that he focused attention on how women were often treated, or mistreated, in first-century Judaism. This anecdote is often referred to as “The Healing of the Crippled Woman” or “A Woman with a Disabling Spirit.” Its context is Luke 13:10-17.

Jesus performs a miracle

This is the only recorded case of Christ’s preaching in a synagogue during the latter part of his ministry. It was customary to invite visiting rabbis, like Jesus, to deliver the sermon after the reading of the Law and the Prophets from the biblical scrolls. Please refer to my recent Digging Deeper article, “What Was Moses’ Seat?” While Jesus was preaching, He noticed a woman bowed over who could not lift up herself. The word in v. 11 for “bowed” in Greek is a medical term (Luke was a physician – Colossians 4:14) indicating curvature of the spine as if she were doubled over from carrying a heavy burden. Upon seeing her, Jesus immediately set her free from her infirmity by laying hands on her to straighten her (vv. 12-13). He would not heal her from a distance, as He did in other cases. The touch of the Master’s hand gave her the encouragement needed to stand up straight. Once she did, she broke out into praise to God (v. 13).

Surprisingly, the ruler of the synagogue, who also should have rejoiced, criticized Jesus’ action because He had healed her on the Sabbath (v. 14). According to rabbinical tradition, emergency cases might be given a minimum of attention on the Sabbath, but not chronic cases such as hers. Perhaps this daughter of Abraham had been attending this particular synagogue for the entire 18 years of her infirmity. As a result, her case would not be classified as urgent. Either no one was able to help her, or perhaps, even tried. Nonetheless, she continued faithfully attending Sabbath services. This crippled woman had hobbled to synagogue every Sabbath for these 18 years! If she had not attended that day, she may never have been healed. Her example is an encouragement to all women that, despite pain and suffering, they go where there will be reassurance, fellowship, and even blessing among other worshipers on God’s day.

An unwelcome response

Notice that in v. 14, this ruler angrily turned to the audience to complain that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath. Perhaps this was his pious attempt to discredit Jesus so he could retain control over this congregation. He considered healing a type of work forbidden on the Sabbath (v. 14). Jesus retorted that the Law permitted properly feeding and watering one’s animals on the Sabbath (v. 15). Then Jesus asked a pointed question in v. 16: should not this poor woman be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath if farmers and ranchers commonly served their livestock on the Sabbath? A.T. Robertson in his Word Pictures in the New Testament explains Jesus’ reason for healing her as a “Triple argument, human being and not an ox or ass, woman, daughter of Abraham (Jewess), besides being old and ill” (e-Sword 12.2).

Verse 17 displays contrasting responses to her healing: the audience rejoiced while Jesus’ adversaries were ashamed. This was a culture of honor and shame. The synagogue ruler had tried to shame Jesus in public but Jesus turned the tables on him by working a breathtaking miracle in front of them all. These critics of her healing were shamed before their congregation, displaying their unreasonable standards of Sabbath observance.

A woman of the covenant

At the beginning of v. 16, Jesus referred to her as a “daughter of Abraham.” This was deliberate because the term “son of Abraham” was used commonly to stress the worth of men as members of the covenant community. However, the title “daughter of Abraham” was virtually unknown because women were not seen as citizens of the nation but rather as members of their family. Jesus used this exalted title to stress that she was a woman in the covenant community – God’s highly favored elect people – since she was a descendent of the great patriarch, Abraham. Attending synagogue, despite her 18 years of suffering, indicates she was not just a Jewess but a believer in the God of Abraham who had made a covenant with her people. She was entitled to the Messiah’s blessing.

Many Jews regarded women as less important than men. Notice Jesus’ contrasting treatment of women, as explained by The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary, edited by Joseph S. Exell: “There is great beauty in the behaviour of Christ to women, whether it be the woman of Samaria, whose deep wound He probes so faithfully, yet with so light a touch; or the child of Jairus, to whom He speaks in her own dialect, holding her hand; or the widow of Nain, whom He bids not to weep; or she whose many sins were forgiven her, loving much; or Mary, for whose lavish gift He found so pathetic [touching] an apology—’She hath done it unto My burial’” (e-Sword 12.2).   

A lesson in loosing burdens

The word “loosed” in v. 16 is used for disease only here in our New Testament, evidently because it referred to being bound by the Devil. Jesus argued from the lesser to the greater. How much more important was a human condition of suffering compared to an animal’s. Both should be considered acts of mercy permitted on God’s holy day. Jesus was “Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28) and therefore knew how the day should be observed.  Jesus’ critics did not accept Him as the God of the Hebrew Scriptures who created the Sabbath.

