How to Be Made Whole - Part 9: The Seed of Abraham

REVIEW

God wants you whole! No, He doesn’t just want you partially healed, only being concerned with the spiritual things. He wants your whole man completely whole – which includes your spirit, soul, and body. 

And in our current series entitled “How To Be Made Whole,” we have been learning how the Scriptures teach you and I to receive God’s will to make us whole. Yes, the Lord is so good to give us example after example in the Bible of those who did indeed line themselves up with God’s will and obtained their healing & wholeness. 

So we’ve looked at several examples so far, such as the healing of the man by the Pool of Bethesda, Jesus’ cleansing of the ten lepers, the healing of Blind Bartimaeus, the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, and most recently, the healing of the woman with the issue of blood. I’d encourage you that if you have missed any of these teachings to go back and listen to / watch them, as they contained vital, Scriptural keys to being made whole.  

So let’s again go back over to our golden text for this series – First Thessalonians 5:23. Again, this verse reads – “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Notice how our God of peace is resolved to “sanctify” us completely: What does that mean? What does it mean to be “sanctified”? Well, this means to set apart or make holy. Therefore, God wants us to be completely set apart and made holy. 

You see, when Solomon dedicated the Temple in Second Chronicles chapter 7, the Lord appeared to him, telling him that He had chosen and “sanctified” the temple, that His name would be there forever and that His eyes & heart would be there perpetually (Second Chronicles 7:16). 

And the good news is, the New Testament reveals to us that we are the temples of God today. Yes, our bodies are the Temples of the Holy Spirit (See First Corinthians 6:19). So what does that mean? It means that you have been chosen and sanctified like the original Temple was! Yes, God’s name is on us forever, and that His eyes & heart are unto us perpetually! Glory! 

You see, just as the Temple of God had the outer courts, the inner courts, and the Holy of holies, you likewise are made up of the same --- You have an “outer courts,” which is your outward man. This is your body – the part of you that houses the House of God. So God wants your outward man sanctified, set apart, and holy unto God! You also have an “inner court,” which is your soul, the part of you that makes you “you.” It’s where your mind is. It’s where your emotions are. It’s where your personality is. And God wants that part of you sanctified, set apart, and holy unto God as well! Finally, you also have a Holy of holies contained within those inner courts. This is the place where God dwells. This is where His presence is contained. It’s where His holiness, righteousness, etc. are at. Of course, I’m talking about our born again, recreated spirit. So this part of us is likewise sanctified, set apart, and the holiest of all!       

So it ought to be readily embraced that the Lord wants our outer courts, our inner courts, and our holy of holies completely sanctified – that is, our spirit, soul, and body set apart and holy unto the Lord! This is what the apostle Paul was speaking of in First Thessalonians 5:23! Amen!    

So now, let’s move into another example in the Gospels of someone who was made whole by the Master, and see what we can take away from this story …

THE WOMAN WITH THE SPIRIT OF INFIRMITY

This next example I want us to look at is with the woman who had a spirit of infirmity. This story is told in Luke 13:10-17, and our story begins with the following phrase – “Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.”

Somebody say, “Uh oh!” How many of you know that Jesus sure got in a lot of trouble both ministering in the synagogues and doing things on the Sabbath! But while religion tries to bind us up and keep us in bondage, Jesus likes to barge into these synagogues on the Sabbath and show what is true, righteous, and God’s will. Amen! 

And notice what Jesus was doing here? He was “teaching!” 

You know, according to the Gospels, Jesus did a lot more teaching than He did preaching and healing. Therefore, the teaching of God’s Word is evidently super important – for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). 

So one thing that is important to take away from this is how Jesus constantly went to the synagogues to teach (i.e. “one of the Synagogues”)—even when He had all of these negative experiences, even when they were only trying to find fault in Him, even when He was highly unlikely to get through to any of them. Yes, He kept going in to them – showing us how the Lord does not react to rejection, unbelief, and religion like we would. He still reaches out. He still gives opportunities to hear Him. He keeps coming. (Say, “He keeps coming!”) The Lord is far more gracious and merciful than we can imagine! (Story of Trinity in Madurai)
   
Then in verse 11, we are told – “And behold …” Today, some of us who are young and hip might say, “And check this out!”

