The Invisible Made Visible
Jesus came to make the invisible visible. The kingdom of God is real but not usually seen. Jesus came to show us what the kingdom of God looks like.
You see, when Jesus arrived, the kingdom of God arrived with him. What does that mean? Well, the kingdom of God isn’t a physical territory with borders and boundaries. It doesn’t have a political structure or earthly government or military.
The kingdom of God, as Jesus later says to Pilate, is not of or from this world (Jn. 18:36). The kingdom Jesus came bringing is the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. In other words, Jesus’ arrival signaled the arrival of God’s visible rule and reign on the earth. In Jesus, God was initiating his plan to retake the world from the devil and make it a place where he lives with his people in perfect peace once again.
Jesus came to bring heaven to earth. In Jesus, God came to earth to establish his good rule in the world once again. As one scholar said, “The presence of the kingdom is possibly the most important aspect of Jesus’ message.”[1] Is there anything more important than God coming to bring heaven to the earth?
This is what’s happening in our text today, Luke 13:10-21. In verses 10-17, we see the kingdom displayed. In verses 18-21, we see the kingdom described. It’s not immediately clear how these two sections relate to one another, but they do!
The Kingdom Displayed
First, in verses 10-17, we see the kingdom displayed. Look what happened in “church” that day. There was a disabled woman there who had a malady for eighteen years. It was so bad she couldn’t stand up straight (v. 11b).
Her disability was brought on by a “disabling spirit” (v. 11a). Jesus says in verse 16 that “Satan had bound her.” There’s some mystery here as to what that means. But the straightforward meaning of verse 11 is that her physical disability was brought on by an evil spirit. Her condition was the result of demonic oppression, though she wasn’t demonically possessed.
Don’t miss the fact that, despite her pain and misery and embarrassment, she went to the synagogue that day. She was overwhelmed with affliction, but she was in worship. She doesn’t say anything in the text, but she “says” a lot by the fact that she was there.
There are legitimate reasons for us to miss church. But may this sweet lady be an example for us to push through whatever issues we’re dealing with and get ourselves to the place we need to be the most: with God’s people under God’s word.
Also don’t miss those three words at the beginning of verse 12: “Jesus saw her.” This is vintage Jesus. He always had his eyes open for those in need, for the suffering and afflicted. Do you come to church with your eyes open for who needs your ministry?
The religious elite likely frowned upon her presence there that day. They didn’t have sympathy for her because they viewed physical abnormalities as evidence of divine judgment. This woman is an outcast, she’s in the way, and she can’t contribute anything. To the religious leaders, “her status is as low as the position of her head.”[2]
But Jesus isn’t like those guys. He has something for her, a gift of grace. Notice that Jesus’s ministry toward her is from his own initiative and not because of her faith or any appeal she makes. Jesus “sees her,” “calls her,” and then “frees her.” It’s all grace, from first to last.
Jesus’ gift of grace to her is freedom, physically from her malady, but also spiritually, as he conquers the work of an evil spirit in her life (v. 12). What a gift: “Woman, you are freed!” And then the freedom Jesus gives her spills over into praise, “and she glorified God” (v. 13). She knew where her freedom came from. She knew who to give credit to. Jesus’ freedom in her life brought glory to God that day.
A Critical Spirit
But then a critical spirit replaces the evil spirit. The ruler of the synagogue is incensed that Jesus would do such a thing on the Sabbath (v. 14). He complains that the Sabbath regulations have been violated and then chastises the woman for showing up that day for healing rather than any other day. It doesn’t matter that she’d been bent over like a pretzel for eighteen years, healing was “work” and thus she caused Jesus to desecrate the Sabbath.
Luke begins verse 15 by noting that “the Lord,” not just “Jesus,” addresses this man, wanting us to see the authority with which Jesus approaches him. And he’s not just talking to the synagogue ruler; he’s talking to all the “hypocrites” (plural) who were there that day.
