Think of It!

“So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham,

whom Satan has bound–think of it–for eighteen years,

be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” LK 13:16

     What a Master! I love how Jesus did the things He did. What a model, example, inspiration! Even as He healed this woman who had been bent over for the past eighteen years from her infirmity, He was seeking an opportunity to minister to the ruler of the synagogue who himself was also bound.

The word translated “think of it” is translated “behold” in other places. The ruler was himself “bent over”. He could not look up to see , so Jesus tells him, “look beyond your silly rules and regulations, beyond the surface, past the religious leaders, and look at this woman standing there straight before you filled with joy and gratitude to God!” His was not to rebuke, but to win a heart, open eyes, and awaken the dead. And it was not just the ruler, but the whole crowd was witnessing this exchange.

What would it take to make me to see beyond all the smokescreens, the habits that rub me the wrong way, the false defenses, the offenses, or the resistance, to see the human face, the one who is crying out from behind the mask? Jesus was saying to the ruler; look, she is a person, not a statistic, and if you just take your eyes off yourself and your rules, you will see that a real person, with real parents and siblings, with a real physical problem which has left real psychological scars has just really been given a completely new lease on life!

Whatever Jesus did, He did with genuine compassion. While people gravitate to the convenience of rules and set responses, Jesus put a human touch on everything He did. Sometimes it was a physical touch. Sometimes it was a word of comfort, or of hope. Sometimes it was a gaze. May we not just go through the motions in life, even in ministry. God help us to “think of it”, to not just see the needs, but to see the people who have the needs; to see people not just as souls, but as souls who are longing to be set free.

Think of it!