Then we see how there was a woman in this synagogue who had “a spirit of infirmity.” This is not an uncommon thing in the ministry of Jesus, for Him to identify a seemingly physical problem as a spirit. For example, He referred to a “dumb and deaf spirit” (Mark 9:25) and a “blind spirit” (Matt. 12:22). So, one thing worthy of noting here is that we see, in some of the physical healings that Jesus performed, the person’s physical affliction was a result of the person being “demonized.” We also see this in the healing of the mute man in Matthew chapter 9. In fact, we see in the ministry of Jesus that He dealt with demonic issues a lot—and, like in this instance, sometimes those demonic issues were the source of the physical infirmities. I bring this to our attention because if this is what we see a lot of in the four Gospels, then we can conclude that a lot of what we see afflicting people today is also likely demonic in nature. 

I believe that this is one of the reasons that we do not see the results in praying for the physically sick and mentally ill like we should: it is because we judge everything according to our own understanding and experiences. In other words, we put everything in our own little box—thinking that every time someone is diagnosed with some kind of illness that they need to be physically healed or thinking that every time someone has emotional issues that they need to be emotionally healed. This is not always the case when you look in the Word of God. The fact is, sometimes these things are demonic in nature, so we need to be spiritually in tune enough to be able to sense what the root of the infirmity is. This is an important part in order to get the results we desire. 

But here, Jesus knew that this woman had a spirit of infirmity, not just a physical problem, and He loosed her from that spirit. Amen.  

So we need to understand that this can certainly be a factor with us as well, when it comes to being made whole: Sometimes we are trying to medicate a spiritual problem. Sometimes we are trying to manage a mental or emotional condition when it goes deeper than simply the physical. 

Church, this is when we need the Holy Spirit’s help of discerning the spirits that afflict us and others so we can target that spiritual issue rather than just putting a band aid on an amputated arm (so to speak).  

On the flipside of this, we don’t need to go into the other ditch of looking for the devil and demons in every negative situation either. Sometimes people do this in themselves, thinking that every impure thought and feeling is “the devil.” Friends, you cannot crucify demons and you cannot cast out the flesh; you must crucify the flesh and cast out demons. Likewise, I believe sometimes we are trying to heal the demonic problem when we should be casting it out. 

Then we are told in verse 11 that this woman had this spirit of infirmity for “eighteen years.” 

How many of you know that this is far too long for one in covenant with God to be bound by Satan? But the fact is, she was bound by the devil for these eighteen years and should not have been—for they had a covenant with God where He promised to be their “rapha!” Therefore, it is possible for one to be bound by some infirmity – whether spiritually influenced or simply physical – for a long period of time and that does not make it nor prove it to be God’s will. Nor does it prove that it is just who we are either …

You see, there are a lot of people who, because they have been a certain way or had a certain condition for so long, accept it as just being who they are or just the way it is. But based on this example from the Scriptures, we can clearly see that just because it’s been there for so long doesn’t make it right.    

Some people even like to say that if someone stays sick that God must have some redemptive purpose in it. Not necessarily. That wasn’t so with this woman, was it? So no, just because something has been a certain way for multiple decades doesn’t prove that it ought to be that way.   

And so, what this woman’s infirmity resulted in was the following – “and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.” 

Now in this verse, Dr. Luke gives us details of what this woman’s specific infirmity was. This condition might be what we would call today “scoliosis” or “curvature of the spine.” However, as we’ve already seen, this condition is called a spirit of infirmity, and we see in verse 12 how Jesus told her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” So, the fact that she was bent over and could in no way raise herself up is specifically because of a “weakness” that she had (Lit. an infirmity). So, it stands to reason that this had some kind of evil spirit that kept her weak—a spirit of weakness, if you would.  

Then in verse 12, we read – “But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him …” 

Here is a glorious example of the heart of ministry. This Scripture does not say, “And the Holy Ghost led Him to minister to her.” No, the Scriptures just tell us that when Jesus saw her, He began the process of ministering to her. 

To me, this illustrates how our only trigger to begin ministering to people is simply seeing them. Amen? Now, of course, this does not mean that we don’t include the Holy Spirit, but it simply means that we need to have the foundation set in our heart that the Holy Spirit always wants to minister to people. So, yes, we need to be Spirit-led, but if we are consistently being led not to minister to people who need it then we are not being led by the Spirit.      

Then notice what Jesus said to her in verse 12 – “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 

Now notice that Jesus did not say here – “Woman, get ready, because I am about to loose you from your infirmity!” No, the language here says that He told her that she was, at that moment, loosed from her infirmity. Now, it sure didn’t look like it yet, did it? Nope, because when he said this, she was still bowed over and couldn’t raise herself up. 

So what was Jesus doing here – He was doing the same thing we see Him doing a number of times, Jesus was calling those things that be not as though they were. But I want you to understand that He wasn’t just doing this as some magic formula that by saying something it makes it magically appear. No, Jesus only did what He saw His Father doing and said what He saw His Father saying. So Jesus said this to this woman because this is what His Father showed Him. In other words, because He saw it, He said it. 

