10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11 And lo, [there was] a woman having a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bent together and wholly unable to lift her head up. 12 And Jesus, seeing her, called to [her], and said to her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 13 And he laid his hands upon her; and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus healed on the sabbath, answering said to the crowd, There are six days in which [people] ought to work; in these therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. 15 The Lord therefore answered him and said, Hypocrites! does not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the manger and leading [it] away, water [it]? 16 And this [woman], who is a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, lo, [these] eighteen years, ought she not to be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? 17 And as he said these things, all who were opposed to him were ashamed; and all the crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things which were being done by him.
18 And he said, To what is the kingdom of God like? and to what shall I liken it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard [seed] which a man took and cast into his garden; and it grew and became a great tree, and the birds of heaven lodged in its branches.
20 And again he said, To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Luke 13:10-21
Commentary on Luke 13:10-17
(Read Luke 13:10-17)
Our Lord Jesus attended upon public worship on the sabbaths. Even bodily infirmities, unless very grievous, should not keep us from public worship on sabbath days. This woman came to Christ to be taught, and to get good to her soul, and then he relieved her bodily infirmity. This cure represents the work of Christ's grace upon the soul. And when crooked souls are made straight, they will show it by glorifying God. Christ knew that this ruler had a real enmity to him and to his gospel, and that he did but cloak it with a pretended zeal for the sabbath day; he really would not have them be healed any day; but if Jesus speaks the word, and puts forth his healing power, sinners are set free. This deliverance is often wrought on the Lord's day; and whatever labour tends to put men in the way of receiving the blessing, agrees with the design of that day.
Commentary on Luke 13:18-22
(Read Luke 13:18-22)
Here is the progress of the gospel foretold in two parables, as in Matthew 13. The kingdom of the Messiah is the kingdom of God. May grace grow in our hearts; may our faith and love grow exceedingly, so as to give undoubted evidence of their reality. May the example of God's saints be blessed to those among whom they live; and may his grace flow from heart to heart, until the little one becomes a thousand.