2 - Old before her time

Luke 13
10. Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
11. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.
12. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity."
13. And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. 14. But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; 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."
15. The Lord then answered him and said, "Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?
16. "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?" 17. And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.
New King James Bible

Verse 11 tells us that this particular woman was crippled by a spirit of infirmity. In verse 16 Jesus says that the power that had been keeping her bound, was inflicted upon her by Satan.

Satan is the enemy of God, and of the people of God. He is the one who seeks to discourage our faith in God. He is the one who seeks to harm us.

He is the one in charge of evil spirits, such as this spirit of infirmity which was keeping bound this woman of faith.
A spirit of infirmity is not a blessing from God.
A spirit of infirmity is an evil spirit.


This incident lets us know that there are SOME sicknesses of which the root cause is an evil spirit. Though it is certainly not the case that every sickness is caused by a evil spirit, when a sickness is caused in this manner, many times this evil spirit is the spirit of infirmity.

What is infirmity?
Infirmity is the state of being weak in health or body, especially from old age. Therefore, one of the characteristics of a spirit of infirmity is that the victim becomes weak and old before the time of old age.

Jesus had the ability of God to see that it was the spirit of infirmity that was causing the problem.
The attitude of the Lord Jesus to the spirit of infirmity shows us that, in the life of a person of faith, like this woman, it is not the will of God to be weak in health and body at a time in your life when a person should normally be making a vital contribution on the earth.

Prayer:
Father, today I refuse any spirit of infirmity active in my life.
I surrender to You and thank You for freedom from every hindrance,
In the name of Jesus,
Amen.