WOMAN, THOU ART LOOSED.

Luke 13:12 KJV

And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.

The word ‘infirmity’ means feebleness (i.e. weakness) of the body or mind; by implication malady; moral frailty. The feebleness of the body speaks of the frailty of health or sickness, for example ‘crippleness.’ And the feebleness of the mind or the soul speaks of the want of strength and capacity to understand a thing, to do things great and glorious or to bear trials and troubles.

To deal with our topic and relate it with our discussion for today, infirmity means weakness; and a desire for strength to do things great and glorious. The woman’s activity was limited because she was held bound by an infirmity.

In our world today, women are held by an infirmity caused by some religious and cultural principles. And the rise of this feminism movement or freedom women fighter is an attempt to deal with this infirmity, whereas it is an attempt to usurp authorities from the men. The scripture says, “Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman… to have authority over a man…” (1 Tim. 2:11, 12).

Based on my little research, this so called freedom women fighter sprouted from a past experience when the men mentally abuse them in one way or the other. But honestly, the way to equality is not the way to usurp a man’s authority. I’m not against this movement if the goal is to enjoy equal right and honour with the man.

Truthfully, religion and culture have held our women bound by infirmity. Let’s take the culture as an example to explain this better. In some part of Africa, the women are not granted an equal right as the men in the home. I feel pained when these men will be quoting from Apostle Peter’s epistle, ‘the weaker vessel’ (1 Pet. 3:7), whereas in context, he was trying to tell the men to honour the wife, as unto the weaker vessel.

A weaker vessel they claim, yet she seems to do most work than the man in the home. The domestic work, taking care of the kids and some may have their own personal business they do. Who exactly is the weaker vessel?

A weaker vessel they claim, yet the principle of multiplicity could not be achieved because a help meet had not yet been given (Ref: Gen. 1:28; 2:18). It is not good for a man to be alone because he has an infirmity (or a limitation) to multiply. That was the reason why the woman was created, to meet up with this man’s limitation. Actually, God created man, and this man is in two kinds- male and female (Gen. 1:27). It was Adam who called the female ‘a Woman’ (Gen. 2:23). And a woman is a man with a womb; i.e. Wombed-man. In other words, the woman has the ability and the capacity of bearing children. The man is not capable, according to his design, to bear children. Who exactly is the weaker vessel?

What then is a weaker vessel? A weaker vessel is referred to a being that is designed to be emotional. Men are logical beings, but the women are the emotional beings. So Apostle Peter was admonishing the men in the church to give her the honour she deserves because she is designed to be emotional and loved.

Culturally speaking, our women and mothers have not been treated well. Some men believe that one of the ways to express their masculinity is to leave all the responsibilities in the home, such as the domestic work to the women to do. That is an abuse of power, and insensitivity to the woman’s emotion. So I won’t blame these women for starting up a freedom fighter movement, but honestly, that is not the way out.

I will close with this remark in the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the church in Ephesus;

Ephesians 5: 25, 28, 29 NKJV

[25] Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.

[28] So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.

[29] For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

Let love reign!