by Bruce Mackay | Download PDF | Purchase Hardcopy

When Jesus went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, He stood up to read from the book of Isaiah. 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.' Luke 4:18-19.

As Jesus declared His mission and purpose, one significant aspect was to set free those who were in bondage and to bring release and liberty to the captives. It is not hard for us to visualise a person being bound hand, foot and mouth and being held in a prison cell. They would have no freedom to go where they desired, to do what they wanted or to speak freely. It is much harder to imagine a person who is physically free, yet bound in their heart and emotions and in bondage to habits, traditions, sin or the control of others.

Bondage comes in many different forms. Bondage can be the result of upbringing, choices or circumstances. You may be bound through another person's influence on you. It could be drugs, alcohol, immorality, eating disorders or other enslaving habits. Also we can be bound by attitudes such as anger, hatred, jealousy or greed. Whatever causes us to be in bondage, the result is the same. It is like being bound hand, foot and mouth. You are not free to be the person God created you to be, expressing the glory of God in your life.

Eighteen years of bondage

As Jesus was teaching the people in the synagogue, He noticed a woman who was bent over so badly that she could not lift her face up from the ground. She had been in this condition for eighteen years. Jesus called it a spirit of infirmity. As we look at this story, we can learn how Jesus can set us all free from our bondages.

We read in the Gospel of Luke, 'Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 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. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity". And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. 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". The Lord then answered him and said, "Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water 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?" 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'. Luke 13:10-17.

This story reveals that it was not only the woman who was bound but also the religious ruler of the synagogue. He was so bound by his religious traditions that he was not free to rejoice and participate in the glorious works of God. Once again, this shows us the many ways we can come under bondage.

Verse sixteen in this passage is pivotal in understanding the freedom that God has for us. Jesus said that this woman is a daughter of Abraham and that she should be free. The phrase 'daughter of Abraham' is a Biblical term meaning you are a spiritual descendant of Abraham. Like Abraham himself, this lady had by faith believed in God and God had given her His righteousness. Therefore, she had the right to be free and no longer bound by this spirit of infirmity. The Scripture says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness'. Rom 4:3. The Bible teaches that God's desire is for us to live by faith in His righteousness as sons and daughters of God.

Sons of God

The desire of God the Father is to have many sons and daughters. It was for this purpose that His only begotten Son, Jesus, came to live among us. The Bible clearly states that Jesus, by the grace of God, participated in the death of the cross for every one of us that He might bring many sons to glory.

When God made Adam and Eve in His image and according to His likeness, He had a purpose. His purpose was that every human would live in the glorious relationship of His life and love as sons of God. Satan also had a purpose and that was to rob, steal and destroy this wonderful relationship between man and God. Through the disobedience of Adam, sin came to every person. 'For there is no difference, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.' Rom 3:22.

But as sin came to the human race through one man, so also, the righteous life of God can come to every person through one man. This one man is Jesus Christ. His purpose is to destroy the works of the evil one. His desire is to release each person from whatever is binding them and hindering them from living as sons of God. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Him to set the captives free that each person may bring glory to God, and that each one of us as sons can fulfil our God-given purpose and identity.

Sons or slaves

For those of us who live in democratic countries, the term 'slave' is quite foreign to us. We would all say that we are free and are a slave to no one. Yet, the reality is we have all found ourselves in bondage or slavery to habits. Some people cannot drive to work without getting angry at other drivers. Others cannot tell a story without lying. Many men cannot see an attractive woman without having lustful thoughts. Some cannot go a day without nicotine, alcohol or some form of drugs. We may be politically free. We may have work rights. But we are all slaves to sin whether it is greed, pride, jealousy, un-forgiveness, bitterness, resentment, hatred, anger or any other selfish ambition. We each serve sin. Sin is our master. We are in bondage.

In chapter fifteen of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells a parable. He said a certain man had two sons. One son took his inheritance and wasted it on foolish living. Having spent all the inheritance, he was without food or shelter and found himself in a pig pen eating the scraps given to the pigs. He came to his senses and thought, 'My father's servants are living better than me. I am named a son but I am living less than a slave'.

The other son stayed at home. But, as we follow this story we realise that even the son at home lived as a servant and not as a son. Instead of talking, relating and sharing in a relationship with his father, he related with the slaves. Rather than participating with his father's friends, he had his own separate group of friends. This grieved the father. The father said, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours'. True sonship is unceasing fellowship and relationship, along with being a joint heir and participating in the full inheritance.

In the days of slavery, a son and slave lived on the same property. They worked for the same man. The difference was their relationship to this man and their length of stay. In the case of the slave, the man was his master. And for the son, this man was his father. When the slave was no longer of any use, he was disposed of. A son remained a son forever.

In the same way, our heavenly Father grieves for His creation. We are to be sons of God in full fellowship and relationship with God. We are to share in the full inheritance of God as sons with Christ. Yet, we are slaves to sin and not free to be sons. Instead of participating with God in His love, light and life we only know grief, brokenness, greed, jealousy, darkness and death. Instead of enjoying the full inheritance of heaven, we live in the poverty and bankruptcy of self-centred decisions. Jesus came to bring freedom to those in bondage.

Bondage to freedom

'Let us return to our story of the lady who had the spirit of infirmity. For eighteen years she could not raise herself up. She was not free to do what God created her to do. She was overtaken by another force or power beyond her ability or strength to change. Are aspects of your life like that? Jesus spoke a word and she was no longer held in bondage. She was free to glorify God as the daughter God created her to be. Our glorious freedom to be sons and daughters of God, like this woman, can only become a reality through the Son, Jesus Christ.

We will again draw attention to the religious ruler of the synagogue and his followers. They were slaves to religious traditions. This blinded their judgement and also robbed them of the joy of relating with the Son of God. Yet, they thought they were doing God's work.

This is exactly what happened to Adam and Eve when they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God intended for them to eat from the tree of life and live by His eternal life. Rather, Satan deceived them into living by their reasoned assessment of right and wrong and good and evil. We judge and assess according to our knowledge of what we believe is good and evil. We should be living by the life of God that is received through Christ.

We can be governed by our own laws and assessments, believing they are God's laws. When we take what we believe is the law of God and make it our own law, we will judge and assess everyone else according to our expectation of them. In doing so, we not only make ourselves a slave of our own assessments but we bring others into bondage as well. Jesus said of the religious people who lived this way that they were of their father, the devil. Satan was the one who fathered this way of living back in the Garden of Eden. Jesus also said that they were hypocrites because they did this in the name of God. They were bringing forth others as sons of hell, rather than sons of God.

Free indeed

Jesus said to a group of believing Jews, '"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free". They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, 'You will be made free?" Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed".' John 8:32-36.

With this in view, Paul wrote to the Galatians, 'Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ'. Gal 4:3-7.

Are you free indeed? Are you still in bondage or are you free to live as a son of God? The Father has sent His only begotten Son into the world that we may receive the Father's life through the Son. True freedom as a son is to no longer live by our own self-centred, self-directed life, but by the life of Christ. This life is lived in the fellowship of His church. In the context of the church, we can have fellowship with one another and with the Father and the Son.

This is what God desires for you. This is what it means to be truly free from bondage.

Author: Bruce Mackay | Citywide Christian Fellowship - Cairns | CCFC
Published by Vision One at Toowoomba Christian Fellowship | TCF
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