Jesus then uses two rhetorical questions to unmask the hypocrisy of his opponents. First, he cites a loophole in the Sabbath law that people used to care for their livestock (v. 15). The law said that the Sabbath was for people and their livestock (Deut. 5:13-14). Strictly speaking, the Jews couldn’t take their animals to get water on the Sabbath, because untying them would constitute work. So accommodations had to be made so that livestock could be cared for. They came up with a law that said as long as your animal wasn’t carrying a load, it could be taken out on the Sabbath, and that tying knots to keep them from wandering off were allowed. One writer concludes, “Even the most scrupulous Jews do not want their cattle to die of thirst on the Sabbath, so they are willing to bend the rules to honor the law.”[3] These hypocrites believed in animal rights but brought down the full force of the law on an innocent and hurting woman.
Then, secondly, Jesus challenges their logic and sensibility (v. 16). He points out the obvious: if they’ll bend the rules for animals, why won’t they do it for this woman? Oxen are only bound for a few hours; this woman had been bound for eighteen years! For Jesus, one more day of bondage for her was one more day too long.
For the synagogue ruler and his self-righteous friends, she was unworthy of help. But for Jesus, she was a human (“this woman”) and part of God’s covenant people (“a daughter of Abraham”). Her intrinsic value makes it necessary, not just allowable, for Jesus to help her. Jesus says, “Ought not she be loosed from this bond?” He’s not saying, “It’s okay for me to do this.” He’s saying, “I must do this.”
And it was all the more appropriate to heal her on the Sabbath because that was the day God created for the rejuvenation of his people. Even if her healing somehow violated some vague nuance of the law, it was good and right that she receive physical and spiritual and social healing on the Sabbath, the day of freedom. Jesus believed she, more than an ox or donkey, must be “untied” from her bondage to a diabolical disability. So he healed her in front of everyone and then shamed the men who claimed he had no right to do so.
Something Wrong with Judaism
People with a critical spirit often use any deviance from the strictest interpretations of the law to undermine or discredit God’s good work. And Jesus will not stand for it. He loves justice more than anyone, but never at the expense of mercy.
This account shows us that something was deeply wrong in first-century Judaism. The leaders of the covenant people of God were not leading the people into godliness.
There’s a story of a family who bought a boat and took it out on the lake. They were new to boating and started having problems navigating the boat. It would barely turn and moved much slower than it should have, no matter how much power they applied. So they went to the marina to get it looked at. Everything checked out with the engine and propeller, until the technician got in the water and looked under the boat. He came up choking on water because he was laughing so hard. What he found was that, under the boat, still strapped securely in place, was the trailer!
This describes what was happening in the synagogue that day. The covenant religion wasn’t functioning as it should’ve been because it was weighed down with the “trailer” of legalistic minutiae. Until Jesus shows up. At his word, the “trailer” of legalism is removed, and the hurting are set free. He brought freedom from Satan and from unbiblical religious oppression that day. He brought the kingdom of God to church that day.
The Kingdom Described
So we’ve seen the kingdom displayed through Jesus’ healing power. Next, in verses 18-21, we see the kingdom of God described.
Don’t miss the connecting word in verse 18, “therefore.” Jesus, and Luke, intends there to be a link between the healing of verses 10-17 and the parables of verses 18-21. The incident at church had something to do with the kingdom of God. But what was it?
First let’s look at the two images from daily life Jesus uses to describe the kingdom in verses 18-21, a mustard seed and leaven. The mustard seed was a very small seed that would grow into a bush of about four feet tall, sometimes up to twelve feet tall.
Jesus is saying that God’s kingdom may have an obscure beginning with Jesus and his small band of disciples, but it’ll grow to supersede all the kingdoms of the earth. It may start small and unnoticed, but it’ll grow and be big enough for all to see.
Then he compares the kingdom of God to leaven that a woman works into three measures of flour (vv. 20-21). Leaven is the starter, or sourdough, leftover from a previous batch of bread. Three measures of flour is about fifty pounds of flour! The leaven comes in and, slowly, imperceptibly, over time, causes the bread to rise, making enough bread for a hundred and fifty people!
Earlier, Jesus used the image of leaven negatively (12:1-2). Here he uses it positively. Just as the hypocrisy of the Pharisees is hidden and not easily detectable, so also is the kingdom of God. The point is that the kingdom of God, like leaven in a huge batch of flour, slips in quietly and secretly works through the whole batch.