And church, this is how one becomes whole. The Jesus on the inside of us has to rise up and say what God says. Yes, we have to call those things that be not as though they were and not continue to call the things that be as though they still are. 

There are countless testimonies out there of people who got the results they desired when they did this. This is how I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is how many people have been healed, delivered, and set free from things that they did everything else they knew to do to receive. 

But because we see Jesus ministering to people this way time and time again, this is obviously one of God’s preferred ways to ministering. So it’s time we get on board with how God says things get done instead of trying to get results some other way. As Psalm 18:30 says, “As for the Lord, His way is perfect!” 

Then, in verse 13, we see the results – “and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.” 

Notice that there is nothing said in this story of this woman glorifying God when she was bent over. No, she glorified God when she was made straight (i.e. things were made “right”)! 

You see, things that are crooked and twisted are not “right.” Sure, a lot of us have had things happen to us that have perverted God’s design for our lives. Yes, there are some things that we need to have Jesus “make straight” in our lives. Jesus will straighten you out! Amen! 

And then in verse 14, we see – “But the ruler of the synagogue … lifted up his hands and praised God for healing someone in his congregation!” Well, at least this is what he should have done. But no, this verse says, “(he) answered with indignation … and he said to the crowd, ‘There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.’”

So, what we see happening here is this Rabbi (i.e. pastor) did not like the fact that sick and infirmed people were coming to his synagogue to get Jesus to heal them and messing up his Sabbath meeting. 

You see, this is something that any ministry leader needs to guard against – the temptation to get in our routine of how things need to go in our service. We need to allow the Holy Spirit room to save, heal, and deliver in the midst of it. In other words, we ought to be okay and sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s plan interrupting our plan.  

Then we see in verse 15 how Jesus responded to this man’s point: He calls him a “Hypocrite!” 

Why did Jesus call this ruler of the synagogue a hypocrite? It was because in saying that there were six days in which man ought to work—particularly referring to the healing of people—he wasn’t healing anybody those six days, was he? So, by saying that people ought to be healing people on those six days, and him not doing it, this made him a hypocrite.  

Then Jesus goes into a great example in this verse of their hypocrisy by saying that all of these religious zealots, in their desire to protect the Sabbath, did not understand how hypocritical they really were—for they would loose their ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water it, but they were indignant about loosing this woman from her bondage. And do you know why? Because their animals were valuable to them, and this woman wasn’t. If this would have been this ruler of the synagogue’s wife or mother, he probably would not have been opposed to her being healed quite so much. 

Notice the terminology that Jesus used in this verse – “loose … from the stall, and lead it away to water it.” 

Here, Jesus is comparing being bound by an infirmity to an animal being bound to a stall and being loosed from an infirmity to an animal being loosed from a stall, being led away from that place of bondage, and giving it a drink. 

You see, when an animal is locked up in its stall, it can’t just go and do whatever it wants to do. It is imprisoned—not free to go where it wants to go and to do what it wants to do. This is what Jesus is likening our physical infirmities to: They keep us bound. They take away our freedom. We are at the whim of another. But being free from physical afflictions is just that—being free! Jesus likened it to being loosed from the stall and led away to be watered. This picture of being led away to be watered is the picture that the New Testament paints when it refers to “forgiveness.” So, saints, our Good Shepherd leads us beside still waters (Psalm 23:2)! That’s what healing is, my friends!   

Now when this ruler of the synagogue got indignant about Jesus setting the lady free on the Sabbath and Jesus showed him here that it was hypocritical because he would set his animals free, I can’t help be reminded of all these people in the world that would move heaven and earth to save a dolphin, a whale or a tree and care nothing about saving all those unborn babies that are being aborted. 

Listen saints—God has created man in His own image and likeness, not animals. So, while I’m certainly not against helping these certain animals that are in danger of going extinct, it is a totally wrong thing to esteem the life of animals more than the life of mankind. Amen? 

Now verse 16 holds some powerful truths that we need to consider: It begins with – “So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham …”

This indicates that healing “ought” to happen—on the Sabbath as well as the other six days of the week. In other words, healing is a “right” of God’s people. And why? Because, as Jesus said of her, this woman was “a daughter of Abraham.” In other words, because it was her covenant right as a child of Abraham! 

Healing was a part of their covenant, saints! It was promised! Therefore, her freedom from that infirmity was hers! Thus, the reason Jesus said in verse 12 – “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity!” while she was still bowed over in her condition. Saints, if it is ours under our covenant, then it’s as good as done!
 
