A Great Faith

I am always fascinated with stories in the Bible that describe great faith. Often that faith is expressed by an individual in a most unlikely manner. One such story is found in Luke 13:10-17.

Several years ago, during one of our Village Schools of the Bible tours to Israel, we had the unique privilege of sitting in a small synagogue in the city of Safed. Our guide, himself an Orthodox Jew and former cantor at a synagogue in his younger days, described how a Jewish service was conducted both in the times of Jesus and in that particular synagogue. As was customary, men sat on benches situated around the outer walls of the synagogue. In the center, facing east, was the Ark containing the various scrolls. Upstairs was a small balcony where women and children went for the service. A dark curtain kept the women from the view of the men on the lower floor - don't want to create any avenue for temptation you know. When a person goes to Jerusalem one sees evidence of these curtains still being used today to separate the women's court from the men's court along the Western Wall.

Our text tells us that Jesus was teaching in a synagogue; the city is not mentioned, nor is the subject of Jesus' teaching. Present at that service was a woman who had been severely crippled for 18 years. All she could see of life was the ground. All she could see of herself were her feet. Perhaps she was in the balcony, or perhaps she was in a sideroom screened from the main room by a heavy curtain. Perhaps she was a regular attender to the synagogue service; perhaps she came that day because Jesus was there. But the fact is...she was there.

Luke tells us that while Jesus was teaching He saw this woman. He saw her although she was shrouded behind a heavy curtain. Moreover, I believe He saw her desperate situation and He saw into her heart. Here was a woman who needed help. But would she claim it?

Jesus summoned the woman to come forward. Now, until I had had that experience in that small synagogue in northern Galilee, Jesus' command meant nothing to me. Jesus was inviting this woman to come into the area reserved for the men and, indeed, to stand before the men. This was unheard of. Would she come? Would she descend those stairs? Would she come through that heavy curtain? Would she violate proper synagogue protocol? Yes, she did. And Jesus healed her. What was her response right there in front of those startled male worshipers? She praised God. Luke tells us that the synagogue officials were indignant, but the people were delighted.

This unnamed woman possessed some remarkable faith. She dared to believe the command of Jesus to come. She dared to break with the ritual and tradition of the synagogue. She dared to believe that she could be healed. And God rewarded her faith with His healing power. I can hardly wait to meet this woman in glory and to hear the rest of her story.

It doesn't take much faith to experience God's power, but it does take acting on that faith in obedience.