A small amount of leaven can leaven one hundred and fifty pounds of flour. A meager amount produces a massive result. New Testament scholar Diane Chen says it this way, “Like the tiny mustard seed that grows into a big bush, the beginning of God’s kingdom is hardly perceptible from an earthly point of view, with no army and territory to speak of, yet its impact will be unstoppable in due time.”[4]
The Significance of Insignificance
So how do the parables connect to the healing of the disabled woman? The connection is that the parables explain the miracle and the miracle is an example of the parables. Jesus is saying, “When you see the kingdom of God in your midst, it doesn’t look like much – it’s mustard seed and leaven-level stuff. But don’t miss the history and world-changing presence of the kingdom in the small stuff.”
This truth is meant to challenge our perceptions about success and smallness and significance. In the world’s eyes, insignificant people and churches don’t matter. But in God’s eyes, they’re the epicenter of his work to bring his righteous rule back to the earth.
How many of us have stories of how God used something seemingly insignificant in our lives to do something amazing? As Snodgrass says, “God seems to be about the business of leavening – magnifying – what seems insignificant.”[5]
This means that, no matter the size of our ministry, the number of people coming to our church, or what happens with our church, we can be assured that God is working. When we’re faithful to the King, obey the King, love the King, serve the King, sing to the King, study and submit to the King’s word, and love the King’s people, his kingdom is among us and growing and is unstoppable.
What matters is faithfulness to the King. Focusing on what we may or may not have, or what we can get rather than what we can give, is a misguided and indeed consumeristic approach to life in the local church. Jesus himself taught us to prioritize the kingdom of God in our prayers, “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come” (11:2). He told us to prioritize his kingdom above everything else: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Mt. 6:33).
The kingdom of God is what we live for. And Jesus tells us that it comes in unrecognizable and often hidden ways. But it is coming. It is already underway and it will not be stopped.
What Do We Do Now?
Any time we talk about the kingdom of God advancing on the earth, it makes us wonder how that squares with the evil we see everywhere. Another parable, the parable of the wheat and the weeds, helps us here (Mt. 13:24-30, 36-43). This parable tells us that evil will grow with God’s kingdom in the world. And then will be dealt with finally and fully at the end, when Jesus returns.
The kingdom is hidden and sometimes seems invisible and overshadowed by the evil in the world. Does this mean we just bunker down and pray for the end to come, hoping that nothing bad happens to us? No! As sons and daughters of the King, we are “sown” in the world to represent the King and his kingdom.
We have a responsibility to demonstrate the presence of the kingdom of God on the earth. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 5:14, 16).
And we have a responsibility to declare the King’s word. At the end of Acts, it says of the apostle Paul, “He lived there (in Rome) two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance” (28:30-31).
The church doesn’t “bring in” or “build” the kingdom. Jesus brought the kingdom and will bring it in fullness. He’s the one building it. We simply demonstrate and declare it. We’re witnesses to its reality. We work to make the invisible visible in our local churches. We labor to reveal the reality of the new age in the midst of the old. We do this, like Jesus, as the Holy Spirit enables us to show the compassion and mercy and justice and forgiveness and peace and joy of the kingdom. People should be able to look at a local church, no matter the size, and see the mustard seed and leaven of the kingdom of God working in its midst.
But first you have to join the kingdom. Before we can demonstrate and declare the kingdom, we have to give our lives to the King. And when we realize that the King died for his subjects, we want to give our lives to him. Knowing that the King came to die for us makes us want to live for him.
What about you? Do you believe King Jesus owes you entrance into his kingdom? Or have you humbly put yourself before him, confessing your sin against him and receiving the freedom he offers, freedom from sin, Satan, the law, and death?
The King will come again, bringing his visible kingdom for all to see. Those who haven’t joined his kingdom now won’t live in his kingdom then.
God of mustard seed and leaven,
give us eyes to see and faith to enjoy
the rather mundane evidence
that Jesus already reigns.[6]
[1]Klyne R. Snodgrass, Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018), 235.
[2]Diane G. Chen, Luke: A New Covenant Commentary, New Covenant Commentary Series (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017), 193.
[3]Ibid., 194.
[4]Ibid., 196.
[5]Snodgrass, 135.
[6]Dale Ralph Davis, Luke 1-13: The Year of the Lord’s Favor, Focus on the Bible (Fearn, Ross-shire, UK: Christian Focus, 2021), 243.