Finding Resilience, Joy and Our Identity in Jesus Christ Lesson Seven

Lesson Seven: The Woman Who Was Bent Over

Scripture: Luke 13:10–17 

If you had to describe to someone what identity is what would you say?

Part III of the PW/Horizons Bible study is on identity. If you had to describe to someone what identity is, what would you say? Let me give you a minute to think about this.

Identity is more than who we are or who we show ourselves to be. At its core, identity points to our humanity. Our identity is not found in our titles, our positions, our spouses, our partners or our possessions. For Christians, our identity is found in Jesus Christ.

When we are younger our identity is tied up with whom others say we are. Our teachers, people in our neighborhood, and especially our families of origin and extended family, including our church family, all help us to piece together our identity.

When we become young adults and leave home, we may create a new identity related to who our friends are, our new environments, our college, our job, our interests, our hobbies or creative ventures.

When we date others, have committed partners, get married, have or adopt children, care for others’ children as our own, connect with people who are like family to us, and get promotions at work, this also affects the way we see ourselves and the ways that others see us.

For many of us the possessions we own are part of shaping our identity—cars, motorcycles, houses, boats, clothes, vacation homes—these are all part of our identity-building. Our identity, though, is not only who we are but also our place in the world—where we’re headed, where we’ve been, where we belong, and whose we are.

As Christians, we believe that we belong to God, and that our identity is found in Jesus Christ. But we can get lost in our possessions or our social groups and forget who and whose we are. Our identity in Christ is part of every element of our lives. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:38–39).

In Lesson 7, we read in Luke 13 about the woman who was bent over. She is described as being in bondage to a disabling spirit. For eighteen years this spirit deprived her of strength. Think about that. For almost two decades, she was looking at the ground and unable to stand up straight. She is identified by what she does not have, the ability to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her in the synagogue, he laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight.

Do you notice in the passage that this woman did not ask for anything or seek Jesus out? Jesus saw her and called her over. He didn’t tell her to repent or to live right. He said, “Woman, you are free . . .!”

What is amazing is what happened next. She stood up straight and tall and began praising God. She praised God for what God had done for her. She praised God for her healing. She experienced gratitude. And, she counted herself as a believer. This is what I love in this passage. Jesus gives this unnamed woman an identity. In verse 16, he asks, “ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham be set free?” Jesus claims this woman. She is connected to Abraham, and she is linked to Christ. She is a daughter of the covenant. 

We’re reminded that all of us are one in Christ Jesus. “And if you belong to Christ, then you’re Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.”

In this healing story, we see the God of love. And, we are reminded that we are claimed by God as God’s children, “heirs according to the promise,” called to participate in God’s justice and love in the world.

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This blog is the seventh in a series of nine blogs.

Finding Resilience, Joy, and Our Identity in Jesus Christ is the Presbyterian Women in the PC(USA), Inc. Bible study for 2025–2026. Go to presbyterianwomen.org/bible-study/resilience to find more resources and copies for you and your group to study along with us. Call 800/533-4371 or order online.