Released from satan’s Shackles

Daily Devotional: Day 137 

“Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger, and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?” (Luke 13:15-16, RSV).

At the beginning of His Messianic mission, Jesus announced His mission statement (cf. Luke 4:16-21). Part of His mission was to set captives free and to release all those who were oppressed by the devil. Jesus’ mission of deliverance included deliverance from both spiritual and physical maladies masterminded by satan. Today’s passage follows an incident that occurred in the synagogue.

On a certain sabbath, Jesus was teaching in the synagogue. In the congregation was a woman who, according to the Bible, had a spirit of infirmity. As a result, the woman was bent over and count not straighten up – for eighteen years. Long story short, Jesus set her loose from the satanic bondage, and immediately the woman straightened up. At this, the ruler of the synagogue was deeply upset and reminded the congregants to avoid coming to seek healing on the sabbath (cf. Luke 13:10-14). But Jesus responded with a sharp rebuke and a reasonable defense of His action.

Look at today’s Scripture. You will see the word “untie.” Jesus said that on the sabbath each of the people untied their farm animals to get them water. Interestingly, they didn’t classify that as a violation of the sabbath law. Using that logic, Jesus explained that if even animals could be untied and led to refresh themselves, how much more should a human being – and a daughter of Abraham at that – whom satan had tied up for eighteen years be untied on the sabbath day. Do you get what Jesus is saying? Even animals are not tied up for more than a few hours. Yet satan – evil as he is – had tied up that woman for eighteen years (That’s about 157,788 hours of being bound!). It was time to untie the child of God and let her walk free. 

I want you to notice something profound about Jesus’ answer. Notice that Jesus’ explanation for setting the woman free centered around the sabbath. As you know, the word ‘sabbath’ means rest. The point is this: Jesus came into the world to untie you and thereby give you sabbath rest from satan’s shackles (the shackles of sin, addiction, demonic oppression, infirmities caused by evil spirits, fear, spiritual death, spiritual blindness, etc.).

I pray that if you have been tied in any way by satan, Jesus will have mercy on you this moment and unbind you. Amen.

For further study: Matthew 11:28-30