A common belief in Jewish culture was that calamity or suffering was the result of some great sin. No sin is connected to her suffering. Instead, Jesus said that Satan had bound this woman. No reason is given why Satan had done so. She was not possessed by the Devil; however, God permitted it as He had permitted Satan’s afflicting the patriarch Job. David Guzik in his Enduring Word Commentary explains this case had a spiritual dynamic: “We are foolish to think that spiritual issues cause all physical problems, but we [are] just as foolish to think spiritual issues can never cause physical problems” (e-Sword 12.2). For Jesus, handicaps were opportunities for God to display his power. Jesus displayed complete mastery during His ministry over demons, sickness, and disease.

What better day could there have been for this miracle than God’s Sabbath? Sabbath observance is not intended as a ritualistic burden, but as a blessing, as Jesus explained: “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27). Some Sabbath-keepers become so legalistic in their observance of the day that they forget the original intent was to provide rest, rejoicing, refreshment, and renewal for humans and animals during this holy time. It should be enjoyed for its created purpose, not as an excuse for gaining more profit or participating in trivial worldly pleasures.

Bob Utley’s You Can Understand the Bible teaches us a valuable lesson from this singular story: “Jesus exposed this man and all who think like him (plural, hypocrites). The rabbis had great compassion in their oral traditions for the human treatment of animals on the Sabbath (cf. Luke 14:5), but were restrictive in their treatment of humans. Jesus illustrates the fallacy of the rabbinical system’s legalism without compassion for people. We must be careful of our rules. They often become more important than people. People are priority with God. Only people are eternal. God made creation for fellowship with people! Our rules often say more about us than about God” (e-Sword 12.2)!

Kenneth Frank was born and raised in New Jersey, USA, and attended Ambassador College, graduating in 1973. He served in the Canadian ministry from 1973-1999, after which he returned to the USA to pastor churches in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina for 15 years. Having earned a BA degree from Ambassador College he later earned a MA degree from Grand Canyon University before being assigned to the Charlotte office to teach at Living University, now Living Education. Currently, he teaches the Survey of the Bible course to the on-campus students and writes the Digging Deeper column for our online Bible study program. He is married, has four children, and seven grandchildren.

Author: Mr. Kenneth Frank | Faculty in Theology, Living Education

Estimated Reading time: 7 min.

Did you know that Moses was honored with a seat in New Testament Jewish synagogues?

Centuries after Moses died, the seat of Moses was an honored chair in these meeting houses. In the first century, there is evidence from some synagogues of a special decorative seat called the “Seat of Moses” on a raised platform. His seat was filled by men who claimed the exalted position of teaching by Moses’ authority. Jesus referred to this religious office with some sharp statements about the religious leaders who occupied it. Today’s Digging Deeper explores the history behind this exalted position with Jesus’ important caveat.

Our central passage for this study is: “Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not” (Matthew 23:1-3 KJV). In this same chapter, Jesus pronounced seven woes upon these men for their abuse of power (Matthew 23:13-36).

The authority of Moses

Moses was the great legislator of the Israelite nation. God inspired him to preach and to inscribe five books (the Torah or Pentateuch) in God’s name. His influence transcended the centuries, for he is named 80 times in our New Testament, having a massive presence among the devout of the land. Moses occupied the office of expounder and chief justice for the application of the law to specific cases of conduct. Exodus 18 describes how his father-in-law convinced him to delegate authority to other judges under his command, thereby sharing his authority but leaving him as the chief justice with God’s final authority. Upon his death, Moses’ authority passed on to his successors who sat in his seat.

The Expository Notes of Dr. Constable explains what sitting in Moses’ seat represented: “According to Old Testament figurative usage a person who sat on a predecessor’s seat was that person’s successor (Exodus 11:5; 12:29; 1 Kings 1:35; 1:46; 2:12; 16:11; 2 Kings 15:12; Psalm 132:12)” (e-Sword 12.2). Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible explains why God permitted them to do so: “They sat there formerly by Divine appointment: they sit there now by Divine permission” (Ibid.). They were not authorized to mandate new law but rather to interpret already provided law for their followers.

The College Press Bible Study Textbook Series describes how his position was transferred upon his death: “Moses’ seat is his cathedra, his ‘Bible Chair’ from which his doctrine is read and expounded. In Malachi’s day it was the priests who had the magisterial responsibility (Malachi 2:7 ff.), a duty as old as the priesthood itself (Leviticus 10:17; Deuteronomy 17:9-13). But with ‘Ezra the priest and scribe’ (Nehemiah 12:26) the function began shifting onto professional scribes (Nehemiah 8:4, 7-9; 8:13, 18; cf. Ezra 7:1-6; 10)” (e-Sword 12.2).

