Granted, three seemingly disconnected events in my life. They are connected though. To understand how, we need to look at this very unusual Gospel account we have today. In this encounter between the bent-over, crippled woman and Jesus, Jesus is the one who initiates contact. In most of the miracle stories we have in all four Gospels, Jesus is approached and responds with a miracle. Jesus initiating the contact with the person to be healed happens only three times: in Matthew where Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law; in Luke when Jesus heals the widow of Nain; and here again in Luke with the crippled (bent-over) woman. When something so unusual happens, when the pattern of Jesus' healings change, we need to pause and take note, and come to a place were we realize that this unusual event signifies something dramatic is being proclaimed.

That dramatic thing being proclaimed is the kingdom of God that Luke keeps reminding us is being established by Jesus' presence on earth. Notice how this bent-over and crippled woman is healed, stands upright after 18 years of suffering and immediately starts "praising God". Notice also how the story ends with "the entire crowd"... "the entire crowd was rejoicing". All of the crowd, not only the healed woman, all of the crowd see and are part of this new kingdom being proclaimed, being announced... and being part of the rejoicing makes us part of this kingdom being proclaimed.

Right after the healing of the bent-over and crippled woman, and what we do not hear in today's Gospel selection, Jesus tells two small parables answering his own question "what is the kingdom of God like?". First he tells the parable of the mustard seed growing into a grand tree in which birds nest and live. He asks the question again, in a different way "To what should I compare the kingdom of God?" and he answers that the kingdom is like yeast, where a tiny amount leavens an entire loaf. This is what the kingdom of God is like: a mustard seed, which is absolutely tiny in comparison to other seeds, but which grows into an enormously sturdy tree; and we have yeast, the smallest amount of which yields tremendous results. These explanatory parables that Luke provides right after the healing of the bent-over and crippled woman shed light on what Jesus is doing here.

These two parables sum up the healing narrative of the crippled and bent-over woman... a seemingly small act of liberation is an enormous victory for the kingdom being proclaimed and created by Jesus, and is cause for celebration which further enhances the kingdom's creation. This seemingly small act of kindness by a stranger to an ignored and crippled woman is illustrative of what living in the kingdom is like. The two explanatory parables, about the mustard seed and the yeast are both about something being hidden (in the ground or in the flour) which yields a substantive and manifest result (a large tree, loaves of bread). After-all, did Jesus' act in the healing of the crippled and bent-over woman cause him much discomfort? It certainly had a dramatic impact on the woman's life, but Jesus moves on, doing what he came among us to do.