Then Jesus made the point that this woman was “whom Satan has bound.”

You do realize that the vast majority of Christians have zero revelation of this one statement, right? Most would even dare to say that God was the one who had her bound to teach her something. Nope! It was Satan who had bound this woman up in this physical weakness that caused her to be bent over and not to be able to raise herself up! Never forget: God never binds and locks people up with anything! God liberates and makes free! Amen!

Then Jesus said, “think of it – for eighteen years …” 

I see the phrase “think of it” as a little, back-handed slap in the face to that statement by that ruler of the synagogue that there are six days in which folks ought to work, so come and be healed on those days. Why? Because Jesus was saying here that if this guy was saying that there are six days that one ought to work, then shouldn’t this woman have been loosed by now, seeing that she has been in this condition for this long?   

And finally, we get to the end of the story in verse 17 – “And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame.”

You know, the devil is called the “adversary” (First Peter 5:8). So, this ruler of the synagogue and all the other hypocrites like him are simply imitating the nature of the wicked one here. Church, it is a perverted thing for those who claim to be children of God to act like children of the devil. Amen? 

When He said what things? Well, literally this would have been when Jesus exposed these religious leaders’ hypocrisy by giving the example of how they loosed and watered their animals on the Sabbath, thus violating the very thing they condemned Him for. 

But I see a spiritual lesson in this as well: 

You see, when we declare what Jesus declared in verse 16 regarding this woman’s right to be loosed from her infirmity because she was a daughter of Abraham, we put our adversary to shame. In other words, when the adversary himself is attempting to criticize us, telling us how we don’t deserve healing because we brought it on ourselves – maybe by not doing some natural things right or by making some mistakes spiritually, then we just rise up and boldly declare that we might have made some mistakes, but because we are of the seed of Abraham, we have a covenant with God and we “ought” to be loosed from our infirmity! Again, not because we deserve it, but because it is our covenant right! Hallelujah!  

You see, church, just as we have rights as being U.S. citizens, we have rights as citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Philippians 3:20 tells us – “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

Notice that Paul is saying, “our citizenship is in heaven”. He’s not saying that one day off in the future sometime that our citizenship will be in heaven when we are living there. No. He’s saying that our citizenship is in heaven right now! The word “is” literally means “it has its existence”. The Word of God tells us that our citizenship does not begin in heaven when we die and move there. It happens the moment we are born into God’s family, and when we enter God’s family, we become His nationality. The phrase “born again” that Jesus used could be translated “born from 
above.” That is why our citizenship is in heaven because we were born from heaven. 

You see, the Philippians, whom Paul was writing to, were Roman citizens and were quite proud of it. Paul was explaining to them that when they entered the kingdom of God, they changed citizenships and, as great as the rights they had as Romans were, there is no comparison to the rights and privileges they have as citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

Paul knew this well because he too was a Roman citizen: In Acts 22:25-29 he exercised his rights as a Roman citizen, which is symbolic of our rights as citizens of heaven. Paul and some men went into the temple in Jerusalem where a riot began, and the Jews tried to kill him. After being rescued by soldiers and centurions and making a speech to the Jews, Paul was taken into the barracks to be beaten and questioned. As they bound him Paul said, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?”  That applies to us as citizens of heaven too, because when we were born from above, we were made righteous, and now stand “uncondemned.” Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…” A result of this lack of condemnation is what Paul said about it not being “lawful to scourge him”. The enemy has no right to pronounce any sentence or judgment on us because God has justified us and removed all traces of guilt from us. After Paul told the centurion that, the centurion went and told his commander to “take care what you do, for this man is a Roman.” So the commander came to Paul and asked him if he was a Roman and Paul replied “yes.” So “The commander answered, ‘With a large sum I obtained this citizenship’. And Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.” 

You see, a lot of people try to buy their way into the kingdom of God and its privileges, but inheritances only come one way, and that’s to be born into it. Verse 29 then says, “Then (when Paul said that) immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because they had bound 
him.” That’s the way the devil will react when you say that you are born of God and declare your rights as the righteousness of God. He knows that he has no right to bind you, but he wants to know if you realize it.

Saints, our citizenship is in heaven, but we are currently living here. We must learn to work down here while we’re living up there. And that’s the reason we have been left here; to see His kingdom come and grow. Amen! 

So in Christ Jesus, we are today the seed of Abraham. We ought to be loosed from our infirmities. These spirits that try to bind us and keep us tied up don’t have any right to do so. We are free indeed! 

So enforce your rights today! You gotta fight for your rights – for what? For freedom!