The Transfer of Influence

In the first century, the Levites were to have been Israel’s teachers, but most of them were Sadducees and no longer carried the same authority. Moses’ authority had devolved to the scribes and Pharisees. Study of the Scriptures was of little interest to the indifferent Sadducees. The Pulpit Commentary, edited by H.D.M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, explains: “The Sadducees seem to have had no popular influence, and were never recognized as leaders. The Levitical priests never appear in the Gospels as teachers or expositors of the Mosaic system; this function of theirs had devolved upon scribes and lawyers” (e-Sword 12.2).

By Jesus’ day, scribes (doctors of the law or legal experts) were mostly from the Pharisaic party instead of the Sadducean, but not all Pharisees were scribes. Dr. Bob Utley’s You Can Understand the Bible describes the scribes as “…experts in the Written Law (OT) and the Oral Law (Talmud) of Israel and were available to make local practical applications. In effect they replaced the traditional OT functions of the local Levites” (e-Sword 12.2). A Commentary on the Holy Bible, edited by J.R. Dummelow explains their claim to authority: “The scribes (who were ordained with the laying-on of hands) claimed to have received their authority through an unbroken succession from Moses. The ‘sitting’ refers to the judicial power, and the authority to teach, which all scribes or rabbis possessed, and which was centred in the Great Sanhedrin [Jewish supreme court]” (Ibid.).

Sitting to Teach

Moses’ writings were read incrementally in the synagogues every Sabbath day (Acts 15:21). When the Law of Moses (Genesis-Deuteronomy) and the Prophets were read from the scrolls stored in “the Ark” (cabinet) in synagogues, the reader stood; however, when he expounded the reading afterward he sat. Sitting was the posture of a teacher. Jesus employed this position to teach as well: “And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him” (Matthew 5:1 KJV). The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes that “In the Talmud ‘to sit’ is nearly synonymous with ‘to teach'” (e-Sword 12.2).

When Jesus said the scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, He merely acknowledged the fact. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges explains His remark about these leaders: “Where they went wrong Jesus will point out. But here He must mention them, because, despite their faults, they uphold Moses, as opposed to the paganizing leadership of the Sadducean priesthood” (e-Sword 12.2).

However, Jesus did criticize their hypocrisy (Matthew 23:3-7). The College Press Bible Study Textbook Series clarifies that Jesus’ criticism of these religious leaders was not for their holding such an authoritative position but “…because their party zeal strenuously applied the theologians’ legalistic conclusions to everyday life with a rigor that required everyone to fall in lock-step behind them. In this sense, the Pharisees, too, were Israel’s teachers, even if unofficially” (e-Sword 12.2).

To do what they say

In Matthew 23:3 Jesus does not dispute the importance of Moses’ law, but His implication is clear. He goes on to explain that these teachers did not obey their teachings (Matthew 23:4). As The College Press Bible Study Textbook Series continues ” … whatever comes from Moses is from God and is to be received with full confidence and submission. Merely because Jesus must undercut the unjustified pretensions of the Jewish magisterium does not mean that Moses must go too. So, before beginning His condemnation of the unfaithfulness and sinful conduct of the religious leaders, He calls for sincere reverence for God’s Law” (e-Sword 12.2).

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible provides us two important lessons from this passage:

“1. Many a good place is filled with bad men; it is no new thing for the vilest men to be exalted even to Moses’s seat (Psalm 12:8); and, when it is so, the men are not so much honoured by the seat as the seat is dishonoured by the men. Now they that sat in Moses’s seat were so wretchedly degenerated, that it was time for the great Prophet to arise, like unto Moses, to erect another seat.

2. Good and useful offices and powers are not therefore to be condemned and abolished, because they fall sometimes into the hands of bad men, who abuse them. We must not therefore pull down Moses’s seat, because scribes and Pharisees have got possession of it; rather than so, let both grow together until the harvest, Matthew 13:30″ (e-Sword 12.2).

Respect for high office, especially religious office, is a fundamental teaching of church government. Jesus set the record straight at a time when there was much abuse of this position by the religious teachers. This was not meant to condone their unbiblical behavior but rather to instruct their followers to abide by their correct teachings of God’s word, despite their hypocrisy. God’s mighty word will still change lives, even if delivered by defective servants.

Kenneth Frank was born and raised in New Jersey, USA, and attended Ambassador College, graduating in 1973. He served in the Canadian ministry from 1973-1999, after which he returned to the USA to pastor churches in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina for 15 years. Having earned a BA degree from Ambassador College he later earned a MA degree from Grand Canyon University before being assigned to the Charlotte office to teach at Living University, now Living Education. Currently, he teaches the Survey of the Bible course to the on-campus students and writes the Digging Deeper column for our online Bible study program. He is married, has four children, and seven grandchildren.